August 26, 2010
Dear Everyone:
Things I haven't been mentioning...
There's something going on at work called "The
ROM". If you've never gone
through a "ROM", consider yourself fortunate.
If you have experienced a "ROM", God Bless You.
"ROM" stands for "Resource Optimization
Management". And you're
thinking, "Huh?"
It used to be called "Ranking".
Our Dad used to refer to it as "the day I have to play God."
You have a number of employees (the "Resources" in
question.) You have to
decide which employee "ranks" higher or lower than all the other
employees. Never easy.
Lots of companies have come up with mechanisms to deal with it
and "Resource Optimization Management" is the most popular, at least
where I work.
"ROM" happens around the beginning of each year,
based on the work performances of the various employees from the
previous year. But this
"ROM" is different.
Remember when the
bottom dropped out of the economy
a couple of years ago? A
bunch of bankers played fast and loose with regulations and their idea
of what constituted "risk-to-reward-ratio" and suddenly found themselves
stuck with "toxic assets".
The Stock Market
tumbled.
Things weren't worth what they had been a few months before.
In particular, homes weren't worth what they had
been, or what they had seemed to be.
Lots of people found themselves "underwater", meaning the house
they were living in could not be sold for what they owed the bank on it.
(On the plus side, that's how I was able to buy my current condo for as
"little" as I did. Every
cloud has a silver lining.)
Companies also found themselves facing financial
hardships. Supply-and-demand
dried up in some areas. For
example, demand for xxx-based products got a little shaky.
People without jobs tend to use less transportation.
And suddenly, there was a lot of talk about
"accelerating downstream".
"Downstream" means refining and marketing of xxx-based products.
A global drop in demand demanded a financial response.
We call it "downsizing".
But "downsizing" has a lot of (well-earned)
negative connotations. So
management avoids the term, if not the reality.
They're cutting jobs big-time.
Thousands of them.
The Company is using the situation as an excuse to cut the size of the
workforce.
Hence, the “ROM”.
It has become a verb as in, “You’ve been ROMmed.”
The ROM is actually in two parts.
ROM 1 concerns management and supervisors above a certain pay
scale. It actually took
place earlier this month.
The people who got to “keep” their jobs know it by now.
Those who were “left standing” are now free to “participate” in
ROM 2, that’s the one that concerns the “little people” as in us.
ROM 2 starts next week when they “release” the new
job descriptions. Expect the
planet to tilt slightly next Monday when thousands of employees go to
the website to download the new descriptions.
Actually, we kind of know what the jobs are going
to be. Our manager gave us a
sneak preview of the new organization chart last month.
It’s pretty obvious that most jobs have been unilaterally
“demoted”, set to a lower pay scale group than before.
Anyone desperate enough to hold onto their job isn’t going to
quibble about a “demotion”.
They get to keep their current salary, they just won’t see any
promotions for a long while.
That alone will save the Company millions.
On the Plus side, our jobs (“IM Tech Consulting”)
still exist in the new organization.
On the Down side:
They exist in a call center in the
Philippines.
Now I know what you're thinking:
You've been down this road before.
True; I've been through a number of "layoffs", "downsizings",
"ROMs", etc. Up until now,
I've been lucky. (That's
"lucky", spelled "y-o-u-n-g-e-r".
Now I'm less lucky.
That's "unlucky" spelled "o-l-d-e-r".)
There’s little doubt that the younger employees
will be offered the jobs that still exist here in the
Bay Area.
Yes, it’s age discrimination.
And yes, the Company can get away with it.
That’s a big part of the whole point.
So tomorrow I plan to try and talk to my “personal
financial assistant” (someone in a call center working for the company
that manages my retirement plan) to see if I can “afford” to retire.
By the end of next month I will be officially 59-½ years old.
There’s something in the rules about retiring that change at that
age. One of my co-workers
took a day off this week to talk with her more corporeal financial
advisor.
Did I mention the “severance package”?
That’s a bit of money that you get if you are “laid off” and
don’t make any waves about it.
It’s two weeks’ salary for every year you’ve worked for the
Company up to a limit of 52 weeks.
In other words: At my
age, it’s a year’s salary.
Her financial advisor said:
“Take the money and run.”
I’m hoping mine says the same thing.
I’m also hoping to know more by next week.
In the meantime, keep a good thought.
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |