this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2024
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If there was one life experience I wish I can give to people, it's that experience of being fired because of restructuring.
Imagine doing your job well. Imagine even loving your work and your coworkers. Then suddenly, a behind-the-scenes convo led to your department being dissolved and you're out of a job. You didn't do anything wrong. You were just in it's way.
Welcome to life.
The only responsible thing for the working class to do is to form and maintain stronger unions and unite with all workers.
I'd prefer teaching this kind of thing.
Can't say this enough. The only way to have some kind of power as a worker is to unionize.
Decades ago working as an office drone I mentioned to a co-worker that every business should have a union and he laughed. Because trying to form a union is an uphill nightmare and there's always people happy to replace you when you inevitably get fired without cause (right to work BS) or for a clearly BS reason but it's legally covered ("your position is no longer necessary" or some other such slimy nonsense.)
Even if that were true (it's mostly just anti union propaganda.. and I'm not even sure this isn't propaganda bot I'm replying to. )
Until you unionize. It the equivalent of saying "I don't care enough about anyone else but me to bother. Even if it does hurt me in the long run."
Unions aren't a service you pay for like insurance. It's a thing you do with other people. Together. To protect one another because we're strong together.
Anti union propaganda focuses on the things it can attack, and distracts you from all the benefits.
I was a casualty of this mid-career. Made redundant in the middle of the covid pandemic. I managed to scrape things together and called a few contacts who helped me out and put in a good word for me. Helped me secure employment. I'm in a better environment now than I was back then. But it was a terrifying experience being made redundant at a snap of a finger.
Why would you wish this one anyone?
I work at a big company. We have tons and tons of problems to go solve that are getting little attention in addition to having a lot of redundant and/or "what would you say you do here" type positions. Most of this happens by accident, but it's nearly impossible to unwind and redeploy those teams. My guess is that the big reasons why is because of leadership not wanting to look bad - a mix of "why did you staff this to begin with?" and "why did you let this go on for so long?" When these groups are eventually found during a reorg they tend to be let go vs redeployed, which makes it even harder for the remaining groups to do anything. The cycle is truly silly.