Redundancy: Levels of Risk

SnowDrop

Hi all,
I have been notified by my employer that my position was at risk of redundancy.
There are six of us at my department, four people have received letters stating positions are at "High Risk", however two of us received letters with slightly different wording: jobs are "potentially at risk". Anyone familiar with HR procedures, is this an accidental use of different terms essentially meaning the same? Or does the latter mean redundancy is less likely? We think the team will be made smaller due to less demand.
Thanks all!

getmore4less

if you were all doing the same job and in the same selection pool that would be sloppy HR, as it has an element of predetermined selection/outcome.

if the jobs are different and the reduced requirement for some jobs is higher than others like a lost contract that only certain people work on that would be more acceptable.

SnowDrop

getmore4less said:

if you were all doing the same job and in the same selection pool that would be sloppy HR, as it has an element of predetermined selection/outcome.

if the jobs are different and the reduced requirement for some jobs is higher than others like a lost contract that only certain people work on that would be more acceptable.

Thanks for replying. We are all doing the same job with same set of skills. However, there are significant differences in years of service and performance (lateness, sickness etc.), for example one of my colleagues was on the verge of being made redundant before COVID-19 hit. It would be interesting to know if HR would have made some sort of a pre-selection already.

sharpe106

If you are all doing a similar job then you should have all been sent the same letter. But it does not really matter still means the same.

I am sure they already have an idea who they want and who they do not want. 

SnowDrop

sharpe106 said:

If you are all doing a similar job then you should have all been sent the same letter. But it does not really matter still means the same.

I am sure they already have an idea who they want and who they do not want. 

This is exactly what confuses me, would they start redundancy talks with staff they intended to keep?
Thanks for replying.

sharpe106

There is a process for them to follow. It has to be done fairly. When matching the criteria someone might suprise them and meet the criteria they want better. But I am sure the manager has a good idea of who they want to keep before they start.

JReacher1

Yes despite their being a “process” people tend to know who is going to be made redundant.