This is not a good way to start off the weekend.
First, you hear rumours of retrenchment.
It’s not just any bank, electronics or oil and gas company.
It’s a media company. Communications is its business.
It’s your company.
But there’s no firm news of what’s happening. Just tons of speculation.
Then you read the news.
Not news from your own company, which has a paper specialising in news for over 170 years, but from (TISG) Yahoo! Singapore and Bloomberg.
Two papers are merging. 5 to 10% of the staff may lose your jobs.
According to Yahoo! Singapore, 20 to 40 staff at The New Paper may be laid off.
Is it right that you learn of such news from other media when your own company, with its own media channels, have been deafeningly silent?
Your company just announced a 17.5% dip in full year net profit to $265.3 million.
Forecasts are not rosy either.
You’ve been reading and even writing about other people losing their jobs. But you never expected to be put in the hot seat so suddenly.
Such uncertainty, and the speculative manner of how you learnt about it, puts you on tenterhooks.
Will your life change after the coming Monday’s company townhall?
Will you be asked to leave on the spot, or given a notice period so you have time to find a new job?
Will you receive a compensation or retrenchment benefits for being let go?
How much will you receive and how long can the payout sustain your financial commitments?
If you’re over 40, it may be harder for you to find a new job.
You don’t know how long you’ll be unemployed for.
Who can you turn to in such a conundrum to know what you are entitled to, and what comes next?
So many questions. So many decisions.
But you hesitate to do anything besides worry and plan, because Monday is a day when anything can happen.
Are you over-worrying? Under-worrying?
The suspense is dreadful, but wait over the weekend you must.
What a way to start the weekend.
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Jules of Singapore writes about work, education, parenting, travel, world politics and local issues.
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Republished with permission from The Singapore Daily.