More redundancies

[Scarlett]

Looks like I may not be the only one spending Christmas wondering about whether I have a job or not.

NTL redundancies (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/34120.html)

So far they're not saying where the jobs will go from...

[Nemesis]

Looks like I may not be the only one spending Christmas wondering about whether I have a job or not.

NTL redundancies (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/34120.html)

So far they're not saying where the jobs will go from...
Sad state of affairs really, I really feel for those in the firing line .... :(

[Defiant]

Hmm I wonder if there will be as many NTL employee's sticking up for them in the future

[homealone]

In my experience, it isn't the reality of being made redundant, that is worst, it is the worry of who it will actually affect.

The one time I was made redundant, the whole workforce was laid off, it wasn't nice, but at least we knew it was going to happen and affected everyone equally.

This scenario, of waiting to see where the axe will fall, is sheer torture - and I've been there as well, although luckily I kept my job.

- I sympathise with all the people who will have to spend the next 2 years 'looking over their shoulders'.

[James S]

The BBC website is quoted as saying there will be no forced redundancies, just natural wastage and phased job cuts.

I.e. People leaving or retiring, short term contracts etc.

But how much of the corporate spin is true???

[sonygeezer]

More here http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds12427.html

[bigitup_j]

well no point in having too many employees. but at least no-one (according to the bbc website) will be forced out the job, they will just move on...and not be replaced.

[Dee V. Bee]

Not being nasty here, but when companies join together there will always be an overlap of jobs.

But what really gets me is why do they announce job losses around Christmas???

I went to an ntl Xmas party a few years back and half the party guests had been given a 'Shaft-a-gram' the previous week. Basically they were put on 'Gardening leave' whilst their future was decided..

God was that a really s**t 'party' to go to.

[Chimaera]

Seems daft to me (I know it's probably down to money in the end!) but why get are ntl getting rid of staff when they can't maintain an adequate service level at times/places already? :( :shrug:

[Undisputedtruth]

I can remember a few years ago, when the financial times reported future redundancies of ntl employees. I was speaking to one of the CSRS about it. At the time, I was sympathetic to NTL employees and I tried to explain it to her. Naturally, being an ntl employee, she tried to treat me like an idiot, saying her job was save, redundancies were very unlikely, and that I shouldn't read everything in the press. Of course, me being me, I knew better and I certainly knew FT were not wrong on the matter of redundancies. Two months later, ntl officially announced the job cuts.

So the moral of the story is not to take notice of NTL employees' views and listen to the press as they are often right in the case of NTL.

[homealone]

well no point in having too many employees. but at least no-one (according to the bbc website) will be forced out the job, they will just move on...and not be replaced.

I bet thats what ntl hope, bigitup-j, 'cos then they won't have to lash out any money to pay them off.;)

The company I work for took over the business from the firm that made me redundant, since then we have merged twice, once with a smaller business and once with a de-merged part of a larger one. We have also taken over other companies. Through all of this, during the last 10 years, a lot of people have left & a lot have been made redundant.

Subjectively, the 'natural wastage' seemed to involve a lot of the best people, it has taken ages to get some of their skills back, those who smelt the coffee & could move on, did - and we lost an awful lot of 'do-ers'.

[Escapee]

homealone said "Subjectively, the 'natural wastage' seemed to involve a lot of the best people, it has taken ages to get some of their skills back, those who smelt the coffee & could move on, did - and we lost an awful lot of 'do-ers'"

Exactly the same happened in ntl, many good people left long before the "Planning for Growth" redundancies because they could see the course the company was taking. I left after 14 years without redundancy because they made going to work feel like hell, ans I am sure that was the big plan!


I would think that many of the smaller departments scattered around the country will suffer as they are now looking around to see who has no work, and in some cases employees have had little work for the past 3 years with no money to push forward new product development.

Many people in the smaller support/project based departments have been expecting the bullet for a while, one of my friends still working at ntl has been saying for months that he would be lucky if he made it past christmas.

The claim that none of the positions will be compulosry should be taken with a pinch of salt, allthough some departments actually had more than enough people willing to take the money and run in a recent small re-org a few months ago. Conditions have deteriorated so badly in some jobs that some long service employees would be only too happy to take the money and run. :disturbd:

[Dee V. Bee]

Thinking back..at the BBC in the mid 90's we were all called in one by one on the top floor of Television Centre and told if we had a job or not.

The decision was based on points. ie. How good you were as an Engineer, customer facing skills, etc.

We were never allowed to be told our points if we kept our job but then had to go back to the studios to find your mate had too little points.

Why am I saying this?? Well when companies join, in the case of ntl & cwc consumer division we gained a hell of a lot of extra middle management.

This should not have happened, and yes I know these people have families and mortgages but you should say right at the start.. How much are you going to contribute to the core business? Is your jobs going to keep customers happy and paying subs or what? Happy customers bring the money in and keep everything ticking over..