Disgrunted Employee

An Employees Gripe

Billy has had the same routine for the last 17 years. Monday through Friday eight to five, Billy would wake up every morning and take the same route to work. That ended one week ago. Billy was told the duties that he performed for the company were no longer needed. Laid off and dumbfounded, he wondered when loyalty and long term commitment should come into the picture when laying employees off. The answer for him was simple, never.

Billy feels that if an employee dedicates his or herself to an organization for more than 12 years, they should never have to experience the feeling of being laid off. Being able to receive some sort of job security can be a reward to an employee who has fulfilled commitments for the company, long enough for the organization to keep him or her. Without job security, employees will be left to ponder whether or not they are safe with their employment. In this case, Billy felt he had no reason to ever fear the loss of his job because of the years and commitment he has given to the company.

The maintenance worker known as Billy, had worked in the facilities department at a worldwide corporation. He was laid off due to a move to a different facility location. In the lease for the new building the company would receive a package that would have different vendors keep the building maintained rather than wasting costs for having people on site to handle building issues. This leaves many employees in the department of facilities, primarily the maintenance crew, without a job in a matter of ten months.

In a previous email to all employees, the company stated that within a month they would give the employees some good news. When the email was sent about the plans to move, it was clear to see that it was news that would benefit everyone included with the move, one that would not be was Billy. This news will not only affect Billy but his family as well. Being that he is the only provider for his family, he now needs to devote his time to finding other employment. Companies will continue to do what is best for their organization's future, but the major complaint the employee has is loyalty. Given that Billy has given his devotion to the company for the last 17 years, he felt it would have been in his best interests to receive the news to look for a new job from his manager rather than through a phone call from another employee. A professional company has left a majority of their workers for now to wonder, do they really care about their employees? In Billy's situation they the company has shown by action that they do not care about their own employees.

Employees who have been employed with the same company for the majority of their career are being downsized (USA Today). This was the maintenance man's first real job. He was using the company as a stepping stone to advance within the company through the years. Upon finding out the news, he couldn't help but ask his manager about the status of his employment. Dumbfounded, the manager of the department, Peter Garcia, stated, "It is true, and although it's tough, at least you'll have ten months to find work". After the talk with the manager the employee felt betrayed and for the first time did not want to go to work the next day. He was led to believe that the professionalism of the organization