I’ve been made redundant three times in my career and it’s fair to say each time has been a vastly different experience. The first time was the summer of 2016 when I was working in a completely different industry, hospitality, to what I do now. The company I was working for had undergone a rapid expansion in the previous eighteen months and had been purchased by a much larger operator who had plans to close down underperforming locations. Unfortunately, my beloved Slough branch was one of those cut and I made the decision to return from my holiday a few days earlier as I didn’t feel that I could relax. Thankfully one of the “big 4” supermarkets in the UK were minority shareholders alongside the three sibling founders and they made the process as pain free as they could. The payouts were enhanced for all staff regardless of length of service for those who could not be re-deployed to other roles locally, HR staff engaged with those at risk and held transparent meetings. Of course, time off for interviewing was given and I was fortunate enough to secure a new role which started a matter of weeks after my employment was terminated.
Fast forward to the summer of 2019 and I had left hospitality following a feeling of burnout to start a new career as a recruiter supplying temp staff in the catering industry. The first nine months were hugely enjoyable until Lockdown hit in the spring. I was furloughed for 6 months and then summoned to a meeting that was bizarrely held in lovely local pieshop. I was blindsided when, at the end of the chat with my former Area Manager, I was told that the role I aspired to return to was now being made redundant due to the Furlough Scheme coming to an end in the next few days. As was the style at the time, the government u-turned and extended the scheme but my former employers had made up their mind. Compounded by being unable to receive my remaining holiday pay for several weeks due to a difference of interpretation in the policy surrounding Furlough it left a very sour taste in my mouth.
As soon as I left that meeting, in a state of shock, I updated my CV and started to apply for every role I felt I could be remotely suitable for. A local nursery were looking for a Cook so I dropped them a message on FB. The next day I went in for an interview and started the following Monday. 3 months later, in early 2021, I had found my groove cooking for tiny people when several staff were invited to a meeting to be told that the Nursery was downsizing their headcount due to numbers dropping and we were all immediately dismissed. I only ever viewed this role as a stepping stone to be able to pay rent however the immediacy following my previous redundancy really hit me hard. It also felt particularly cruel as there was zero consultation and several staff who left were mainstays of the business.
It took until the early 2022 that I found a role that felt right for me – recruiting for a company that has a major public sector contract. I’m still employed with them and due to a consultation early last year moved laterally into a procurement role which I feel that I’m really thriving in. My advice for anyone who is facing uncertainty is to realise that it isn’t personal, it’s an unfortunate fact of life that jobs are a lot less secure in the post-Covid era so redundancies are becoming more widespread. Obviously you will still have rent or a mortgage to pay but the right thing is out there for you and there are people out there who want to be able to help you.
This is an anonymous blog submission via our website.
