Wednesday, July 07, 2004
A Secure Job
Our office has just undergone an organisational restructuring. That means 54 employees were asked to apply for their own jobs and 30 of them have been successful. So what happens to the 24 unsuccessful employees who failed to apply for the job which there are currently doing? No body knows.
The irony of this restructuring is that this is a utility service company supplying a booming city with the increasing population. The customer base is increasing so is the sales. Only the management sees that there is a need to reduce staff numbers in accordance with the policy and instruction handed down to them.
The only good news is that there is also a policy of no forced redundancy or retrenchment. So the employees having failed to secure job positions continue to represent the organisation and continue to carry out the work. When will this unhealthy situation going to last is anybody’s guess.
There is a general feeling of uncertainty and worry exhibited these employees, majority of them are long service employees and have no other skills outside the organisation. These are the employees who have faithfully served the organisation for the last 20 or 30 years and they have been betrayed. Like the animals in the circus, they were fed just sufficient and trained to perform stunning acts for the patrons. They are good at that but that is just what they know. When the circus closed, and the gate to the cage left open, these animals have no skills to venture out and nowhere to venture to. This is reality. If one is contended with one’s job and think that he or she can perform the job until retirement, he or she must be making a serious mistake.
This is a grim reminder that we should constantly upgrade our skills and maintain our competency to ensure that we are marketable. This is particularly so for the younger workforce who do not have the choice of going on retirement.
The irony of this restructuring is that this is a utility service company supplying a booming city with the increasing population. The customer base is increasing so is the sales. Only the management sees that there is a need to reduce staff numbers in accordance with the policy and instruction handed down to them.
The only good news is that there is also a policy of no forced redundancy or retrenchment. So the employees having failed to secure job positions continue to represent the organisation and continue to carry out the work. When will this unhealthy situation going to last is anybody’s guess.
There is a general feeling of uncertainty and worry exhibited these employees, majority of them are long service employees and have no other skills outside the organisation. These are the employees who have faithfully served the organisation for the last 20 or 30 years and they have been betrayed. Like the animals in the circus, they were fed just sufficient and trained to perform stunning acts for the patrons. They are good at that but that is just what they know. When the circus closed, and the gate to the cage left open, these animals have no skills to venture out and nowhere to venture to. This is reality. If one is contended with one’s job and think that he or she can perform the job until retirement, he or she must be making a serious mistake.
This is a grim reminder that we should constantly upgrade our skills and maintain our competency to ensure that we are marketable. This is particularly so for the younger workforce who do not have the choice of going on retirement.
