Musings on redundancy . . . . .

Woodsmoke

Well-Known Member
I'm about to be made redundant after some 5 years working for a big player in Oil and Gas. We're losing almost half of the engineers in the office, and the majority of them are scuttling about like cockroaches caught in the light trying to outshine each other in a bid to impress. Me? I couldn't care less about it, to be honest. I've harboured plans of my own for the last year or so and a nice wee redundancy package will help pay for them, as well as affording me the time to actually put them into practice.

It's funny how when the chips are down the knives come out though, isn't it? Makes you realise that the people you spent the vast majority of your time with really aren't your friends, and that the company that puts so much pressure on you, and takes up so much of your life, really couldn't give a toss when the bean-counters get their knickers in a twist.

Guess the point I'm making is that sometimes something out of your control happens to make you realise just how out of whack your life has become, and how important it is not to sweat the small stuff and have a think about what's really important in your life while you still have a chance to address it :thumb:
 
Plefty of us round this neck of the woods in this situation, albeit without the redundancy package.
Very true your musings on the people we work with, most of them will happily see you go under to save their own skins. I make a point of keeping 99% of so called colleagues at a distance. I've always felt it's an industry that breeds a***holes, but perhaps it's just the modern business world that does that. I for one long for the day when I no longer have to try and drag my body and a waterlogged survival suit into a raft every four years.
All the best with your future ventures Sir !
 
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There's been a massacre right across Oil and Gas right enough, hasn't there? I've been extremely lucky in that this is the first time I've fallen under the axe, and I at least have an alternative avenue I can take. It certainly makes you appreciate what's important though, that's for sure
 
I feel your pain and share your sentiments about "friends/colleagues " I had the same issue last September however was unfortunate enough to not be there long enough to be entitled to anything except an letter dropped on my desk when I arrived in one morning telling me how sorry they were.
at least you have other avenues and I hope things go well for you.

best of luck in the future
 
I'm about to be made redundant after some 5 years working for a big player in Oil and Gas. We're losing almost half of the engineers in the office, and the majority of them are scuttling about like cockroaches caught in the light trying to outshine each other in a bid to impress. Me? I couldn't care less about it, to be honest. I've harboured plans of my own for the last year or so and a nice wee redundancy package will help pay for them, as well as affording me the time to actually put them into practice.

It's funny how when the chips are down the knives come out though, isn't it? Makes you realise that the people you spent the vast majority of your time with really aren't your friends, and that the company that puts so much pressure on you, and takes up so much of your life, really couldn't give a toss when the bean-counters get their knickers in a twist.

Guess the point I'm making is that sometimes something out of your control happens to make you realise just how out of whack your life has become, and how important it is not to sweat the small stuff and have a think about what's really important in your life while you still have a chance to address it :thumb:

I joined the redundancy Q after working for the same family for over 36 years. However after the death of the main stay of the family ( a great man) the whole game changed and the back stabbing and those trying to make a place for themselves in the future all came to a head.

I came out with a payment, and after some 9 months 99% of the staff left or resigned. They had all had enough of the regime.

Me, well I already had the stalking business for nearly 30 years so I just pushed on and haven't looked back. I suppose what I am saying is that you have the right attitude towards it. Some look on it as the end of the world, others scuttle around (which I have also witnessed) ar// licking thinking they will be alright (usually not).

Its a new beginning, and further more you don't have to be at the beck and call of those who really do not care if you are loyal or not. Loyalty doesn't make money, and integrity is something most wouldn't know the meaning of.

I find that loyalty and integrity are the makings of a true good human being, unfortunately we have a few in the stalking world who are not of that persuasion either. But then you can always walk away from it if you work for yourself, where as in a paid job 9 times out of ten you have to work with them everyday.
 
Know exactly your point as being in the construction trade my world nearly fell apart at the start of 2008
Turned it round by having 6 months in NZ !!
One door closes and another one opens as the saying goes
Best of luck in the new venture
Regards
Jimmy
 
I wish you all the very best! like folk have said its been savage... We've weathered the storm but a service company we use extensively have really been hit hard, moral is rock bottom and your observations are spot on its every man for themselves! As Malxwal says the day i make my last trip to the beach cant come soon enough!
 
I got shafted by a MAJOR DUTCH OIL Company early on in my career.. it was a blessing in disguise! It was then I adopted Arthur Seaton's' philosophy on life " I'm out for a good time... all the rest is propaganda"...
the following 40+ years in the Oil & Gas Industry I focussed on the good time locations spending it on fast cars, loose women cold beer (the rest I wasted) ...but I had a good time ....balloaks to having a Career ! & I'm glad I'm out of it
 
Redundancy is a way of life these days been through a couple myself and never looked back. In a takeover situation I've seen the type of Brutus behavior but generally from the people you expect. To separate friends from people that you work with, see if you are still in contact after a year. My old boss did and now I'm working with him again and enjoying life. As one door closes another opens. Oil and Gas and mining has been taking huge layoffs in the last 2 years and it's a global phenomenon.
 
I'm about to be made redundant after some 5 years working for a big player in Oil and Gas.
Are you a Shell/BG employee?
I also work in the oil business and have been through two redundancy rounds in the last 18 months, but have come through them both unscathed. I must admit, I don't have a clue what I'd do if I was binned. I'd get by somehow, but a lot of non-oil jobs in this area have already been filled. I have a mate who's now a postie, and he loves some aspects of the job.
In the last round I was up against two others and one of the three of us would go. We're all mates, colleagues that are happy to socialize out of work, and we vowed that we wouldn't back-stab each other, and we didn't. Personal integrity is worth something to some folk.
It's funny that seemingly most folk in the oil game want to get out, but get sucked in by the wage. Whatever you move into next, good luck and I hope it works out.
 
been down the same road 2 times, and it still takes me back when your so called friends do this,

as malc says even the world of stalking and land retention the knifes come out,

happy to say I am past all this and happy to run around after my Lord and Lady to keep them happy....sod the rest in the nicest way

bob.

sorry I wish you well and keep your head up.
 
Are you a Shell/BG employee?

No, I'm GE Oil and Gas, Feugh. We've managed to avoid the worst of it so far, as I've been heavily involved in abandonment campaigns for the last year or so (all the 13 5/8 Great Yarmouth wells to begin with, but more North Sea stuff now) Best of luck to you. It's bound to turn around at some point, surely?

Cheers guys, your support and encouragement is appreciated more than you know! :thumb:
 
I'm about to be made redundant after some 5 years working for a big player in Oil and Gas.

It's a very difficult time in O & G here at the moment, the slowdown is hitting in all parts of the local economy.

I've harboured plans of my own for the last year or so and a nice wee redundancy package will help pay for them, as well as affording me the time to actually put them into practice.

Good on you for looking ahead. I planned early retirement for a few years and was able to go two years ago. Anyone in the Aberdeen area will know what the Ellon Road from the B & Q roundabout past the Exhibition Centre can be like in the commuting traffic, I don't miss it at all! For those who don't know, a bad day can be more than an hour for about 1 mile, a good day is 30 minutes.


.....the company that puts so much pressure on you, and takes up so much of your life, really couldn't give a toss when the bean-counters get their knickers in a twist.

Very true. I have been made redundant twice, the last time was particularly painful, a real kick in the teeth reward for a lot of very hard work and long hours. However it lead to bigger and better things which facilitated retirement.

Guess the point I'm making is that sometimes something out of your control happens to make you realise just how out of whack your life has become, and how important it is not to sweat the small stuff and have a think about what's really important in your life while you still have a chance to address it :thumb:

Once again very true.

Thanks for sharing this with us. Can you tell us what are you going to do?
 
Good luck with the new venture, Woodsmoke.

Not easy working in O&G. I look forward to the day when I go it alone or find something a bit more fulfilling.
 
Thankyou, gents :thumb:

Wapinshaw? I have in mind a wee catering business for a few things I make. I'll keep the details under my hat for now (forgive me for being cagey, no offense meant to anyone) but suffice to say I have a few secrets that set my produce apart from any potential competition. I can produce better-quality foodstuffs, using locally and ethically-sourced produce, and offer a fairly unique range of high-demand products at a very competitive price that should set me apart from the rest. I know that sounds a bit boastful, but feedback has been very good indeed and I've had a lot of encouragement from those who've tried my stuff. So much so, that the thought's been in my head for the last year or so to do something about it. I now have premises, suppliers, some avenues of distribution, licenses, cost-models and a business plan in place, so I'm getting closer to being able to hit the Big Green Button I see in my head. Imminent redundancy has just given me the push I need to actually get my finger out and progress things :lol:

And merely thinking about that Ellon Road makes me shudder! I often had to drive through to Dyce and Inverurie and that was bad enough. The thought of meetings at Silverburn House and Emstech used to make me wince :eek:
 
I have just had the same happen to me after 40+ years in the oil and gas industry, was made redundant as a contractor from Shell Iraq and now have semi retired. (No redundancy package there)
Great to be able to do all the things you could never get around to, like making a real butchers block for my wife and finally getting to clear up my barn, although the pile of 'useful' stuff is bigger than the junk pile.
Hopefully you can find a new position soon, although they are now going by word of mouth and who you know!!!!
Another 4 foxes bit the dust last week in the evenings after the silage fields were cut and rowed up.
 
Major companies just see human beings as a resource like nuts or bolts. I had a colleague retire after 42 years last year. His 25 year old boss expected him to do a full bays graft on his last day and then drop his van, phone. Laptop, etc. back to the office and get home under his own steam. This is a company that makes billions in profit each year and claims it's employees make the company.
 
Major companies just see human beings as a resource like nuts or bolts

Sadly that's all too true. I completed a fairly minor project early this year. Having seen the margins, the mark-up on that one job alone more than quadrupled my annual salary before tax. But when it suits the bean-counters to chop numbers . . . . . .
 
Major companies just see human beings as a resource like nuts or bolts.

Well they are! What makes you special if you are no longer needed? If it were a machine it would go to the scrap heap.
The trick is to keep yourself indispensable by any and all means necessary. Also, it pays to play the field. I read a long time ago that those who changed jobs every 3 years or so landed up with jobs that paid up to a a third more than those who showed loyalty to a company and stayed with them.
 
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