Another hard day. We'd been given the lists about a week ago, how many had to go from each department. The criteria was length of service, last in first out. Some departments were being completely emptied, all but the head left to do whatever work they pictured to come.
They offered voluntary redundancies. A co-worker in contracts requested one, cutting us down to our required size. Though I never heard it had been officially accepted, confirming my spot safe... unofficially I still have a job.
But it felt awful in there today. People who've been with the company for YEARS, who'd gone to eachother's weddings and celebrated the births of eachothers' kids, lost their jobs and had to say goodbye. Some were stoic, some near manic in their relief to have this be over. One poor young lady was still puking her breakfast before work, hungover as fuck from the night before. Tears were popping out everywhere, hastily brushed aside with a forced, 'whatta ya gonna do' - shrug and grin.
The volunteer reps got a crappy deal through all of it as well. First they were told they wouldn't have to tell the 'victims' themselves. But when they were expected to deliver the criteria after the meeting, that's what they were effectively doing. And they KNEW it. One sweet fellow accompanied any from his dept who requested it, sitting with them through their exit meetings, knowing he was on that list too.
The consultant also informed the reps today that their role officially included escorting the newly redundant to the door and off the property. She said although they wouldn't require that because nobody looked ready to act up.. if anything happened, it was technically still their fault. WTF?!! Can this be real?
The worst of all was the craven cowardice of my bosses, the guys who run the show. They didn't get into work on time to even get the last rep meeting started on schedule. Supposed to start at nine, it didn't happen till ten-thirty. Apparently they were also meant to be in on the last meetings, the individual goodbyes, to the ones whose applications had been accepted. They took off instead. The newly former employees heard, 'Thank you, we appreciate your years of service' from someone they've only seen once before. Niiiiice
I saw the bosses get their coats on and take their briefcases, jingling keys to the garage. I know they must be sad too. But other than corporate word-garbage, they've not actually shown any real regret. It's hard to believe.
I cried off and on all morning. I fucking hate crying in front of others. So I got all my work done quicky and only had busywork left for the afternoon. I felt sick to my stomach with anxiety and sadness. So I told my head of dept I wouldn't return that afternoon, and instead would see her on Tues, after the holiday.
Oh, and get this: We're not officially done yet. Six more still need to go and the bosses haven't set the new criteria for them. yay
On my way out of the carpark I also caught the office manager outside with the consultant. I told her I felt sick and didn't plan to return that afternoon. I apologized and said I'd see her on Tuesday. Bitch that I am, nobody was doing any work anyway and I'd have rather died than sit in that morgue all afternoon. I don't sit and talk about wanting to go.. I'm brazen enough to do it.
When I got home, the lady who'd scheduled to see the flat at lunch didn't turn up. So I yakked with the agent for half an hour. He heard about my day, I heard about his brother-in-law in Florida who has dementia. Yeah, weird, but nice in a way. I wanted to hug him when he left... How come a stranger will more readily care?
Guess its' cos they can be superficial. You don't expect them to fix things or rescue you. A listening ear and some ad-lib consolation can make a difference, eh?
Later, that big-assed smoke helped as well.
