Reality of Redundancies

Following article reflects writer’s personal experience, observation from media and speaking to several individuals who are in similar situation.

The recession in UK is real and so are the severe cuts proposed by the newly sneaked in coalition government, any correlation between recession and cuts is however debatable. One of the dream ideas the Oxbridge educated toffs employed to tackle the issue, has been to ask hard working people in the public sector to clear the mess made by the greedy bankers and politicians. It is announced that some half a million invisible jobs have also been created in the private sector as a pathetic attempt to soften up a sudden and below the belt punch delivered to unsuspecting victims.

The government claims that Council’s were only asked to streamline their budgets and that does not necessarily mean massive staff cuts. Councils on the other hand explain that staff cuts were inevitable to balance the budget. This shameless act of political point scoring does not help thousands of staff members, especially those classified as ‘non-job’ workers, who until now were led to believe that they provided valuable service and that their contribution was vital to keep their cities and towns healthier, cleaner and safer. Instead they become potential candidate in the redeployment list, albeit an arbitrary list drawn up by senior managers who have conveniently excluded themselves from any job cuts. I suppose that’s what you would call risk management.

The Councils set their wheels in motion for ‘review exercise’. The departments submit their proposals with top layers of dead-wood senior executives still intact – no surprises there. The proposals are discussed by cabinet members, i.e. the livelihoods of hard working families being decided by four or five out of touch councillors with an average age of 70 years. Some councils do bother to put the proposals on their website for ‘feedback’ purposes only.  The proposals are then rushed through finance committees who are asked to look at the bottom line – £££ savings. I would like to ask readers to show some sympathy (sic) for the council as it was an unchartered territory and they had never dealt with the firing scenario on such an excessive scale.

The departments are then superficially restructured as a result of review which raises more questions than answers. The lowly paid staff decides to become mute spectators to avoid being on the dreaded redundancy list.

The looming redundancies turn out to be blessing for some and curse for others. The blessed ones were laughing all the way to the bank and the cursed ones had to go through sham redeployment exercise. It was a god sent green light to get rid of unwanted faces, people who did not fit. The officers in collusion with HR couldn’t believe their luck. The sham redeployment interviews that follow confirm their worst fears. The antithesis of stability and prosperity wins the day.

The initial feeling of anger and disappointment is taken over by fear of future and that’s when the reality of redundancies starts sinking in.  The book stores across UK are quick to cash in on misfortunes of the cursed ones. The revised versions and recycled new editions on everything you need to know about redundancies are back on display in the book stores. These books tell you about various practical tips on how to handle your finances, time management, career development strategy, looking forward and everything under the sun you don’t want to know. It however does not tell you how to cope when you wake up in the morning with the feeling of despondency and go to bed with the feeling of emptiness.

Those in 40s and 50s with young families and financial commitments to the hilt look more vulnerable. The problem is compounded when they start looking at vacancies. The realisation that their long years in public sector have not equipped them with any transferable skills comes as a jolt to their pride. The endless pen pushing, slow pace of work, sticking rigorously to their limited job description, attending unnecessary and ever increasing number of meetings and training courses has actually cut them off from the real world. Welcome to the world of innovations and challenges.

It is difficult to keep spirits high in the current economic climate. It makes you angry when you see government wasting millions of pounds on unworkable schemes and at the same time uprooting a hardworking families and consigning it to history. We can only hope that…. not even sure what to hope for.