The Great 'What to do in the event of redundancy' Hunt

tango15

I was made redundant unexpectedly about 2.5 years ago. The company I worked for had been taken over by another company, and they had a 'reorganisation.' Despite being the youngest, and having more service than some of my new colleagues, I was chosen. Although I had a senior position in the company, I was not offered outsourcing help. I was given the correct redundancy pay-off, but I took them to the Employment Tribunal because I felt that I had been unfairly dismissed. The Tribunal agreed, and awarded me £55k, but my former employer appealed, and eventually won the case, although the Tribunal agreed that I was unfairly dismissed.
Since then I have found it very difficult to find another job (I am 61), and of course the redundancy money has now run out. I have had to draw down my occupational pension much sooner than I planned, which means that any part time or temporary work that I do is taxed at the full rate, and of course I cannot claim benefit. The pension is just enough to keep me going, though I've had to re-schedule my debts through the Consumer Credit Counselling Service. I was a high-earner previously, and could easily afford to pay my loans and credit-card debts.
I'm still trying for another job, but in this ageist society, it's not easy, despite the fact that I have a BSc, and speak three European languages fluently.

HazelEyes_3

tango15 wrote:

I'm still trying for another job, but in this ageist society, it's not easy, despite the fact that I have a BSc, and speak three European languages fluently.

Let's hope that the new Age Discrimination legislation will help. No application form should ask for your date of birth now although it will of course still be obvious from our CVs that we are "mature".

I too found it difficult to get another job after my redundancies and I am convinced that part of the problem with many of the applications I made was my age as there were too many examples where I fitted the requirements in the job spec but did not even get an interview.

It will take time for stereotyping of people by age to reduce but the new legislation is a step in the right direction.

Fixit_Fred

Hi,

I was made redundant in April this year. After 16 years I got a nice payout, and it set me up in business. As others have said, see it as an opportunity. However one gripe - I had mortgage protection insurance (and had had it for 13 years). TO make a claim, I had to complete the paperwork - no problem, my employers were more than willing, but it had to be also filled in by the unemployment office who confirmed I was looking for work. This they refused to do because I could not sign on. As I was setting up my own business (I was actually paying for myself to go on a training course), I was not "Actively seeking work". So as always - check the small print. As you can guess I cancelled the policy, put it down to experience and moved on.

Good luck to all those setting up - It's not easy, but it is rewarding.

Freddo.:beer:

tomh_2

Just a quick note on finding another job, but we find with our clients that advertised vacancies aren't always the best route for some people.

We talk about 4 routes to market: advertised vacancies, recruitment/headhunters, networking, and speculative approaches. The route that proves successful will depend on your personal characteristics, and those of your marketplace. However, if you believe that age will be held against you, it may be worth concentrating on networking, and identifying "age friendly" companies to approach on a speculative basis.

Nickynoo1

i was informed in september 2004 that i would probably be made redundant. It took until sept 2005 till I finally was. During that year the company asked for voluntary redundancies in feb, i applied, saw the figure thay were offering and decided aginst volunteering. This was a mass redundancy, with a big union representation - RMT, and I was finally made redundant with a payout 3 times what was initially offered. This was thanks to the union. Although I knew i wouldn't receive JSA as i was paid 3 months pay in leiu i was told to sign on anyway so that my stamp would be paid to cover my state pension.

Luckily my payout enabled me to pay off all my debts and have a little bit in the bank for a rainy day. Just as well as about 3 weeks later i found out i was pregnant! I had been with the company for 9 years and was a little undecided on what I was going to do next as i really loved my job. Looks like fate took action and led me down the path to motherhood.

So a year after redundancy I have a no debt, still a little in the bank, a part -time job with the LA to return to in January (if i want to), and a super 4 1/2 month little boy. So yes I'm pretty happy i was made redundant. :-)

Nickynoo1

SaraP

I was made redundant for the first time in May 1992. At the time I had an outstanding home improvements loan for which I'd taken out redundancy insurance, having first checked that I qualified. I'd been in the same job with the Prudential for 13 years at the time.
Within six weeks I'd secured a new post. albeit at a vastly reduced salary, but my dad always said it was wrong to stay on the dole, get a job, any job, don't make the state pay for you, so I took the first clerical job I was offered, having been told by the job centre that I was qualified only to be a care attendant because I didn't have IT skills!
From the first day I knew I'd made a mistake. The company were tricksters and liars, my pay cheque bounced, customers rang all the time to complain about shoddy or incomplete work, and the bosses had screaming rows with each other. Six weeks later they let me go, having no money to pay me.
This time I tried to make a claim on my redundancy insurance, there being no other jobs in the pipeline. After due consideration I was turned down. I failed to meet the criteria of having been in my last job for at least 3 years. The six weeks of hell with the bad employers, who didn't even pay any NI or tax, just gave me cash in hand, it turned out, had made my insurance cover worthless. The thirteen years with the Pru were not taken into account.
I know this was quite a long time ago so perhaps things have now changed, in which case I apologise for wasting everyone's time, but if things haven't changed, then don't feel too secure about having insurance cover to protect you. It might not.

SaraP

It took me five and a half months to get a new job in 1992. I spent a cold winter typing out letters by the dozen to all and sundry. And I got replies every time.
Having completed my sales pitch I simply ended each letter. "Thank you for reading this letter. I will ring you in a week for a discussion". I got rejection letters by return of post. They SO did not want to speak to me! At least I wasn't living with uncertainty and false hope.

SaraP

I spent three and a half years as a reluctant shelf stacker and checkout operator after redundancy from the Prudential. We reckoned the combined age of the staff was in the hundreds. We had Saville row tailors, firemen, Murdoch's unwanted printers, banking and finance staff, all over 50, all redundant, all not wanted and deemed fit only to cart stock about and smile sweetly at customers. So retail is your only option when you commit the crime of growing old. Or you could try a nice call centre - I did that for five and a half years too. Monitored every second to within an inch of your life. Great fun. But at least it doesn't put your back out.

SaraP

Last time I was seriously out of work (five and a half months) I had contingency plans for when savings ran low.
It was winter. At home all day - heating? No, I left it off except for a couple of hours a day, and sat wrapped in my duvet typing speculative letters.
I had plans to get out the black and white portable and lose the colour tv licence.
No sweets, women's magazines, takeaways. Make your own sandwiches and no expensive fillings. No cups of tea in town, take a flask.
Walk. Leave the car at home if you live in town.
Buy the cheapest own brand food in the plain wrappers. Ditto other products such as soap, toothpaste etc. Find out when stuff is being sold off cheap, or find the shelves for odds and ends and damaged packing.
Don't leave electrical stuff on standby. Switch it off when not in use.
Go to charity shops for clothes.
Don't get all your food at the supermarket. Some small greengrocers are much cheaper. And some butchers have cheap joints and odds and ends.
You can live without chocolate biscuits and filter coffee.
Go to Lidls or Aldis. Forget Sainsburys.
Make sure the washing machine is full before you use it.
Don't keep lights burning all over the house. One room only, and use a small reading lamp, not the three bulb ceiling light.
Make the family live in one room. You can't heat all the kid's bedrooms every evening. Homework - well ok they need some peace for that. Socialising - tough. Needs must.
Put more clothes on indoors. Turn down the heating.
Dry clothes outdoors as much as possible, finish off only in the tumble dryer.
The kids don't need their comics either - ours were stopped when I was a child and Dad was out of work.
Put less meat in the stew and more dumplings, pearl barley, lentils etc to fill you up more cheaply.
No ready meals. Cook from scratch. No fancy cook in sauces either.
Mend things, don't throw them away. Sew on buttons, mend hems.
Shower, don't run baths.
You can live without a mobile phone. Better to avoid debt than be able to have an inane conversation in the middle of the supermarket.
You don't need the gym membership. Walk more. Get a book from the library on home fitness exercises.
You don't need false nails or facials or massages. You don't need high maintenance hair styles. Forget the highlights and lowlights.
It might be an idea to try to keep up colouring your hair - grey is old - old is not wanted by employers.
Stay out of the pub. You can't afford it and you cannot afford to buy rounds out of misplaced pride or obligation.
Don't go to Tupperware parties or makeup or jewellery parties. I missed the socialising, but it's just not an affordable option.
You can also live without cable tv or satellite and the video hire shop. Get a library book. Get lots. I get a dozen at a time.
You don't need to go to the cinema either. But if you must, go on Wednesday to participating cinemas and use the two for one Orange Wednesday offer if you have an Orange mobile phone.
Use the phone only for business calls. No more hours on the phone to your friends.
The net is useful for finding jobs so I would make that the last thing to go, but you can use pcs in the library if you can't afford the net at home any longer.
Don't take your cards out when you go shopping. Have some cash in your pocket and when that's gone that's it. It's quite sobering when you have to watch the money disappear.
Go to Matalans, not Debenhams. Stay out of Next and Wallis.
Don't ignore red letters because you're scared. If you do then the bailiffs or the utility company will break down your door to cut you off or take stuff and then you'll have a repair bill and a house open to burglars as well. I speak from seeing this happen to a debt ridden friend. You must contact your creditors and discuss the problem with them.
Don't bury your head in the sand. Keeping up appearances will only land you in unnecessary debt. The world will not end if you have to swallow your pride and cut your coat according to your cloth. When you do get a new job, start paying off debts. Don't be like a friend of mine who's ignoring the red letters now he has a new job and has returned to his former life style, as if he didn't owe thousands in unpaid bills. The bailiffs are now on their way yet again.
When I was a kid my parents had the cat put to sleep because they couldn't afford his food any longer. You might need to consider rehoming any large, expensive pets if things get really bad.
I have to admit I strongly resented the huge reduction in my lifestyle forced on me by redundancy and unemployment. I was bitter for years and went on about it all the time. In the end the store manager told me to shut up about the Pru because everyone had had enough of it. So word of warning. Don't lose friends and employers by constant moaning and whining. People have only so much tolerance and sympathy. You aren't the first and you won't be the last person to have control of their life taken away by redundancy. Other people also have their problems.

the_trumper

Hi all,
I was made redundant on 3rd August this year when Peugeot decided that they could make even more money by sacking us here in Coventry & exploiting the new EU states where they can get their cars made for £2 an hour instead of paying loyal British workers a living wage. The hardest part of our redundancy circumstances though was the fact that we were making good profits but corporate greed won the day & they shifted production anyway. They still expect British people to buy theor products though!!!!
Anyway my point is this. You have to be optimistic & look upon redundancy not as a kick in the teeth but a door that has been opened for you. Go through that door & get out there & get yourself back in the jobs market a.s.a.p.
I have no special skills & at 44 years old with 18 years working for Peugeot in a dead end production job some people said to me that I would really struggle to find myself a job. You have to ignore these negative people & believe in yourself & the power of your belief & willpower to succeed. We went on a fortnights holiday to Majorca when I was made redundant & when we came back I set about finding myself alternative employment. I wrote letters, sent e-mails, made phone calls, registered with agencies & looked online . I was considering everything possible when a recruitment agency came up trumps & I got a job within 10 days of starting to look for a job. I am now working for Aston Martin on only slightly less money that I was earning at Peugeot. So the best advice I can give to anyone is to be positive. If you allow yourself to get down & depressed then what hope do you have ? Be positive &believe in yourself. Maybe I was lucky to find a job so quick but then again maybe it wasn't just luck - have you ever heard
the expression "fortune favours the brave" ? Keep the faith & good luck.