Times are hard

I was talking to a former school mate earlier today and he was telling me how stressful it is in his industry. Ever since the financial turmoil began, the mood in his DBS office has been very subdued and jittery. Everyday, many of his fellow employees' heart beat will skip a beat when they log onto their computer. The burning question is: what if they cannot log in?

I recall years ago when a particular auditing firm laid off some of their stuff. The affected workers were all out with their individual clients when they received a phone call asking them to return to the office for an emergency meeting. No one had a clue what was to come. Then the bombshell fell. Many were told to surrender their laptops and office passes and head to the HR department to collect their severance letters and pay checks. They were then asked to vacate their workstations and before leaving, the security will check through their belongings just to ensure nothing confidential was being taken. They were then escorted to the main exit. The duration from the time they came back to the office to the last time out of the office main doors: 1.5hrs.

Back to what my ex-school mate told me. When times were good, the banking and finance sector staff had to put in long hours just to work towards getting that HUGE performance bonus or promotion. Now that times are bad, they had to put in just as long if not longer so as to ensure they minimize their possibility of being on the retrenchment list.

So for those in the teaching line: count your blessings despite earning less and having less benefits. This is the harsh reality in the private sector.