It happened slowly, in that I knew it was coming, but I didn’t really 
believe it was serious. It did not make sense, why would I be asked to leave. Everyone liked me, I was well respected and good at my job. It had to be a mistake. The company would wake up and see that this was not the correct direction to go, and ask me to stay. There were people in my department and others, who had expressed these sentiments to me.
I am indispensable
It seemed like I was indispensable. Since arriving in the office, I streamlined the scheduling of personnel, collated the metrics and improved training of personnel. I received bonuses for my work over the years, each one another stroke to my inflated ego. What could be better.
Train your replacement please
This is a common theme in corporate culture. Initially in order to be successful you are asked to fit in and excel at your job. It is not until you have done this and are well-established and well on your way that you are asked to cut your own throat. It comes out something like this. “You are doing a really good job and we would like you to become a mentor to some of our younger employees”.
There it is, the initial of 1000 cuts towards your death in the company. The best part is you do not know this is happening. The title “mentor” is presented to you like a badge of honor, and you are proud to wear it. Wow, I am a “mentor” the company like what I am doing and they want me to pass along my methods to others. This is great, it cannot get better than this – can it?
Build us a manual with all of your knowledge
You have made it to mentor and are helping those who come after you. The corporation is figuratively slapping you on the back and saying “great job”. There is just one thing more. We need to you build a manual to help us make decisions on the fly. Something we can use like a bible for our trainees, where there will be “No independent thought required”. “Once we have this manual we can utilize it to help train everyone else who is coming up through the ranks”. Again, this is presented to you as an accomplishment. Your expertise, your thoughts and going to be used to help others. This is the best.
The Industry is changing – sorry about that
Here we go, just when things were looking rosy, the bottom falls out of the oil business. I finally made it into the office. A respected member of the team, I trained personnel, mentored many, and none of it mattered. It was time to go. Large corporations say they are only as strong as their people. Don’t you believe it, as soon as there is a downturn in the industry, large corporations are as strong as their accountants say they are. Accountants know that downsizing and cutting costs is the way forward.
Just like that I went from being an asset to a cost. You don’t want to be a cost to your company. Unfortunately, because I was working overseas, it did not matter how good, nor how much my team wanted me to stay. I was replaceable with a national. There were local employees who could fill my shoes for less and the company was all about less at this time.
Out the door with a wing and a prayer
OK here we go, the door beckons and everyone is smiling and saying that they have enjoyed working with you and appreciated all the work that you have done to make the transition easier. All I want to do is get through the door and lick my wounds. I have been made redundant before I was ready – now what do I do? I must admit I had high hopes in those early days. I was leaving on what seemed like a high note. I lasted ~2 years already through the down turn in the business. How much longer could it go on. My confidence was high that something would turn up within the next year and I would be back to work in no time.
The first 6 months
The first 6 months went by in a fuzzy world of relax and dabble. I deserved a vacation, so I took one. I was not worried, I had money saved and things would definitely be returning to normal soon. The internet beckoned, every day it was possible to spend hours reading emails, or checking out articles. Learning had never been so much fun and relaxing. Keeping this up would be a breeze.
The first 6 months flew by, I rode my bike, went swimming, spent time with my family. Halcyon days, I enjoyed them all. I looked around for some work. There was none out there in my industry. Many people that I knew well had already been out of work for over 18 months and they had not seen any work on the horizon. It was not a problem, something would come along, it always does. “I was looking for a job when this one came along”. This is a common phrase in the contractor business.
A Year has gone by, where is my new job?
>> A year slipped by, where did it go?
>> What did I accomplish?
>> Where is my income stream?
I had none of the answers to these questions. The first year went by in a blur. I wish I could say that I spent all of my money on wine women and song, and wasted the rest, but it would not be true. I conserved, I did not take holidays, we cut back on what we were eating. We spent time at home. Still, the money ran out of my bank account like water down the drain. I felt like the swimmer caught up in a rip tide. If only I could swim parallel to the shore, I could eventually angle towards dry land. I would be safe. Eventually I would reach the beach, and life would go on. But, I kept going into deeper and deeper water, I could not break the tide that was consuming me. Help.
Not what I expected
Is this what it costs to run my household? Wow, something has got to give, we cannot continue to live like this. I had not expected to deplete so much so fast. Time to slam on the brakes. We were already economizing, what else could be done?
Sell, sell, sell. Everybody has things – right. Those possessions that we acquire over the years, that pile up in the corners of our homes. I could sell some of those and make money. Easy, no hassles and no fuss. Yes, finally a way to stem the tide, a way to put $ back into my pockets.
Hold on there a minute, what has value to me, is not valuable to someone else with money. It seems that all along I missed the boat. I was not supposed to be acquiring things, money, was what should have been accumulating.
Conclusion
If you think you are ready for the unexpected you may be, I certainly was not.
Redundant before I was ready. It does not seem such a bad thing, however it turned out to be a nightmare for me. I was no where near ready for a year off, let alone retire, and this past year has proven it. Something had to give, and I was not sure that it would not be me. I continue to research the internet every day, looking for that magic bullet with my name on it. Everything that I have read so far leads me to believe that I need to work harder than I have ever done before. I will be presenting ideas and thought for all of you who find yourselves in the same leaky boat that I am in. I am plugging the leaks as fast as I can, and only hope that my ship will be seaworthy before I run out of money.