I am the wife of a dedicated employee of 34 years who lost his job 3 days ago. We have been married for 41 years, and it broke my heart to see him so crushed and let down. His pride and feelings were deeply hurt. He feels that he was never appreciated and wonders "Why did this happen to me"? There no explanation given to him. Since then, he has received numerous calls from employees in the company expressing shock and dismay about the news. They share their worry that they will be next on the chopping block. Everyone stated that no one works harder than him in his department. He is full of knowledge and experience after so many years. They also want him to put everything together and share his knowledge with them before he leaves. Wow! How can another human being with a beating heart be so cruel and disrespectful. How can you eliminate someone's job of so many years and then turn around and ask this of them. He has seen the company go through SO MUCH CHANGE. He continues to say that he wishes that he could have made the decision to retire and on his own and not the company. He was only a year and half away from telling the company that he was going to retire. He was excited about the months ahead, but WS took the joy from him when they called him the morning of January 18th for a brief discussion. The phone call was indeed brief. The conversation lasted five minutes. All of that hard work, heart, respect, and dedication to a company for 34 years and only a five minute discussion to tell you that they do not want you any more. It is amazing how greed and power can hurt so many people's pride and their lives. For the last 10 years, he has done the work of three people, without any help or respect. The location where he works presently only has five employees in the whole office. I remember when at least 40 people worked in this location office . They were a family and were so happy. It literally now looks like a ghost town. Ceiling tiles are discolored from a leaking roof, carpet tearing up, lights out, mold, nasty restrooms, and computers that break down on a monthly basis. I always felt sorry for him working in such a horrible working environment. However, he never paid attention to his surroundings, because his focus was on getting jobs completed. Overall, I watched my husband go to work everyday and put his heart and soul into making management happy and the customers happy. Also, he and I have lived in fear since 2008, when this type of behavior from the top begin happening in this company. I am a school teacher, and I praise the Lord that I am respected by my administrator and superintendent. I wish that he could have been treated with the same respect for his outstanding service and work ethnics. Even though he and I are so disappointed in the unethical actions and decisions this company makes, we are beginning to feel peace about WS's decision to phase out his job. I feel that this is God's way of saying that this is not the place for him any longer and there are bigger, better, and brighter days ahead for him. My advice for anyone who is young enough, please begin researching companies who have a reputation of taking care of their employees and caring about their customers and go to work for them. It is obvious that WS is not a place where a future exists. Heart, appreciation, and respect are missing in this company. Our daughter shared a devotion with us this morning that she and her family read last night that comes from 2 Corinthians 5:7, John 2:11, Micah 7:7. If anyone of you are faced with what we have faced, please feel free to read it. It has given us so much peace and comfort through this ordeal. My prayer is that this company develops compassion and heart for their employees, instead of focusing on power and greed.
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I'm sorry for you and your husband. You would think someone who had put in that many years of their life would have some place to finish out their career at the company. It's really a shame.
so true @1xos
op - i am sorry for you and your husband
I also blame the Board of Directors . They most not be an active board or have no understand of the industry.
This is the worst place I have ever woked
Your post is touching. I thought I would share my thoughts ... having gone through something similar and come out of the other side.
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Yes you will feel hurt for a month or two. However, after a couple of weeks, you will start to feel better and more importantly .. you will see your body healing after being out of the stress you did not realize you were carrying.
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You will realize that the good work you did stays with you. You don't need some drone in the company to validate whether you were good, loyal or productive. You were ... and nobody can take that away from you.
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You will realize that there is a world outside your company. The marketplace for talent and good workers exists and will eventually find you.
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You will also realize who your true friends are. This is a tough way to discover that, but well worth it.
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Yes have faith in the universe and your God and guiding light. It was only after a couple of years that I realized that leaving a company I had dedicated 15+ years to was the best possible thing for me. I made more money, had a better life and was away from a toxic environment that eventually collapsed.
At the time, I was very hurt at the injustice of it all. Sometimes the one above knows more than you do :).
- Stay optimistic .. when one door closes, many others open. Give the universe some time to show its plan for you.
Good luck!
This is a touching post. I thank you for sharing this experience with us and all the time it took to post it here.
I wish you and your family all the best and you are in my prayers.
God bless..
I do not work for this company but came across this post. God Bless you and your family. The strength you find within each other will get you through this. Your husband should walk away with his head held high knowing he gave his all for 34 years.
My father went through something similar 2 years ago. Worked for a privately owned company for over 20 years and went to work one day and the whole place was closed and he couldn't get in. No call from the CEO or the office staff telling him they sold the company and he was no longer employed. He went home and a few days later he got a call, a bigger corporation bought out the smaller privately owned company, offered him same job he had at half the pay and since he would be "new" he would get 3rd shift. My dad declined and retired. Everything happens for a reason. And I agree with a fellow poster, research companies with a proven track record that they care for their employee's. Unfortunately many do not anymore.
It is a total shame...I chose to leave back in November on my own will...I was an employee for close to 30 years. I have witnessed so much chaos, frustration, and uncertainty for the past 5 to 8 years. I feel so badly for all my co-workers, I tried to be vocal on what is going on in this company and was shut down...they few employees as negative when in indeed they were trying to change this company back to what it actually was...the upper management does not and will not value their employees. Everything the CEO of this company portrays is against my beliefs and that was why I made the decision to leave...no money is worth this ... as a past employee I only wish the very best to the many that have worked hard and dedicated their lives to this company...I always treated this company as part of my family and the last few years proved that the upper management did not feel the same...there is life after Windstream, tell your husband to hold his head high and move on...this Company is not worth it and it shows in the stocks...they are spiraling out of control and soon will crash and burn. They do not value their employees nor their customers. God Bless!
That’s a great read. My wish is for an active employee to copy & paste that story on the Company’s Stream site. That story pretty much sums of the mentality of Winstream. We will get over this and remember everything happens for a reason in life. This Company doesn’t deserve people like your husband. God Bless