Just heard that there are going to be 22 reduncancies from 76 chemists in my department.
Better dust off/write that CV then...
Comments
If it's redundancy then good luck with the payment, if not then I'd probably sort out the CV just in case there is another round.
Are the jobs moving somewhere or is the company shrinking?
Submitted by brainwipe on Tue, 2008-09-30 13:54
There has been a big budget re-jig within the company as a whole. The major departments that make up the company had to make bids for the money, with projected results for what they'd do with it.
Coupled with a general reduction in spending within the company and an expansion into China, there are losses over here. We have a meeting tomorrow where we hear more, but the general process is likely to be;
Wait 1 to 3 months whilst there is the "consultation" that follows a large number of redundancies at once. (Which won't actually achieve anything to save peoples jobs.)
Receive form.
Fill in form, extalling your virtues.
Wait a bit.
Find out results (probably in time for Christmas).
Serve Notice/Carry on Working.
All of which will be preceeded with a phrase along the lines of; "We know these are difficult times, but we know you'll still work hard for the company."
The 22 is just chemists in my bit. There are more in other bits. So far this year, we're looking at 100+ jobs already gone. That's not including all the ones people are finding out about today and tomorrow.
Submitted by baron on Tue, 2008-09-30 14:32
Crikey... That's a significant hit whichever way you look at it. Hope you get your preferred outcome, whatever that maybe.
Submitted by Nibbles on Tue, 2008-09-30 14:40
Do you have a feeling which way it will go for you? Are you irreplacable? Is there something you do they might want to keep?
Submitted by brainwipe on Tue, 2008-09-30 14:43
The good thing about being a Medicinal Chemist is that you can work on any drug target (just about). Not so for biologists on the whole. They end up being specialised.
The bad thing about being a Medicinal Chemist is that you can work on any drug target. IE so can any of the others. We all work in the same disease area. Speciality comes from the stage you're at in the process, but in short. We are all fairly good at replacing each other. The only differing factors tend to be related to experience. There are more experienced people than me and there are less experienced people than me.
Luck of the draw and how nicely you smile at the boss I guess. I'm screwed :-/
Oh well, we'll see what happens. I'm not sure what I want to happen at the moment. If I do get the chop, I at least will get a reasonable pay off due to being there for so long.
Submitted by baron on Tue, 2008-09-30 15:01
If you are chopped then it might be that positive boon you need to do something new with yourself.
Submitted by brainwipe on Tue, 2008-09-30 15:59
Yeah, indeed. So although I am worried about the whole "I might lose my Job!!!!!" thing. I'm also thoughtful about what other things it could bring. It's kinda odd.
From other departments we're looking at 800+ jobs to go.
It's like watching some film or game where you get updates on people killed out of a population every half hour...
Submitted by baron on Tue, 2008-09-30 16:54
Good luck, one way or the other
Submitted by fish on Wed, 2008-10-01 09:13
Well the odds have changed slightly. We had a Dept meeting yesterday which went into more details about it all.
It seems that the grades to be hit heaviest are those that actually do the work. So the odds on my grade are now 1 in 3 to go. That's before you bring in politics and pregnancies, which make the odds worse.
I am in the enviable position of having 12 years time served, which means my redundancy package is 42 weeks of salary. As it's untaxed this gives me effectively a years salary.
With shares and savings that could be extended, especially if the mortgage was changed from repayment to interest only.
But in the context of it all if I wanted to change job within a year I would be better of financially if I take the cash and split than if I tried to keep the job and split anyway. I'm pretty sure I want to change job, so thinking that way, volunteering to go is the better choice to make.
The caveat is getting a job within a year. Can I do it? That'll be why the jump is still a scary one.... Part of me is a bit chicken. Leave? I grew up here...
Submitted by baron on Thu, 2008-10-02 10:05
If you can't get a job in a year, there is something fucking wrong with you. It'll give you loads of time to look, decide and get into something you're more interested in!
Submitted by brainwipe on Sat, 2008-10-04 21:36
Wow. Sorry to hear that mate. Also sorry its taken me an ice age and a half to get here. I have to log in more often.
While its never a good thing to hear, it sounds like some of the sting will be taken out of it. Any thoughts on direction?
Comments
If it's redundancy then good luck with the payment, if not then I'd probably sort out the CV just in case there is another round.
Are the jobs moving somewhere or is the company shrinking?
There has been a big budget re-jig within the company as a whole. The major departments that make up the company had to make bids for the money, with projected results for what they'd do with it.
Coupled with a general reduction in spending within the company and an expansion into China, there are losses over here. We have a meeting tomorrow where we hear more, but the general process is likely to be;
Wait 1 to 3 months whilst there is the "consultation" that follows a large number of redundancies at once. (Which won't actually achieve anything to save peoples jobs.)
Receive form.
Fill in form, extalling your virtues.
Wait a bit.
Find out results (probably in time for Christmas).
Serve Notice/Carry on Working.
All of which will be preceeded with a phrase along the lines of; "We know these are difficult times, but we know you'll still work hard for the company."
The 22 is just chemists in my bit. There are more in other bits. So far this year, we're looking at 100+ jobs already gone. That's not including all the ones people are finding out about today and tomorrow.
Crikey... That's a significant hit whichever way you look at it. Hope you get your preferred outcome, whatever that maybe.
Do you have a feeling which way it will go for you? Are you irreplacable? Is there something you do they might want to keep?
The good thing about being a Medicinal Chemist is that you can work on any drug target (just about). Not so for biologists on the whole. They end up being specialised.
The bad thing about being a Medicinal Chemist is that you can work on any drug target. IE so can any of the others. We all work in the same disease area. Speciality comes from the stage you're at in the process, but in short. We are all fairly good at replacing each other. The only differing factors tend to be related to experience. There are more experienced people than me and there are less experienced people than me.
Luck of the draw and how nicely you smile at the boss I guess. I'm screwed :-/
Oh well, we'll see what happens. I'm not sure what I want to happen at the moment. If I do get the chop, I at least will get a reasonable pay off due to being there for so long.
If you are chopped then it might be that positive boon you need to do something new with yourself.
Yeah, indeed. So although I am worried about the whole "I might lose my Job!!!!!" thing. I'm also thoughtful about what other things it could bring. It's kinda odd.
From other departments we're looking at 800+ jobs to go.
It's like watching some film or game where you get updates on people killed out of a population every half hour...
Good luck, one way or the other
Well the odds have changed slightly. We had a Dept meeting yesterday which went into more details about it all.
It seems that the grades to be hit heaviest are those that actually do the work. So the odds on my grade are now 1 in 3 to go. That's before you bring in politics and pregnancies, which make the odds worse.
I am in the enviable position of having 12 years time served, which means my redundancy package is 42 weeks of salary. As it's untaxed this gives me effectively a years salary.
With shares and savings that could be extended, especially if the mortgage was changed from repayment to interest only.
But in the context of it all if I wanted to change job within a year I would be better of financially if I take the cash and split than if I tried to keep the job and split anyway. I'm pretty sure I want to change job, so thinking that way, volunteering to go is the better choice to make.
The caveat is getting a job within a year. Can I do it? That'll be why the jump is still a scary one.... Part of me is a bit chicken. Leave? I grew up here...
If you can't get a job in a year, there is something fucking wrong with you. It'll give you loads of time to look, decide and get into something you're more interested in!
Wow. Sorry to hear that mate. Also sorry its taken me an ice age and a half to get here. I have to log in more often.
While its never a good thing to hear, it sounds like some of the sting will be taken out of it. Any thoughts on direction?