Thread regarding Thomson Reuters layoffs

It’s all about the attitude

Hate to break this news to you, but laying off a large number of people off and migrating their jobs to a low cost centre and then getting these very same people to train their replacements is not new in Reuters. We did this when we moved a very large number of jobs to Asia. We were asked to train them after being told we were being laid off. Apart from one or two people, nearly all stayed to train their replacement. We too were told it would be a nine month exercise. For some teams, it ended up being 18 months!! I understand how this news hit's you like a freight train. As you also pointed out with Wrexham, even with us, there were a few people thinking it wouldn't really happen and they would change their minds. They didn't... After acceptance set in, you realise that you need to act and behave in the best interests of yourself and your family. Most came round to acting in the most professional way because they thought it would be the best thing for their future job prospects in terms of how they left the company. Some didn't behave that way. What I saw longer term after the exercise was that the most bitter/upset people found it the difficult to get a new job. Those who adopted the "I will be as professional as I can" mindset walked into a job much much quicker. Maybe that mindset helped them plan their future much better including giving interviews. I promise you this effect was very visible and real. I would never have believed it had someone told me how attitude makes such a big difference but I witnessed it first hand. Bear in mind I'm talking about a large group (teams) of people with a variety of different skills including those who had very propriety skills worried about their marketability. Perhaps those who stayed bitter showed it in their interviews or could not get themselves in a good place to plan their future career as they should have. But that's what happened and I'm sharing this with you as I have been through a very similar exercise and maybe sharing this will help. Today (years later) I would say most have ended up in great or better jobs.

This is a post from another thread, but in my opinion, the original poster hit the nail on the head. ( @VGDt0mH-irh )

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| 1943 views | | 3 replies (last October 20, 2018) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+VHbFKUo

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@VHbFKUo-1yxc - has some valid points, but the example by NRS relates to Exeter. This is not London or NY where jobs for those over 50+ are as abundant. The contractor route is a good option, where agism doesn't exist so much because companies will just want the best person for the job. Many of these often turn into permanent roles as well.

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Post ID: @2org+VHbFKUo

Ahh I see... Maybe your "mature" friend and everyone else should start to moan a lot and switch to a bad attitude then... That'll improve their chances of a new job won't it?... We know that ageism as well as race and s-xism are issues in their own right which can affect people looking for a new job. Those issues have nothing to do with the post here about attitude, let's not muddy the waters. To your point I also know hard working 55+ ex-TR friends who have managed to get great jobs and are extremely successful. This includes developers, technologists, programme managers and project managers. Yes all are over 55!! Some are now working as contractors and one who started out as a contractor post TR redundancy but now has a permanent job again earning the same amount of money as he was at TR. I don't know your friend or her specific circumstances, skill set or how great she really is. But there are many questions one can ask. Are the jobs she is applying to a good fit (not just in job title but the specific role needs)? How is she researching for those roles? What flexibility is she applying to her job search (role, salary, location, hours of work etc)? Is she able to give great interviews and convincingly demonstrate the value she will add backed up by examples of past successes? How is she marketing herself? Where is she looking for those roles? I can probably come up with hundreds of questions like that. There are many successful mature people who have left TR and landed good jobs. No need to spread stories of doom and gloom to people who need the support of colleagues and friends at this time.

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Post ID: @1yxc+VHbFKUo

I have seen my colleague leaving, that had the best work attitude ever. Always the first person in and last out - loyal till the end and training the person that took over from her in Exeter. She still doesn't have a job 3 years later - due to her age.

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Post ID: @nrs+VHbFKUo

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