Home Redundancies

Womble · 08-09-2003, 15:51

There is a fax circulating from BECT union. It states there will be redundancies tomorrow. Does anyone know if this is true???

orangebird · 08-09-2003, 17:31

Quote:

Originally posted by Womble
There is a fax circulating from BECT union. It states there will be redundancies tomorrow. Does anyone know if this is true???

I can't believe BECTU would be so uprofessional as to circulate a fax before any redundancies are announced??

handyman · 08-09-2003, 17:50

British Earthquake Consortium for Turkey ??? what have they got to do with things??

i r confused

Graham F · 08-09-2003, 18:24

if it is true should people really read about job losses on a website first?

Womble do you have a copy of this fax or is it just word of mouth? I really don't think posting something as sensitive as this on a website is right at least not until ntl have told the people concerned!!

Marge · 08-09-2003, 20:59

We have been advised of some in the NWBU

Escapee · 08-09-2003, 21:32

There were 27 redundancies anounced in the ntl Celtic region on Friday, I waited until the announcement was official and posted a comment asking people to spare a thought for these people in a thread wishing the callcentre people all the best who were leaving on Friday.

The thread was edited as "Company confidential information" I guess some person in ntl complained about more bad news getting out! I was warned about them a few days before it was official and I waited until I saw the emails, letters and powerpoint presentation but I guess they want to keep bad news quiet.

7 service/Install Tech's, 1 Network Tech and 1 Switch Tech are being made redundant in South Wales as a result, people in other departments are saying they are also nervous at the moment as questions are being asked about workloads etc.

The department affected in South Wales will not be losing a single manager though despite the field managers looking after these techs being increased by about 400% in the last 12 months. I understand there is also a high percentage of people sick in the department with one guy off for about 2 years and one manager has 5 out of 12 technicians off sick at the moment.

He's not a very popular manager to say the least, and you would think that HR would have the sense to pick up on it!

Womble · 08-09-2003, 21:41

The letters have appeared on numorous fax machines and at different ntl locations. Quite frankly it sucks. Why give us a bonus then more lay offs. And as for the "motivation" bo****ks they can stick that up there a**e. How much did it cost for that!!. Could have saved a few jobs no doubt
Same old ****e.

Escapee · 08-09-2003, 21:51

Well Womble, I don't work for ntl anymore but I personally know the majority of people affected in the South Wales franchise.
I also know that they are only asking 1 network tech to go and I was told that 3 or 4 of them want to put their names forward, they have been squeezing the field people so much I guess there are many at the right age with the right amount of years service that just want out.

it's a pity that they want 7 install/service techs for voluntary, because I understand there is possibly no takers.

The meeting was apparently a little heated with questions being asked about all the new field operation managers that they appointed last year, 2 from CS and one from the Stores.

They were told that the managers are being kept to support the tech's with there problems! This caused a lot of laughter and apparently HR had to go to the back of the room to ask them to keep quiet, I dont think it made much difference because many of them knew they were going to be out.

A few other departments are feeling a bit shakey right now!

Womble · 08-09-2003, 22:02

How I wish I had followed the Telco path not the CATV one. There's more jobs in the telecom sector!!!!!

Escapee · 08-09-2003, 22:12

Womble said

Quote:

There's more jobs in the telecom sector!!!!!

I honestly think that's debatable, have a look on the jobsites and you wont find many SDH/Optical Network type jobs about these days. Have a search for RF and there is a more reasonable number about.

I am glad that I didn't totally go away from the RF component level bench work for too long, the company that I am currently work for is struggling to find good people with component level skills, it seems that many people left to join the great Telecoms boom and forgot their old skills overnight.

I know it sounds bad but many of the guys in Wales are under the impression that surviving this round of redundancies will only be a reward of further ones just round the corner, they are allready firefighting problems with temporary fixes and less people will eventually see the company in an even worse situation.

Womble · 08-09-2003, 22:17

Problem is I'm not "FORMALLY" trained in RF or RF principles. All I know I worked out as I went!!

Escapee · 09-09-2003, 07:50

I think the sudden upsurge in the Cable TV and Telco industry in the mid-late 90's meant a huge demand for service and network technicians, this resulted in people having career changes into this industry.

I am not knocking anyone who is able to take a career change because it's a difficult thing to do, but they were not helped by the poor long term training of their employers. Take ntl for example and their attitude of a few quick training courses and you are fully experienced! We all know that doesn't work on it's own and will only work if the individual is interested and wants to use the training as a base to further his/her knowledge.

I learn new things every day of the week, unfortunately it's easy to get into a rut (been there myself) and when time comes for a career change you find that the skills you have gained over the past x amount of years are not in demand by any other company.
It then becomes time for a career change, I had a few problems because my technical knowledge is far exceeding my formal qualifications and many companies want people with degrees and throw CV's like mine in the bin!

I looked at the market and decided that I had to concentrate my CV on the RF component level skills that I had not used for a 5 years of so, I then told a little white lie by saying that I had been working on the bench to component level quite recently. I was fortunate to be able to jump straight back into that role because of my hobby being Amateur Radio and constructing equipment.

I git a foot in the door and have ended up with a good position in a company with some very experienced professional people unlike many in another that I worked for.

I hope everything works out for you and I hope you are not affected by any redundancies in your area, but I would suggest looking at your skills and see what openings are about as an insurance policy. We are having difficulty now in filling three positions at my place of work, and you wouldn't believe how difficult it is to recruit dependable people with the right skills that will fit in.

Womble · 09-09-2003, 21:17

Well, I survived again. But one of the guys I started with 11 years ago has gone. Not sure whether to be happy or sad. As for the future, who knows?. Does anyone out there know of any places to get training on RF at reasonable prices. Some of the prices I have seen are out of this world (ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£300 a day!!)

Escapee · 10-09-2003, 11:59

Womble said

Quote:

Does anyone out there know of any places to get training on RF at reasonable prices. Some of the prices I have seen are out of this world (ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£300 a day!!)

The Open University have an RF module, having seen the notes I know it's a very good course but is mainly biased towards component level RF design.

I don't know of any other courses, it seems to be a subject that is being used more and more these days, but with less people skilled in the subject to carry out the work.