I should be grateful. I had forgotten and was reminded, very gently, that people in corporate world do not exist. They are assets. Numbers. Resources. They are required to perform certain tasks in exchange of salary. Very often (despite the constant discontent of some) good salary. Those assets are supposed to loudly believe that their company cares about them. It is not a bad exchange. Employees pretend to care about corporate policies (while performing their daily duties) and the corporate pretends to care about its employees (while seeking every possibility for decreasing the costs of their operations).
Every job I was doing for a
corporate company was outsourced from the company’s homeland. Their people did
it first, before they become too expensive in the eyes of the shareholders.
Then it was our turn to shine. And we did. Very often outperforming the
original resources quite a bit. However, it was always clear this trend must
continue. One day we would become too expensive and some other country would seek
to outperform us (while we would see them as cheap impostors without the necessary
skillset). It does not really matter whether the risk of degrading quality for
the sake of lower expenses has already begun or no. What does one do when
facing the possibility of having their contract terminated?
I knew something bad would come. For
the past few years, my employer was acting like a kid with a credit card in a
candy shop. Buying other companies left and right. Especially if those had
nothing to do with the original business. And some of those were REALLY expensive.
With every new purchase, my employer would need to downscale their debt by saving
more money each month. And what is the quickest way to save money? Fire people.
The more people you have, the bigger the chances of saving a fortune. There is
always some rational explanation for not needing someone any longer.
But there are also some that cannot
be fired. Thousands of those whose position would erode in the effort to make
daily operations more efficient. They are protected by their unions.
Untouchable. No matter how fast or good they work. You cannot be rude to them.
You cannot substitute them (even if it saves you 2 days of waiting). They are
part of the corporate culture. And everyone should love their corporate culture.
Every round of getting rid of huge number
of employees is called transformation. Sometimes there is a logical reason for
it. But the primary objective is not to make operations more efficient. It is
to save money. We are one more time waiting for our beloved company to do a bit
of transformation activities. And although I have always felt important enough
not to be threatened by these, the fear has finally caught up with me. Will I
be next? I have no idea. Until they start announcing the names, I can only hope
there is some logic behind the selection that would save me.
I know, I know. All the hate and
negativity directed towards the corporate world and I still have the nerve to hope
my contract would not be terminated. I do not detest working for an
international company. Yes, there are things I might not enjoy and could make
fun of; however, I still enjoy the benefits I am receiving for my time spent
working for such company. I do not fear unemployment. I am just afraid that all
the shit I have been through with this employer will end up with me having to
get used to other shit. Call it conservative but I do not want to go. Still,
better to be fired than to be the person responsible for firing.