I still remember the day I applied to the company where I am now. I will not mention the name of the company for privacy. This is the second account I worked with "THEM" because the first one only lasted for less than 3 months.
But with the current account, I am now 8 years and 6 months to be exact. This is the longest years I've been in a company.
Before, I am happy that I can stay for a year or 2 with my previous jobs. As long as I am a regular employee and compensated, I am happy with that. Now, I can't also believe that I am still here. I am turning 9 years with them by next year of March. But the big question is, "Will I still be with my company by the year 2022?
Why am I saying if I will still be working with my company by next year?
2020 was a year full of questions and assumptions for the conpany. There were rumors that spread out that our account which is US-based will no longer recontract with our company. We were all confused if it was true or not because it was our work who will suffer. Though it was only rumors, we were all afraid because it is hard to lose a job.
But behind those speculations was a different side of what happened in the office. We had meetings to improve our specific work. We were divided into groups depending on the categories we are handling at work. We presented a flowchart of the process that we do and explained it. Our operations manager asked us based on the fkowcharts we made.
After a few days, one of the heads of the company visited us and asked us almost the same with what our operations manager did. We were all nervous as we presented our workflow. There were questions from the head officer and that made us more nervous because some questions were hard to explain.
With such activites that happened, it seemed to us that there will be improvements with the process so we assumed that the issue might not be true. Maybe our US account recontracted. So even without any clarifications, we disregarded the rumors and continued with our work.
The Pandemic
Then there was the pandemic. Everyone got affected because of the COVID-19. Many companies closed, there were unenployment and many lives were taken by the deadly virus. Most of the companies implemented work from home especially in BPO or Business Processing Outsourcing Companies. We were fortunate to work from home. Our work was continuous.
August 2020 when umexpected thing happened. There were few employees who were redundiated including my team leader. It means their contract was ended on that same day but with separation pay from the company depending on the total years of service. We knew that our account did not signed for another year contract. We were just waiting when will be our turn.
It usually happened Friday and you will receive a meeting invite from your email coming from Operations Manager. That means it is your time to say goodbye and it usually happened at the end of the shift.
Few months passed and nothing followed. It's as if nothing happened. More work came for us because it was the peak season.
Until the end of December, few employees were redundiated again. January and another followed. Then it was February, and another few employees followed and most of them were my friends and from my same batch. I felt sad because I thought I will be included. Meaning I will be paid for my 8 years of service. But later on, I felt happy because I still have work. It's hard to look for a job nowadays.
Only 2 teams left in our account and suddenly, one team leader and 2 or 3 employees were redundiated too. We were now only 1 team. Then by May, our team leader was gone too. So he was replaced by our supervisor who served as the team leader too. We are now 13 left in the account.
My Coaching With Our Operations Manager
We all received an invite from our manager that we will have a one-on-one interview. This happened last week. The reason why she held that meeting was to basically know our conditions and if we have any questions to her.
When it was my turn, it turned out to be a light conversation like talking to a friend on the phone. I asked her until when will I stay with the company.
She said that she was uncertain but she told me that I might be staying until December 2020. Some of us might stay until March 2021 but these were all not sure. But what she said was that our account was only until March of next year.
Before, I really want to be part of those who were redundiated. I want to be free from the company. I want to work in a new company, in a new environment with much better salary. But when the pandemic striked and we were just working from home, I realized a lot.
It was hard to find a job. Most of the companies suffered bankruptcy due to pandemic. Many businesses shut down. They cannot afford to continue because there was no income. There was lockdown in every places.
There is virus everywhere. We don't know who were affected outside so a lot of protection is required for ourself and for our family.
My mother passed away due to COVID-19. My whole family, relatives and even neighbors and friends were affected of he loss. My mother together wih my father were taking care of my son when I was working on-site. It will be hard for my father to take care of my son alone.
What Wil Happen Next?
After the conversation with my manager, I was a bit down. I was greatly affected because I don't know until when I will be working with my company. Where will I apply next?
A lot of questions were entering in my mind after. I cannot stop working because my family depends on me and my brother. We both pay for the family's expenses and foods. I don't have any savings in the bank. I have my child to support.
Those 8 years were memorable. It was challenging but I enjoyed the memories. So I said to myself that as long as I am here, I need to work hard. I need to prove my worth as a tenured and trustworthy employee. I may have lots of rants with them but as long as I am here, I need to follow their rules.
3 months or 6 months, I am not sure how long will I still stay in this company. But one things for sure, I know God has a plan for me. There are still many things that will happen as long as I am working here. We still have work especially October-December which are the months of peak season. We have a lot of work during this season. All I know is that I should work. I am thankful that I belong to the remaining 13 agents out of 100 employees or more before. People come and go as they say.
if I will be leaving the company, I still need to look for a job because I need to keep going for my family especially my son.
There were lots of memories
I also wrote an article before "8 Years and Still Counting".
Hope you enjoy this article of mine. Have a nice day and thank you to Yzza0625 for the sponsorship.
