As somebody asked in another thread: what is a good alternative to Enbridge?
So many companies are going through the same thing, that it's hard to know where to go when laid off (or if somebody wants to leave in advance) and not end up in the exactly same mess.
Has somebody who has been laid off before landed somewhere like that?
Personally, I prefer the private sector over the public sector, as it seems more grounded in reality and often comes with higher pay (in Alberta, anyway). However, no matter what the sector, I’ll take an organization with a healthy culture over a bad one, as I value my mental health. Enbridge is now at the point (actually, for the last year or so) where I see people suffering. If the economy were better, I predict they would leave, which, I suppose, would be good for Enbridge right now.
Enbridge's customers are ending their austerity periods. My wife works for one of them. Training, flex days, salary increases are all back on the table. Find a healthy E&P and go for it.
PS, I used to work in Public Service. Despite this place feeling like a sweatshop sometimes, work life balance was way worse there and by the time I finished paying 50% of my own pension I was close to 45% deductions. The predatory Contract negotiation policy (let it expire and then "negotiate" for 2-3 years) and ATIP were bitter pills to swallow.
What is this public sector?
I was laid off in the spring and also found a job in the public sector for basically the same pay. No STIP but who cares. I'm out of the daily Enbridge BS of always looking over my shoulder.
I left (ie. not laid off) the spring 2017 for a position in public sector. Did take a bit of pay cut (close to 10% not incl. STIP), however after a step increase and a couple CBA mandated salary increases, as of xmas eve I will be making about $500 less than my base salary was at Enbridge. By summer next year, another step increase will have me making just over $4,000 more than my base when I left Enbridge.
Work life balance exists here. Hours of work are great. I was on the AWA schedule at Enbridge, but management took that away from us in 2016. I got that back after moving over to the public sector. I can either work 5 days/week @ 6.75 hours per day (compared to 8 hours at Enbridge), or work a compressed work week at 7.5 hours (9 hours at Enbridge) per day and get every 2nd Friday off. On top of that I can bank my Fridays off for use at a later date in the year. Strategically banking time, and planning around long weekends meant I had 5 weeks of vacation since spring.
I did get really lucky landing with the team I did. They gave off a great vibe at the interview and it really set the tone for working here. Night and day from my leadership at Enbridge. Our Sr. Leadership has really set the tone for the rest of the department. So much support, and not to mention they are competent!! That comes with the caveat that not every department here has the same level of support, ability or a great culture.
One thing I have noticed though, is that things seem to move a lot slower in the public sector...and that takes some getting used to! I have no regrets leaving Enbridge, but suspect I'll have a slight moment on STIP payout day.