Over the course of the past year the company that I work for has put the arm of the business that I work for up for sale. When the announcement first came down in a town hall meeting, I was here less than six months, and I looked around the office trying to survey the faces of my coworkers for the same panic that I was feeling. I have been thru a restructuring and job loss before, with GMAC, and of course my fears might have been heightened by that but no one in the room seemed phased by the whole announcement.
Now with the sale confirmed to be taking place on November 1st our future is up in the air to some degree. The purchase of our business is a huge undertaking for our new owners and although they work in our industry the scope of our business is overwhelming, to say the least. That being said, their corporate office is currently in Toronto, not Halifax like my existing office.
Yesterday was a key day in the process for the group of employees that I am a member of. There were meetings yesterday, which was basically an information gathering process, but the reality of the transaction about to take place was brought to reality for many of my coworkers. And with that reality came a lot of fear and borderline tears for some when they thought about the fact that this new company has no ties to our currently employees and we may get left behind. All the years of work some have put in; the unpaid overtime and personal sacrifices they thought they were making to further their career may have been for nothing. Even our bosses are showing signs of fear. It's terrifying.
Today we have to try and get back to regular business and keep pushing thru and hope that our meetings had a positive impact on our future operations. I'm hoping I am not back on the job hunt again. I was never one who liked change and since March 2008 I have already had four jobs. The anxiety of being potentially unemployed is building within me and I don't know what to do. BUT, I am a HUGE believer that things happen for a reason and this may be a change in the path that I need to undertake in order to be more fulfilled. Perhaps this is when I will go back to school and start over; something I have been thinking of for some time. Here's hoping if my office is shut down I'm moving onto something better.
1 comment:
Ouch. I've been through a few of those restructuring/business sale/hostile take-over moments over the years and fear does take over. You are right - things happen for a reason, so although it may seem scary at first, it will all work out in the end. Good luck!
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