Random Irritations

[Arthur Wedge]

The company has done some “restructuring” since a JV started last year and for the last 8 weeks many of us have been on notice for redundancy due to roles going and skill pools reducing

over 500 are leaving this week and it’s quite sad to see all the leaving cards and messages from people who imo have been critical over the years for the business

Going to be interesting to see the grand plan of which work we will need to pick up

 

[Slab]

The company has done some “restructuring” since a JV started last year and for the last 8 weeks many of us have been on notice for redundancy due to roles going and skill pools reducing

over 500 are leaving this week and it’s quite sad to see all the leaving cards and messages from people who imo have been critical over the years for the business

Going to be interesting to see the grand plan of which work we will need to pick up

Hopefully that last line means you still have a job

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Hopefully that last line means you still have a job

Sorry yes , I was able to secure a role in the reduced pool in the team

It’s strange coming from the military where there is never any threat of redundancies etc

And since leaving in the last 12 years it’s been 4 restructures

 

[Slab]

Sorry yes , I was able to secure a role in the reduced pool in the team

It’s strange coming from the military where there is never any threat of redundancies etc

And since leaving in the last 12 years it’s been 4 restructures

Yeah I loathe restructuring, it never seems to serve the stated purpose and just a way of saving payroll costs (temporarily)

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Yeah I loathe restructuring, it never seems to serve the stated purpose and just a way of saving payroll costs (temporarily)

Oh it’s definitely cost cutting , we have three companies coming together and some job duplication but not in a lot of the areas that have been culled

 

[Hobbit]

The company has done some “restructuring” since a JV started last year and for the last 8 weeks many of us have been on notice for redundancy due to roles going and skill pools reducing

over 500 are leaving this week and it’s quite sad to see all the leaving cards and messages from people who imo have been critical over the years for the business

Going to be interesting to see the grand plan of which work we will need to pick up

It’s not pleasant for the junior partner in a JV. And although there is some protection via TUPE, the reality is consultation can start from day 1 of the new JV.

Restructuring loses institutional knowledge and unofficial internal support networks crumble. Too many companies see an order book and legacy customers - they’re a quick win but a long term loss. Cash wins and share dividends can look fantastic in year one & two but the whole merger has to be handled with kid gloves.

Restructuring should take a couple of years at least. They can create strong robust companies but leveraging the benefits of both sets of employees can be very hard work.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Weird how the sub conscious works.
Leaving the house this morning I felt a niggle that I was forgetting something but the usual wallet, keys, phone etc checklist was all in order as was switching stuff off before locking the flat… but niggle wouldn’t go away

Half an hour later, sitting in traffic and I realise I hadn’t put deo on after showering
(luckily I keep a can at work)

I have Dio on as part of my morning routine

 

[RichA]

MrsA only ever eats half a biscuit at a time, which is weird but not irritating.
What’s irritating is that she takes a Digestive out of the tin, breaks it in half, eats half and puts the other half back.
Every time.
She never just takes one of the halves she’s previously left. She has to snap a new one each time.

I can normally ignore it but we’ve got builders in and I’m stress eating so it’s a constant irritant at the moment.

 

[Pin-seeker]

People taking things way too seriously

 

[Bazz]

Son went on his first residential last week, just two nights, raft building, abseiling, zip wiring, that kind of thing. 6 to a room, bunk bed style.

Some of the complaints in the parents WhatsApp group:

Too many flies
Too many squirrels about (in a forest?!)
The room didn't have a fridge
Their clothes got wet from the raft building

 

[NearHull]

Sorry yes , I was able to secure a role in the reduced pool in the team

It’s strange coming from the military where there is never any threat of redundancies etc

And since leaving in the last 12 years it’s been 4 restructures

I went through a few military redundancy programs, mainly voluntary ( the 1st was in 1975) but also a compulsory one in the 1990s, which caused a lot of bitterness.

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

I went through a few military redundancy programs, mainly voluntary ( the 1st was in 1975) but also a compulsory one in the 1990s, which caused a lot of bitterness.

The one that occurred in 2012 saw something like 4.5k redundancies across the 3 services as well. There was a lot if angry people that were put out jobs then as well as many were in military housing so they lost their jobs and their homes. Tough watching people have to not only find work but also relocate their families at the same time with technically no ability to tell a future landlord they have a secure income as they still need to find jobs.

Redundancy is never nice though no matter what the sector.

 

[Sid Rixon IV]

...anyway...on to my irritation for the day.

Had a nice new front door installed a few weeks back with a great big brass knocker which sits right in front of any delivery persons nose.

Will said delivery people use the knocker? No. They give a soft tentative knock on the door itself which is inaudible to anyone not sat within 10ft of the front door.

I can excuse them for not noticing and using the big round doorbell which sites to the side of the front door....but the big shiny brass knocker right in front of their eyes?

Its almost as though they don't actually want you to answer the door so they can drop whatever it is they are delivering and run.

Au contraire!
I have a big knocker ( Enter Sid James et al).
If anyone actually uses it as meant, as opposed to a "Ding dong" of bell or tap at the door, my wife and I immediately assume we've been given notice of a police break in. It's quite deafening. I think callers assume them to be decorative rather than practical.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I went through a few military redundancy programs, mainly voluntary ( the 1st was in 1975) but also a compulsory one in the 1990s, which caused a lot of bitterness.

Can remember a volunteer one in the 90’s at one point but didn’t affect our trade at the time

With the numbers reducing over the last decade even further I guess there must have been some more

Almost makes me wish I signed on to 55

 

[PaulMdj]

Can remember a volunteer one in the 90’s at one point but didn’t affect our trade at the time

With the numbers reducing over the last decade even further I guess there must have been some more

Almost makes me wish I signed on to 55

The 90’s one was ridiculous, I was a young Lance Jack at the time and they had enough volunteers and didn’t need to force any compulsory redundancies.

We lost some absolute quality WO’s & SNCO’s which meant some of the wasters stayed around.

Always remember our CO complaining about the standard of SNCO’s after it was all over and done with and forgetting it was he who signed the voluntary paperwork.

 

[NearHull]

The 90’s one was ridiculous, I was a young Lance Jack at the time and they had enough volunteers and didn’t need to force any compulsory redundancies.

We lost some absolute quality WO’s & SNCO’s which meant some of the wasters stayed around.

Always remember our CO complaining about the standard of SNCO’s after it was all over and done with and forgetting it was he who signed the voluntary paperwork.

My memory isn’t on top of the issues in the 90’s, but I think that there was a compulsory redundancy where it was performance based. The result was a stigma on those that were made redundant and civvy firms were aware that they were not getting the best candidates. The following compulsory redundancy condition was a random selection, intended to make a cross section of abilities redundant to counter that civvy perception, but it was a bitter pill to take if you were the one randomly chosen. We also saw some highly rated personnel going whilst we had to retain some poorer performers.

 

[PaulMdj]

My memory isn’t on top of the issues in the 90’s, but I think that there was a compulsory redundancy where it was performance based. The result was a stigma on those that were made redundant and civvy firms were aware that they were not getting the best candidates. The following compulsory redundancy condition was a random selection, intended to make a cross section of abilities redundant to counter that civvy perception, but it was a bitter pill to take if you were the one randomly chosen. We also saw some highly rated personnel going whilst we had to retain some poorer performers.

In the Royal Engineers, certain specialist trades, of which mine was one, was only asked to make fewer redundancies than some other Cap Badges, because of the limited numbers required they asked for Volunteers first to see if the quota would be met, unfortunately it was and we escaped compulsory redundancies.

I had a good friend who was 2IC of the RE Diving School in Portsmouth, they had spent thousands on him getting him fit for role, 2 weeks in to the job he was selected for Compulsory redundancy, there was quite a fuss about the way they treated him and the thousands they’d invested in him, they lost the fight and the Corps lost him.

 

[KenL]

Son went on his first residential last week, just two nights, raft building, abseiling, zip wiring, that kind of thing. 6 to a room, bunk bed style.

Some of the complaints in the parents WhatsApp group:

Too many flies
Too many squirrels about (in a forest?!)
The room didn't have a fridge
Their clothes got wet from the raft building

Why is everyone SO precious these days?

 

[D-S]

Why is everyone SO precious these days?

Maybe they always were but didn’t have access to a WhatsApp group, now everyone can see how precious they are.
Social media gives us too much insight into sad (and worse) people’s lives and thoughts.

 

[KenL]

Maybe they always were but didn’t have access to a WhatsApp group, now everyone can see how precious they are.
Social media gives us too much insight into sad (and worse) people’s lives and thoughts.

In the past, parents didn’t complain that their kids got wet whilst on an outdoor adventure surely?