#JobLoss #Redundancy #Unemployment #CareerAdvice
Hey everyone, I’ve just been made redundant and I’m feeling lost and frustrated right now. My role was disestablished and amalgamated into a more senior position, but I felt confident going into the presentation explaining why I was the right fit. However, I was unsuccessful and completely shocked by the result.
Here’s what’s been going on:
– Company performance issues led to job cuts
– My position was merged with another similar role
– Asked for feedback but couldn’t get any without HR present
– Awkwardness and unanswered questions in the office
I’m considering pushing for garden leave to start as soon as possible, but I could really use some advice from those who have been in a similar situation. What do you think I should do next? Any tips or resources you recommend?
Let’s support each other through this tough time and share any valuable insights or solutions we may have. We’re all in this together! 💪✨ #SupportEachOther #CareerTransition #MovingForward
Sorry to hear this happened to you. No technical advice. Just get your support network of friends and family in place to take care of your morale. All the very best.
Who got the position?
No advice sorry, apart from not taking it personally. All I can say is, in these situations, I’ve found that someone in management gets a stupid idea about a hire or thinking someone has unfulfilled potential that they can tap into, and they ignore all reasonable metrics, and make a choice that is completely wrong, that inevitably backfires on the company.
I had this at a medium sized company I worked at. Because I started there young and developed well (multiple complex projects delivered over 5 years, including a couple that won industry awards), the company believed that the successes I had were due to them not me. They believed they could just hire more “unshaped clay” and get similar results that they had out of me.
As a result, they underpaid me by about 33% of what my market rate should’ve been, and when there was a new project starting up at that time, and I asked to be the lead on it, they gave it to a guy who was extremely laid back with his work, but had an outgoing personality. He “deserved a chance to prove himself.”. I quit, and instantly got a 33% higher paying job, and that big project went off the rails, and shortly after the firm permanently lost that major client, who was their biggest client by some distance.
Sorry to hear that – I know the news must be hard to take.
Take some time to clear your head and get a good headspace before looking to the future. You don’t need to rush.
I wanted to comment to give some context as I didn’t pick up any comments in this direction in your post…
You probably didn’t do a single thing wrong, so don’t beat yourself up thinking ‘Oh, what if I said this, or had done this, or did something else a long time ago’. In 90% of cases that is **not** how a process like this works.
Two key points:
One: You mentioned you felt confident going in and had a good presentation… but the consultation process was most likely ‘going through the motions’ and the decision was already made. (As in, there was no actual process based on merit).
Two: the decision most likely wasn’t even based on merit at all. As in… they didn’t fairly evaluate the candidates against the job. In 90% of cases like this, this is an excuse to trim headcount or the operating budget. So management either decided they wanted to reduce employees and set up a process to do this legally, or decided to trim budget and they specifically retained the candidate that would cost less.
So I know that advice doesn’t take away any of the sting, but try to remember this was likely political and doesn’t reflect on your performance at all.
Commercial RE is a bitch right now, but it won’t be forever.
Don’t burn any bridges.
Sorry to hear my friend. Lots of folks in similar positions of late. HR folks often suck in how they approach this stuff. They’re also likely just covering their owns arses while the axes are out. Not sure what kind of advice you’re after? I’d say the best plan is to wash your hands of the place asap. But might as well go out on good terms and try to get some kind of reference. You don’t want to flame out, then they win, and it might effect your ability to land the next gig. Sorry it really sucks, look after yourself.
Leave find something else.
Being made redundant sucks. Do your best to remain positive at work and not to burn any bridges. Believe it or not- how you handle redundancy can form a great yarn for your next role- especially when coupled with a matching reference- shows maturity and resilience.
Sorry for your loss.
In this life it feels like you can do everything right and still fail 😢
As has been said in these responses, usually companies already have formed opinions on what they want, and as soon as HR gets involved they are trying to follow the protocol so that a PG case cant be lost.
I do feel for you having been in that position myself, so know the tensions that are present.
companies have no idea the morale that it lowers on the employees affected, and if they are expecting you to be busting a foo foo in the next month they should think again.
You are required to pass over information that you have but you must be under a lot of stress, so your memory just isn’t what it used to be. after the process has finished and you have been paid your pot of leaving gold, if they reach out for further information, you are not obliged to assist.
Your boss right now is a company mouth piece. He is completely governed by your companies’ HR department ( Which is to protect the company not you)
Friendships are put aside as everyone will be looking to protect their own hides.
Right now you are on the outside, so get advise, even consider an employment lawyer to protect your rights.
Good people will always find work.
Look forward if you can…. Take control of it. Make a plan of attack for the next few weeks. Eg emailing all your contacts and let them know you are looking… and pass it on to anyone they know.
Line up potential referees, look at other companies to approach, show initiative etc etc.
Most likely you feel angry and aggrieved. This is normal. You will go through a grieving type cycle. Acknowledge that. Try and stay positive! Good luck!!
I’m sorry this happened to you and I feel for you. I am in the same boat. It’s the 3rd time I have been made redundant and it doesn’t get any easier. I already had 6 days annual leave booked in and I had 12 days sick leave so I went to the Dr and asked for a medical certificate to go on stress leave.
I didn’t go back!
But it’s been a real grief process this time around.
Take some time out for yourself and be kind to yourself.
Hi sorry to hear that. It sucks.
Not sure if this is consolation but in my experience, for this kind of situation, the decision was already made and company simply go through the motion to make it look like they’ve followed the “process”.
Best you could do is don’t let emotion cloud your judgment, do a good job until the last day, don’t burn any bridge, and negotiate a good reference as part of exit package.
Hey I’m also going through a massive restructure at work too and have failed to land another job within the company. I can empathise with how you feel. I can’t give you a job but I want you to know this is not a reflection of your worthiness / competence.
From what I have seen and heard, some appointments are predetermined and the interview process is just for show. Just because you didn’t get picked doesn’t mean you are not worthy. A lot has to do with politics and luck.
It’s hard to stay positive during the process. I too get moments of depression and anger, but we need to believe that we will get through this, like how we have gotten through all the challenges in the past. If we don’t believe in ourselves no one will.
I expect you were the more expensive of the two. The decision was already made way before you got into writing your presentation.
Secure the best redundancy package you can.
Don’t stress on trying to get feedback, it was likely all a facade anyway and had nothing to do with your actual performance.
This sounds like you were in an advertising / marketing agency as I could’ve written this post myself in 2020…
Redundancy feels like such a blow when it happens, but as others have said – don’t take it personally. It’s a classic McKinsey strategy (look up the John Oliver Ep on YouTube) to “cut out” middle management and assume “the G/C suite will manage the juniors” it never works and it’s just a temporary cost saving measure. In 2020 my agency “just deleted” two ranks of middle management from their structure to make their numbers work.
You seem like you’ve got a good grasp of the situation, push for gardening leave and don’t be hesitant to take contract roles if that’s what the market is offering right now. My two month contract, turned into full time and allowed me to pivot out of a dumpster fire agency to a meaningful project management job. You’ve got this, good luck.
Possible that it was base purely on costs. Was the person who got the role on a lower salary than you? Perhaps they wanted to trim costs as much as possible. I’ve seen this happen.
At my old job they made my manager redundant and gave the new role to a lower level employee who had been there forever who was a good worker but had no leadership skills and was very difficult to work with. I know for a fact that she was on a lower salary but on a old redundancy contract that would have given her around 40 weeks payout. So she got thw job and my manager who was fantastic got made redundant. We were all shocked.
It’s very tempting to tell them to get fucked and walk away. However this country is too small to burn bridges.
Hopefully you get gardening leave. If not, the best thing you can do is take it on the chin and – hear me out here – work your arse off until you leave.
By the time you walk out the door you want the bosses regretting their decision and everyone else questioning the bosses’ judgement.
If you throw your toys that will just vindicate their choice.
Anyway, just my 2c. Sorry to hear about the situation and hopefully you find another (better) role quickly.