My company's retrenchment finally kicked start yesterday. The news that 53,000 staff to be cut worldwide has rocked everybody's life here.
The retrenchment for our business group, Global Wealth Management, first took place in the front/middle offices yesterday and today. The process is very simple and quick.
Firstly the staff will receive phone call and will be told to proceed to the meeting room., then he/she will see the manager and HR there. After a few minutes of discussion, the staff will go back, pack personal stuff and surrender his/her staff pass. He/she will be monitored by somebody from Control. An IT guy will help remove the staff's access to the company system and shut down everything. The whole process must be finished within 2 hours as required. Then finally the staff will be escorted out of office by the Control person. The actual process may vary a bit because I haven't experienced that yet! Sigh...
Many people cried when they saw their colleagues packing their personal stuff, because their colleagues were just gone like that in a sudden. And the most frightening part is when you are waiting anxiously for the phone call, like a prisoner waiting for death execution. You have no idea whether you would be the next. In this case, no matter what, we should be well prepared ourselves first. If it's coming, so be it, we can't change it.
Heard that there would be another round of retrenchment in Feb next year, just after we finish celebrating Chinese New Year. It sounds cruel, isn't it? Sigh....