Retrenched.
On Friday, I was asked by my Sales & Operations manager to have a meeting with her before we leave. I thought it must have been in regards to the email i sent a week ago. I sent her an email asking for a meeting in regards to review my performance and salary.
Towards 5pm, I was asked to the meeting area and she sat me down and started our meeting. She started of with how this store is not making money and also what they r going to do with the store,when the head office moves to another suburb. (Currently, the place i am working in houses both the head headoffice and the retail store) She also said that they did look at relocating the store to somewhere with more human traffic down the road cos this store is way too big. But as usual, with all the beating around the bush and crap, she finally said that their request to Optus to shut this store down due to poor biz has been approved.
Right at that time, to be honest i was still quite clueless. She continued to say that with the Applecross store closing down, they will have to ask me to look at other alternatives or turn to casual employment. And as soon at she said that, she added:" Well as u know, we already have a lot of casuals at the moment, so we cant really promise u the hours."
Now, reality started to sink in my head..... I was been made redundant! I mean.... even before i could have a reaction to the shock, she burst in to say:" Well, all the full timers are generally comfortable at their respective stores and everyone's doing generally ok at the moment so it's kind of unfair to consider other candidates.... And also, with Darren (who is also a full timer), he doesnt have a permanent store and basically moves around the various branches to help out when some of them have day offs, so we really cannot afford to have another full timer to do the same thing."
How insulting was that! Honestly! Excuse me! I may not be the best of the best in terms of your sales staff in the company, but i am DEFINITELY far better than some of the shitty ones u have in here! How dare you compare me with them!
In case she forgot, one of the full timers was recently moved to another store because his previous manager was so fed up with him that she didnt want to work with him anymore! The guy was apparently so bad with his work that several customers lodged formal complaints to the head office!
After all the things i've done, helping the company, this is what i get in return! For starters, i was never placed in this branch out of my own will. Although when i first went for the interview for this job, the position was supposed to be in applecross. But just before i started, they moved me to Claremont, and then supposedly to Vic Park, and then they changed their mind and asked me to go to Warwick, (which was ages away up north), and then just after they retrenched the previous guy from Applecross, they chucked me there, without even asking me at all, there was no meeting, email, or even phone call! This is so unprofessional!
So i asked when will the head office move, and she said she doesnt know abt it, cos they have some issues with lease and waiting on their solicitors to get back to them. They envisage 4-6 weeks... i then asked if i can continue working full time with them until i find a job, she said no. Meaning, by the time they move, i would have already decided if i was going to turn casual or leave the company!
How F**king rude.... Throughout the interview, she had an email printed in front of her, and she said the announcement will be sent that night by the boss to inform the whole company. She came prepared. As soon as i walked out of the meeting and back to my computer, the email was already sent!!!! How disrespectful! i just felt so shitty i wanted to look for a hole to dive in... as much as i felt like crying/tearing, i know i cannot give in esp in front of them!
The HR gal saw the email and asked me what happened, cos in the email that was sent, they only mentioned that the store was to be shut down and that they are in contact with the Applecross staff to discuss future directions... so when i told her that i got retrenced, she was so shocked! We talked abt it a bit and coincidentally, the previous guy who was retrenhed, walked in the door for a visit! Jonathan was a gd friend of mine and dropped in to saw hi on his way home. He was totally stunned too.
Jonathan went into the office area and said hi to everyone and Kaye, the Sales & Operations askedhim:" So, Jonathan, are u here for a visit or did u hear of something else?" What a munt! she only spoke to me like 3 mins ago, and she think i can get thru to Jonathan and get him to come down here in 3 mins????? what an idiot!
Just as me and the HR gal were talking she barged in on us and asked what were we talking about, the HR gal said," Just talking about the little chat you had with Joel." Kaye then said:" Well, if you have any questions, just ask me." What an irony, Taryn is the HR executive and yet she know nothing abt this.....
This weekend hasnt been easy, but i managed to apply for 5 more other jobs with the help of John on Friday and my Ex boss from Sydney and friend came over to talk to me, so i feel better now... This is definitely a blessing in disguise! But the way this company has been disrespectful to me is just disgusting. | 
My Birthday Celebration Number 5......