We asked Get Ahead readers to send their layoff tales and we are getting mails from employees belonging to different sectors of the Indian economy.
In the fifth part of this series, Savitri P from the hospitality sector tells how she was asked to leave along with 20 of her colleagues.
Name: Savitri P (name changed on request)
Age:33
Company/Sector: Hospitality
Educational qualification: Hotel Management
Work experience: 10 years
Background:
I graduated in Hotel Management from Madras University in 1997. I then joined Hotel Fariyas in Mumbai as a management trainee for a year. Then I went to Sydney and did my post graduation in hotel management from the University of Western Sydney. When I came back I got a job with Hotel Leela in Mumbai. I was in their reservation section for eight months.
At that time the I-Max theatre was a novelty in Mumbai. They needed a banquet manager and I worked there for two years. As my experience increased my remuneration too increased. I was happy. I got a better offer from a private guest house where I worked for another two years.
As luck would have it I got my first training job abroad from the Speke group in Uganda. I was there for a year as their operations training manager. I trained their staff. It was a good experience, a new country and a new profile. I felt like a veteran then and that confidence brought me back to India. I got married a few years later and had a kid too.
How I lost my job:
My confidence paid off and I got another job in India soon. Here too I was training their staff for a chain of restaurants they owned in Mumbai. In two years they doubled my pay. I was enjoying my job because it not only involved training staff but also I had to visit their various outlets in the city. I got a chance to advice on decor, pricing, cost break up and in fact got to see every facet of the restaurant business.
In a five star hotel you are confined to one department. Here I could study the whole picture. It did miracles for my resume. I was learning as I was teaching.
But then misfortune befell on me and last month they told me that they could not afford to pay me as they were not going in for fresh recruitment. Recession had finaly struck. Twenty others left with me and more were on their way out.
Lessons learnt:
I have learnt a few lessons that I will not easily forget. Let me share them with you.
Don't get emotionally attached to any company. If you get a good offer take it. Move on. Six months back I got a very good offer and I refused because I liked my work place and enjoyed a good rapport with my boss.
When your business is losing money you have to be practical and realise that companies have to sack you so that it can survive.
Keep your emotions out; it affects work and also the work atmosphere.
Finding a solution
I am looking for a new job now and am confident that I will find one. I have the experience and the qualifications. Luckily, I have been able to shed my emotional baggage now.
Though I have dreams to start on my own I am not planning any independent venture now; I am sure I will have enough chance to do that later in life.
As told to: A Ganesh Nadar. Illustration: Dominic Xavier
Do you have a layoff tale to tell?
Have you lost your job? Do you know someone who has lost her/his job recently and is trying to come to terms with the situation?
If you, your friends or relatives have a layoff story to tell, to inform readers about the lessons that you have learnt, please write to us at getahead@rediff.co.in. Your name and identity will not be disclosed unless you want it to.
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