They've managed to remove the required number of personnel from the department using retirement incentives. However, that means the positions are permanently dissolved. Nobody was fired, but we're also not getting anyone else for the foreseeable future.
Fortunately, my latest 6 month review came up, so I again drummed up noise about getting promoted. That's really all I can do until we actually get a budget item to upgrade me.
Yea, I didn't understand why they didn't go around asking people to retire first. They hit some really truely talented people and while they did lose some of the fat they still kept around some of the dead weight while getting rid of some people that I would have thought insane to get rid of. Eh, corporate accountants apparently just look at numbers...
We are still without a contract since earlier this year. It is actually a good thing because we have some "guaranteed job" provisions in our contract that the company is trying to get rid of.
In essence when the company wants to surplus people they have to offer a severance package (X weeks pay based on Y years working for company). Even though your job title may be in the surplus pool you are not automatically layed off. Instead you can get a job elsewhere in the company (think operator) and for the first 6 months you make the same pay, after that it drops to operator pay.
We are going through the second round of layoffs right now and two people I work with have seen their jobs vanish at my work location and one guy took the package (38 yrs with the company).
What truly sucks is that this was supposed to be the big contract where all of AT&T would be negotiating at the same time. So much for solidarity. The national union (CWA) has failed us and over half of the locals have already signed new contracts. It is only us (CT) and the South East that have held out. The pay raises our wonderful union brothers are getting will be quickly eaten up by the increased health insurance costs they will face.
I think it is time to organize a series of Beck events to let our union leadership know how pissed we are.
My state government has laid off numerous people. This is on top of attrition. It's a pathetic process. Because of union bumping rights, there is no assurance that the worst employees are the ones who are let go. It's also being done politically. Cuts are not being made where they would be easy to make. They should hire an outside consultant to really look at what should be cut and what shouldn't. But everyone is trying to protect their own turf, so that will never happen. My job had never been in question. Public safety has been largely immune to layoffs. With missed raises and an actual paycut, though, pay for people in my department has been effectively cut 18%. That's when I chose to move on. I'm really glad that I did.
Government doesn't pay much. The deal was that you were supposed to be protected during the bad times. Once that equation was tampered with, it's hard to blame people for leaving. And sadly, it's the good employees that leave since they are in demand elsewhere. I was shocked at how easy it was for me to find a job. I made exactly one phone call.
Government doesn't pay much. The deal was that you were supposed to be protected during the bad times. Once that equation was tampered with, it's hard to blame people for leaving. And sadly, it's the good employees that leave since they are in demand elsewhere. I was shocked at how easy it was for me to find a job. I made exactly one phone call.
This is the big problem in the tech field. Any tech department is typically stratified between really bad or really good. There aren't a lot that are middling or average. This is because the good people will always move to greener pastures, and prefer being among other good people. The not so good people can't get hired by good people who can recognize their faults, so they cling to jobs among other similar folk.
Comments
Fortunately, my latest 6 month review came up, so I again drummed up noise about getting promoted. That's really all I can do until we actually get a budget item to upgrade me.
In essence when the company wants to surplus people they have to offer a severance package (X weeks pay based on Y years working for company). Even though your job title may be in the surplus pool you are not automatically layed off. Instead you can get a job elsewhere in the company (think operator) and for the first 6 months you make the same pay, after that it drops to operator pay.
We are going through the second round of layoffs right now and two people I work with have seen their jobs vanish at my work location and one guy took the package (38 yrs with the company).
What truly sucks is that this was supposed to be the big contract where all of AT&T would be negotiating at the same time. So much for solidarity. The national union (CWA) has failed us and over half of the locals have already signed new contracts. It is only us (CT) and the South East that have held out. The pay raises our wonderful union brothers are getting will be quickly eaten up by the increased health insurance costs they will face.
I think it is time to organize a series of Beck events to let our union leadership know how pissed we are.
Government doesn't pay much. The deal was that you were supposed to be protected during the bad times. Once that equation was tampered with, it's hard to blame people for leaving. And sadly, it's the good employees that leave since they are in demand elsewhere. I was shocked at how easy it was for me to find a job. I made exactly one phone call.