Re-hiring

[Lolrence]

What do you think of a company that re-hires employees?

Let's say the company fired you, be it due to the bad economy, or your position is not needed at that time.. However, they decide to hire you back after a period of time (provided you've not found a job yet).. Will you take up the offer? If not, why?

Personally, I feel that the company don't value the employee at all... When they need you, they're all nice on you. When you're not needed, they lay you off. I admit I've not been working long enough to see enough of such things happening... and I do know that after all, business is business. What is your view?

P.S. I'm not the one in that position, but my co-worker is.

 

[flipfreak]

ask for a higher pay if they want u back. money talks. bull$hit walks.

 

[Submarine71]

I had a few friends got retrenched with benefit. (Each year of service get 1 month pay), they got quite a handsome cheque. 3 months later, HR manager called them all to report back to work if they want, same pay same position, same benefit. So if you were they, will you take the job back?

 

[cheryl852]

i think reality is harsh. if you're desperate for money/job, i'm sure you won't hesitate to take back the job.
or else eat wall and wind to live meh??

i'll take back provided i'm jobless.

 

[CS TAN]

I don't think it is a bad thing. This shows that the company still value the person's ability. If I retrenched a staff with inferior performance, I will definitely not getting him back to work or me.

After working for over 30 years and with the same company for 20 years, I can tell you that loyalty should not be taken into consideration when you decide on a career move. Both side's obligation to the other party is only one month notice so don't feel bad if the company give you the one-month notice to retrench you since you will be giving the same notice to the company if you have found a better opportunity elsewhere.

A job is just a job and if the company that retrench you ask you back, then look at what you have on hand and if you don't have anything better than the one on offer, why not accept it. After all, you can still give the one-month notice if and when you find a better job. Take it rather than sitting there doing nothing with no income.

 

[Lolrence]

ask for a higher pay if they want u back. money talks. bull$hit walks.

Like your quote :bsmilie:

 

[Lolrence]

I had a few friends got retrenched with benefit. (Each year of service get 1 month pay), they got quite a handsome cheque. 3 months later, HR manager called them all to report back to work if they want, same pay same position, same benefit. So if you were they, will you take the job back?

What line are they in?

 

[Lolrence]

i think reality is harsh. if you're desperate for money/job, i'm sure you won't hesitate to take back the job.
or else eat wall and wind to live meh??

i'll take back provided i'm jobless.

Ok, maybe I wasn't specific enough... the company has not promoted him for a long time... so would you rather try another company even though you might have to wait a while?

 

[eyes]

好馬不吃回頭草 (a good horse does not turn back on it's gaze)

We're better than horses. :bsmilie:

 

[Lolrence]

I don't think it is a bad thing. This shows that the company still value the person's ability. If I retrenched a staff with inferior performance, I will definitely not getting him back to work or me.

After working for over 30 years and with the same company for 20 years, I can tell you that loyalty should not be taken into consideration when you decide on a career move. Both side's obligation to the other party is only one month notice so don't feel bad if the company give you the one-month notice to retrench you since you will be giving the same notice to the company if you have found a better opportunity elsewhere.

A job is just a job and if the company that retrench you ask you back, then look at what you have on hand and if you don't have anything better than the one on offer, why not accept it. After all, you can still give the one-month notice if and when you find a better job. Take it rather than sitting there doing nothing with no income.

I think the 1 month thing is not followed by everyone... My friend works in a SG company (based out of SG though), he only had 2 weeks notice.

And I'm not working in SG now, when people get layed off here, it's right on the spot, they've to leave on the same day, usually within a few hours. They do get a good severance pay though.

So am I right to say that most companies don't believe in keeping employees even though they've been working there for a long time?

 

[Lolrence]

好馬不吃回頭草 (a good horse does not turn back on it's gaze)

We're better than horses. :bsmilie:

No wonder you're called 'eyes' :bsmilie:

 

[CS TAN]

I think the 1 month thing is followed by everyone... My friend works in a SG company (based out of SG though), he only had 2 weeks notice.

And I'm not working in SG now, when people get layed off here, it's right on the spot, they've to leave on the same day, usually within a few hours. They do get a good severance pay though.

So am I right to say that most companies don't believe in keeping employees even though they've been working there for a long time?

In SG, most retrenchment action also taken on the same day but the company will give 1 month salary in lieu of the 1-month notice.

Usually the ones that get retrenched are the long serving employees. Do you know why? It is because they are the most expensive as compare to the job they are doing. The company can easily find a much younger staff and give them above market rate and still save money when they replace the long serving employee.

Due to the current economic situation, retrenchment is the easiest way to realize the cost savings mandated from the HQs. So, most company will take the easy way out. I have done this to my staff so that is why I said loyalty should not be taken into account when one consider a career move. The company won't consider that either when they need to retrench staff.

 

[CS TAN]

好馬不吃回頭草 (a good horse does not turn back on it's gaze)

We're better than horses. :bsmilie:

I think it should be graze (feeding on grass) instead...

 

[archlover]

if i didn't have a job right now or working in other company with lower pay and i like the old place better... why not

 

[Lolrence]

In SG, most retrenchment action also taken on the same day but the company will give 1 month salary in lieu of the 1-month notice.

Usually the ones that get retrenched are the long serving employees. Do you know why? It is because they are the most expensive as compare to the job they are doing. The company can easily find a much younger staff and give them above market rate and still save money when they replace the long serving employee.

Due to the current economic situation, retrenchment is the easiest way to realize the cost savings mandated from the HQs. So, most company will take the easy way out. I have done this to my staff so that is why I said loyalty should not be taken into account when one consider a career move. The company won't consider that either when they need to retrench staff.

Isn't it going to slow down the work a lot since someone new (and probably inexperienced) have to pick up after them?

Ok, loyalty aside (I don't believe in it either, after everything I've seen), I think if I'm in that position and I'm hired back, I probably would have developed a more cautious view about the company... might not even consider working extra hard to get work done well.. since I don't feel secure and they can lay people off anytime again.

 

[CS TAN]

When I say someone new, I don't mean green horns. e.g. if I need an IT Helpdesk support person, I need someone with 2-3 years of relevant experience so for a long serving staff with 15 years doing the same job, that guy will definitely be a lot more expensive.

When people work hard for a company, it is usually not done out of loyalty, sometimes they want to learn more and eventually get a better job and move up or move on if there is no internal position available. But in most cases, it is because they cannot find something better elsewhere and loyalty is just a good excuse to make themselves less unhappy.

Of course, if the person upgrade himself during that 15 years and move up the career ladder and become a Helpdesk manager, then the person might not be considered expensive since we are talking about a totally different job description all together. What I am referring to are those people staying on the same JD for a long time and they become expensive.

 

[2evans]

Isn't it going to slow down the work a lot since someone new (and probably inexperienced) have to pick up after them?

Ok, loyalty aside (I don't believe in it either, after everything I've seen), I think if I'm in that position and I'm hired back, I probably would have developed a more cautious view about the company... might not even consider working extra hard to get work done well.. since I don't feel secure and they can lay people off anytime again.

It's short sightedness by management. Easiest way to cut cost is to cut people. Cutting higher earning people cuts even more cost. But they fail to realize that they need to train people to fill these more experience roles and also when the economy picks up, they have to retrain more people...

 

[CS TAN]

Of course, there are a lot of reason other than salary when people consider whether they want to stay with a company or not but loyalty is usually way down the list.

- the prospect of career advancement
- the boss that you have to work under
- location (distance from home)
- the company culture

just to name a few.

 

[CS TAN]

It's short sightedness by management. Easiest way to cut cost is to cut people. Cutting higher earning people cuts even more cost. But they fail to realize that they need to train people to fill these more experience roles and also when the economy picks up, they have to retrain more people...

Sometimes this is true but sometimes it might not. If the company has a messenger (delivery person). How much difference will there be between a 15 year old veteran as compare to a person with 1-year experience? The 15-year old staff will definitely cost a lot more with the annual increment and cost of living adjustments that he has been receiving.

 

[Lolrence]

Of course, there are a lot of reason other than salary when people consider whether they want to stay with a company or not but loyalty is usually way down the list.

- the prospect of career advancement
- the boss that you have to work under
- location (distance from home)
- the company culture

just to name a few.

I never understood why the 'distance from home' is a factor, as long as the employee has been on time.