Feuerfest

Some of my readers who know me personally may already be aware that the circumstances under which I left my last employer were not my doing. In fact, I had just written in support of the workers council in an internal company forum for employees. Twenty minutes later, I was in a meeting room having a one-to-one with my team lead. During this meeting, I was told to consider whether I was still a good fit for the company.

Yeah.

Mind you: I live and work in Germany. We have laws. A workers' council is even mandatory for businesses that have reached a certain size. Hence, of course, nothing was done in writing. The call from my team leader asking if I had time for a meeting? Via good old telephone. No recording possible. No email. The meeting? One-to-one in a small meeting room with closed doors. The outspoken threat? Verbal only.

I decided to quit that day. I knew that the company used the services of a highly specialised law firm to prevent the formation of a workers' council. They had years of experience in doing so. I was just one worker, with no proof, against a DAX-traded company with its own legal department and specialist external support. Nah. I value a peaceful, happy and quiet life.

It took me about a year to hand in my resignation. I wasn't in a hurry. The team was nice. The job was enjoyable. I just didn't like it when someone denied me my guaranteed rights.

Meanwhile, things at my old employer didn't improve. Many people were fed up with how they handled the pandemic. For example, they didn't allow people who cared for their elderly parents at home to work from home full-time. They only allowed employees to do so when the German federal government required companies to do so during lockdown phases. This put their sick, elderly parents at a much higher risk than necessary. The internal mood was also down due to various other issues. I was told that it got so bad that the KPIs for employee happiness weren't mentioned in department meetings anymore.

That's why, over the years, various colleagues have asked me if I'm happy with my new employer. And yes, I told them the truth. I said that I am happy, but also made sure to mention that, as an external consultant, much of that happiness depends on the customer and/or project you are assigned to.

Some applied for a job; others did not. Some made sure to mention that they were recommended by me. Some didn't.

Not many were hired. Often, we just didn't have any suitable open positions or projects for them. Sometimes their skills were outside of our area of expertise as a company.

Nevertheless, three colleagues from a team of six decided to join my employer. They even applied twice. The first time, they stopped their applications after my old employer promised them some changes. Long story short, they applied again after one year and were hired.

They told me that their team lead and another colleague from the team are also seeking new opportunities. This leaves only one person to do the job of a highly specialised six-person team. I grinned, thinking of the phrase "Karma is a bitch".

Nowadays, nearly everyone I worked with at that company has left. Most of them had worked there for between five and fifteen years. They were highly specialised IT workers. People who know their stuff. They knew the company inside out. In short, they were people who were impossible to replace either easily or quickly.

Fast-forward a few days. I enjoyed a nice chat with a recruiter. We made a little small talk and got the facts straight. I'm not actively looking for a new job, though. It was just the usual, "Well, it sounds good on paper, but I don't have any concrete information yet". Then, finally, the recruiter gave the name of the company she was recruiting for. I immediately interrupted her.

"Sorry to interrupt so rudely, but we can cut this short really quickly. CompanyName is on my lifelong blacklist for threatening me for voicing my support for unions and workers' councils. I will never work for them again."

It took her a few seconds to respond, and we wrapped up the call rather quickly.

But what I learned was pure comedy gold. She was trying to hire me for the same team that those three colleagues came from. She even asked me if the team lead position interested me. Wow!

Needless to say, it's refreshing to see that my old employer is struggling to find good replacements. I wonder where this problem might be coming from.

I love you karma! 🥰