Don't Shoot The Messenger

We all know what the world is going through. Wars all over the place, energy crisis, global warming, species getting to the "endangered" zone and of course, the global financial and economic crisis.

Oh yeah, the last word has been the buzz word since October 2008. They say that the global financial crisis is as comparable as the Great Depression back in the 30's. We see in the news that the US freaks out every time the stocks plummet and Europe's also going down the drain. Asia is relatively feeling the money crunch, particularly in Japan and Singapore. China, as a world of its own, is more focused on domestic growth. So yeah, despite the tainted milk, they're pretty good.

Here in the Republic of the Philippines, we ain't feeling it that much. One of the reasons is because we're not into capital markets and just like China, we're also into domestic growth and infrastructure development. In fact, investment in BPO is growing. So yeah, resilience is still in the air, we're good, for now? Hmmm...

But because of the fact that multinational firms got totally affected in this recession, investments in developing countries (oh yeah and that includes RP) is somehow affected. There has been a change in the demand and supply of the business. These days, although there is greater supply, there is fewer demand. That includes services.

Last Thursday was the D-Day in the company. D-Day, well I call it the Dark Day. Well, even if the company's finances is doing okay and was good in the last fiscal year, there has been a change of demand of skills & capabilities from clients and in conclusion, there's an imbalance of workforce. There were 500 peeps who are in bench or "beached" (some call it that) for how many months. In SGV, you'll call that PD. In other words, they didn't have a project. In the end, the company's thankful for the services they've rendered and they became part of the redundancy program, all 500 peeps.

Oh yeah, did I tell you I was one of the notifiers?

As much as I didn't want to, I was required to do such. It was a baptism of fire for me as I have been in the company for almost 3 months but more than that, this was one of the most earth-shaking moments in my career as an HR professional. It was a heck of an experience.

I mean who wants to be the messenger of the bad news? I don't! As in I didn't want to! I mean being a sunny, hyper and uber-energetic gladzalwayshappy that I have been, to be assigned as the bearer of the heavy news was a challenge, or to put it bluntly, it was an effin drag! Those who were required to notify didn't like the task that was asked to do, but someone had to do it. Well there was a script, so yeah, as much as you would think, not bad right? Well that's what I thought. But there's something more. I just had to witness all the drama.

Together with my partner, we were assigned to notify 6 people. To say the same thing to 6 people with different lives was such a stretch. But here's what I can't forget. The 4th person, a girl, almost my age, sat down and we started to narrate the notification. Then I saw her eyes started to turn glassy, so I brought out a pack of tissue. She broke down into tears and uttered these words that made me stare, out of shock.

"Single mother ako, paano ko pakakainin at paaralin yung anak ko kung wala akong trabaho?! Di ko pa nga nakukuha last pay ko sa dati kong trabaho eto nanaman, last pay uli."

As much as I wanted to be emotional about this, I had to look professional. But seriously, I was crying inside.

Then there was this guy in his late 20's. After the "meeting" he grabbed his phone and said:

"Anak, uuwi ako ng maaga, kasi wala ng trabaho si Daddy..."

Not only it was a difficult day for those who got affected, it was hard for us, it was hard for me. From then on, I started to have hard-hit realizations. I made some self-declarations. We have to love our jobs. As corporate sluts, at this point in time, we gotta snug ourselves into this security blanket. But more than loving our jobs, we gotta be proactive in our work. We have to save more and spend less. So no more inappropriate spending. We gotta think of alternative ways to earn money. So yeah, I'm thankful for my part-time teaching job and I think I should start selling pretzels and empanadas. Hehehe!

Then last Saturday, after a long day at school (coz it's midterms and gotta do some paper checking and grade tweaking), I heard mass at our chapel. It was Sto. Nino day. Part of my prayer was for the 500 peeps who got affected. I prayed that someday, they'll have a brighter future for them and for their families. I also thanked God for giving me jobs at the last quarter of 2008 and thanked God for my supportive group in HR. I also thanked God for my parents, who have been endlessly supporting my endeavors. I also prayed for their health, that they may be strong and sturdy, until they get their retirement. It was essentially a day of prayer and reflection, to thank for current blessings and to shower for more blessings in the future. As per the Jabez prayer, it's alright to ask for blessings from God.

I just wish that the global recession will be over. Businesses will be alright, new transactions & projects will be made, jobs will be provided and no more delivering the bad news. Puhleezz...