Erm.... wow.
Yesterday there was a meeting with the 3 remaining UK members of my team and my boss with HR present. Through back channels I was under the impression this was going to be another "we are looking to see if you guys can be outsourced again". I wasn't that worried about it as the Indian portion of our team cannot cut it. Thats not just denial talking as they simply aren't up to the job. Currently they aren't skilled enough to provide the out of hours oncall support which is why the UK people still do it. So suffice to say I was somewhat boggled to be told that all 3 UK roles will be gone in 13 weeks. So in English my job doesnt exist in 13 weeks. Although I had previously been giving this some thought as to what I would do if I was offered this choice I was more than a little shell shocked. I believed it unlikely to occur and I would have plenty of warning if it did occur. In fairness the company are pretty good about helping those faced by this. I mean they will try real hard to find you another role in head office and you can even go and work in a store (its a supermarket chain) with your salary protected for a while. Even so to suddenly be faced with this after 18 years with the company was stunning. All the more so as frankly they simply can't manage without myself and one of my teammates. That may sound like arrogance but without either of us there its only a matter of time until a problem occurs that they just can't sort and when those problems can involve 30,000 cash registers its a little serious.
So I'm faced with what to do. I could place it safe and take another role in the company. Theres one role that I'm not really interested in but I could do as a fall back as they want me. Also on hearing the news a development area set about creating a job for me to persuade me to stay (they don't want to be forced to rely on the Indians) but it was very flattering. Of course I need to wait and see what that looks like if it appears. On the other hand I could take a fairly chunky sum of cash and head out into the wide world. One option with that would be to take some time off and perhaps spend 3-6 months out in LA with my girlfriend. Thinks are going.... ok on that front. Well by ok I'm going out to LA for the 3rd time running in 3 months. Its a funny situation as I really enjoy the time I spend with her but I think we both feel that the distance thing makes us both feel like we need to commit to something. Weird. Although I do feel reassured by the face that when I was feeling a little stressed by the job situation last night she was the one I wanted talk to so I could feel well.... less alone in the decision. Hmm that was phrased a little badly in that I know this is MY decision but I just needed someone to talk with. Ok that didn't sound much better. Well you get it :p
Sooooo what to do! hmmm
So I'm faced with what to do. I could place it safe and take another role in the company. Theres one role that I'm not really interested in but I could do as a fall back as they want me. Also on hearing the news a development area set about creating a job for me to persuade me to stay (they don't want to be forced to rely on the Indians) but it was very flattering. Of course I need to wait and see what that looks like if it appears. On the other hand I could take a fairly chunky sum of cash and head out into the wide world. One option with that would be to take some time off and perhaps spend 3-6 months out in LA with my girlfriend. Thinks are going.... ok on that front. Well by ok I'm going out to LA for the 3rd time running in 3 months. Its a funny situation as I really enjoy the time I spend with her but I think we both feel that the distance thing makes us both feel like we need to commit to something. Weird. Although I do feel reassured by the face that when I was feeling a little stressed by the job situation last night she was the one I wanted talk to so I could feel well.... less alone in the decision. Hmm that was phrased a little badly in that I know this is MY decision but I just needed someone to talk with. Ok that didn't sound much better. Well you get it :p
Sooooo what to do! hmmm