What are the signs of a layoff or an early retrenchment? I am very sensitive towards retrenchment. Why? I am very seasoned, see below:
2017 Christmas – I was retrenched and served my notice
2018 November – I was retrenched/ let go for a stupid reason and serve my notice
2019 September – I was retrenched. I decided that was it. I took the leap of faith and do something I believe in. However, I could not put food on the table because I was not good enough.
2020 March – back to work till now.
Being retrenched is very tough, you will feel uncertain and lost. I have packed my stuff on the same day itself. I had people who sat beside you to supervise while you tried to recover your personal files from the laptop. Yes, I kept my personal files on the work laptop. Sounds wrong against company policy. Right. I had walked on the street with that box of personal stuff while feeling shitty, lost, fucked, and dropped like a piece of shit.
Everything is transactional basis. You contribute, add value, solve problems for the organization. They pay you a sum of money at the end of the month. When business turns south or they don’t perceive that you are worth the sum of money they pay you, it is pack-up time. I saw a friend who worked 11 years for the organization, call in one day and given 11 months of compensation, and told to leave immediately. His ego was devasted. He did not feel there was any disciplinary issue. He felt that he contributed his youth and time to the organization. Well, nothing lasts forever. I told him to keep the compensation and not to do anything stupid.
Is it possible to predict retrenchment before it happens to you?
1- Look at Administrative Fees under the SG&A
What is SG&A? It stands for Selling, General & Administrative Expenses. This is where salaries are parked under in a company’s financial statement – Income Statement. If you can take a look at the forecast Income Statement for the coming year then you can predict whether there will be retrenchment. I was privileged to find this information in one of the companies I worked for before, it was in 2016 and I read the forecast numbers for 2017. The SG&A was halved as a forecast in 2017, I told my colleague but he was too ignorant and asked me not to worry. The Singapore office was shut down in 2017.
2 – Your boss stops talking to you
Your boss used to bring you into this room and update you regularly about the business outlook, ask you about the challenges, and show concern. Then one day, he starts to distance himself from you and seldom speaks to you. There’s no upcoming work and project plan for you.
3 – Your company’s revenue is dropping
There are many types of revenue. The quality of revenue matters. I have worked all my life in an industry with not-so-good quality revenue. The revenue was lumpy. When business is not doing well, it is about cutting costs but there’s so much you can cut. If you feel that revenue is dropping drastically, do not take up any huge loan.
4 – You have a new understudy
Why should the company pay you such a high salary when you have so much family commitment, you cannot stay long hours in the office to work, you need to attend to your children, you are immobile in terms of travel or relocation, you have lesser energy. On the other hand, the boss can hire 3 young hot chicks fresh out of university for the same amount and get more work done. At the same time, they are more pleasant to the eyes than you. Coming back to the point, your boss will always plan ahead and bring in new people to understudy you. He will want to have backup plans just in case you leave or he needs to terminate you.
While writing this article, I remember how I used to be an asshole. I was young (32 years old) then. I have a team member who is much older. At 5 pm, he would leave work. I would chide at him and ask,” Why can’t you stay and work longer hours on this? I need this today.” He explained that he has to pick up his son. I would discredit him for his commitment level. Fast forward a few years, I understand his rationale after I have a family. To all those young bastards out there, be careful of karma. Work is temporary, family is for life. There is this thing called life stages.
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