Retrenchment hits me
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Retrenchment hits me
A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. Depression has hit me. I have just been retrenched.
For many, retrenchment is not just economic depression. It is also emotional depression, self-worth depression and a humiliating depression. For me personally, it is even more embarrassing because I have been known to bring work home and reject invitations to go out and play over the weekend. Perhaps some people are having their last laughs now.
Retrenchment leaves a person with plenty of time to think. Don't waste the experience. He needs to be brutally honest with himself. In my case, I cannot honestly say it was mainly my fault. It was the free market at work, fair and square. I work in the Electronics industry in Singapore. Although electronic gadgets(iPhones, e-books, smartphones) are still changing our lives for the better, fellow Singaporeans who work in the same industry will know that electronics has been on the decline for more than a decade. The big companies (foreign MNCs) are moving out, there are no big local companies to take their place and the smaller companies which usually service the big ones are dying away. It is not just high labor cost. Land (especially land), transport and energy costs also make us uncompetitive. These are infrastructural costs which the government can do their part to keep low. If these infrastructural costs are kept low, then our wages can have more room to move up without hitting our competitiveness.
If the company cannot grow, my immediate supervisor cannot be promoted. If he cannot be promoted, how can I be promoted? This time round, everyone lost their jobs including my boss. One consolation was that I got a "diligent and honest worker" in my appraisal before the retrenchment. Hopefully, this is not just a parting gift just to be nice.
I am tempted to lament on how unfair life is. However, this is useless to me and readers who could not care less until the same thing happens to them. Rather, it is more useful to think about the practical measures to cope with retrenchment.
The first thing that comes to mind is to cut down on all unnecessary expenses. Unnecessary expenses refer to expenses incurred beyond keeping one alive. Eat the simplest, cheapest food. As long as it fills your stomach, it is good food. Try to eat at home. Don't eat out. The rental cost in Singapore is so high, why pay for them by eating at expensive restaurants?
Entertainment expenses should be cut mercilessly. I do not subscribe to the theory that good things must come with a price. A lot of good things in life can be very cheap or even free of charge. A person can go to the library and borrow wonderful books free of charge. Get entertained and be educated free of charge. There are plenty of quality documentaries on Youtube. Again, one can get entertained and be educated free of charge. Use the spare time for learning at low or no cost.
There are certain expenses which must not be cut. This is allowance to parents and parents-in-law. The first response from parents is to cut or stop their allowance upon learning of their children's retrenchment. I have never heard of parents stop providing for their children when they are out of a job. Therefore, why should children stop providing for their parents when they become jobless? People who stop their parents' allowance are making a gross miscalculation. Their own children will do the same thing to them when they grow up. They will not feel a pang of guilt because their own parents did the same thing to their own parents. Setting a good model example to the children is the most effective and yet, least time-consuming way to educate them. Much better than spending so much time giving them tuition yourself and yelling at them. They either end up resenting you or hating the subject.
The standard advice from government help bodies is to get retraining or some educational certificate to make your resume look good. While these people have good intentions, take their advice with a pinch of salt because you know your personal situation better than them. Is your personality suitable for the type of job you are retraining for? Will employers be willing to hire you even after you have earned a certificate because of certain discriminatory practices? (Age, hire their own kind)
I am not willing to invest in higher education to make the resume look good because the education fees is too high today and the investment returns do not look good. Too many people with higher education but are there enough jobs requiring such higher education? In fact, after spending a bomb for that piece of paper, a person may even get discriminated during job interviews because he is overqualified or the interviewer feels threatened.
Finding a job is not the only option. One can think about his personal strengths. Think about his hobbies. Can he turn them into useful products/services to sell to people? If one can successfully do this, he can be a very happy person instead of slaving for people whom he has been yearning to say "fuck off".
Quite a number of retrenched people will be thinking of investing in the financial markets to make a living. On the surface, it looks like an easy way out. Psychology plays a very important role in successful investing. Retrenched people should be self-aware of their own weakened psychology as market participants. Given the heightened volatility in the financial markets today, weak psychology can lead to bad decisions because it is easier to be tricked by the high volatility to buy high and sell low given the weaker state of mind. Investing is a fun game for me and I am reasonably good at controlling my losses in terrible times. But, I have to take my own advice and be self-aware of my new deficiency from now on. -
really a nice article with meaning...
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hmm.......electronics industry is dyin,.,,,,then means its all going to china and not to rest of undeveloped south east asia thats plagued by red tape and a myriad of infrastructure problems.
we all kniow its not going to korea or japan as they have their own korean and japanese indignious designers who do their deisgns to make korea or japan a mark on the map!
currently spore army with its utter north korean methods on its citizen army reservists isnt going to make a spore a greater place to be in!with the onset of big MNC industries moving out permanently from spore.......spore is virtually stuck with a reservist group who can only pass ippt with silver or gold and have no other engineering design and inventions made by its citizens as that time was taken up by the ippt remedial trainings destroying growth for a future of anything.u cant design a light bulb in 2hrs or 200 hrs!!it took edison 1 month and with a team to finally make a light bulb the first bulb that worked practically.
so if spore dies...the stupid army played a part in it by not helping much and in time.any army that come after a war with not much weapons and not much of anything will eventually be reduced to nothingness.if that is their wish,,,,,then amen.
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Originally posted by DailyFreeGames.com:
really a nice article with meaning...
its got some info ,however investing is akin to gambling especially when you dont know the portfolio of the company you are investing and have no detailed info on directions of company and whats it doing in 24hrs or everyday.with this world now,investing is as good as going to a casino nearby.the loses would not be that great in a casino if used wisely as compared to a loss in investment.at least u can see where u are going in a casino. -
i would say its an advertisement for suckers to do an"investment".
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his writing is very smooth.
good english.
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Originally posted by Hitman Factory 1:
its got some info ,however investing is akin to gambling especially when you dont know the portfolio of the company you are investing and have no detailed info on directions of company and whats it doing in 24hrs or everyday.with this world now,investing is as good as going to a casino nearby.the loses would not be that great in a casino if used wisely as compared to a loss in investment.at least u can see where u are going in a casino.
I do agree investment is like gambling when you don't know what you're doing. -
Originally posted by DailyFreeGames.com:
I do agree investment is like gambling when you don't know what you're doing.
its like gambling when u cant control its losses.one $ lost at the end of the whole investment is a total waste of time as it garners no profits.if one knows what one is doing then u do not need to have an investment.u could just setup a company and see it grow as nothing is hidden from u immediately.if that was the case in all investments. -
for example..do u know who the customers are for that company u are investing i9n?are the customers doing good?and who re their customer of the cutomers..their suppliers..sales?red tapes??finainacial audits??engineering know how???sales??irregularities???how good is that company???u sure u would get the info in time b4 the index tumbles??i hope no on here listens to some folks who say this n that with last 3 days ago news....then if its done incorrectly by a fraction..then thats tantamount to a simple case of gamblig with a touch of despertion due to world crisis.,..which i have to admit is frank but the only stressful way out for most folks sadly.
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currently...where are u getting the dta to support your investments?i hope its all in files on daily weekly reports !!!
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Financial investments may or may not make $....no matter how sure your broker is or how sure the investor is, its still has a "gambling" factor bolted to it....dun be too sure or you may lose all monies...if you are not careful....
A safer way is to get another job...maybe for less pay but at least you make some $ instead of losing to the financial markets....
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Originally posted by Demon Bane:
Financial investments may or may not make $....no matter how sure your broker is or how sure the investor is, its still has a "gambling" factor bolted to it....dun be too sure or you may lose all monies...if you are not careful....
A safer way is to get another job...maybe for less pay but at least you make some $ instead of losing to the financial markets....
Best is to have 3 jobs.
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Originally posted by charlize:
Best is to have 3 jobs.
The most is two jobs lah....3 jobs how to tahan, no need to sleep?
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Originally posted by Demon Bane:
The most is two jobs lah....3 jobs how to tahan, no need to sleep?
You want to sleep when u cannot put food on the table?
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Originally posted by charlize:
You want to sleep when u cannot put food on the table?
2 jobs can lah....just be more realistic mah....2 jobs still cannot put food on the table meh...?
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c'mon...it's only a job
life is not all abt working
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Originally posted by No_10_Tomas:
c'mon...it's only a job
life is not all abt working
Nobody can live on fresh air alone.
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who says retrenchment is your problem? you get retrenchment is not your not good. its the company fuckup, cannot mamage their costs anymore. and they move because gahmen fault, gahmen cannot make the retal and taxes here competitive anymore! stop blaming yourself like gahmen said you not good need to cut your own pay and go subsidised training to stay aflortaing- these are just gimics
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Originally posted by troublemaker2005:
who says retrenchment is your problem? you get retrenchment is not your not good. its the company fuckup, cannot mamage their costs anymore. and they move because gahmen fault, gahmen cannot make the retal and taxes here competitive anymore! stop blaming yourself like gahmen said you not good need to cut your own pay and go subsidised training to stay aflortaing- these are just gimics
Fierce.
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Originally posted by charlize:
You want to sleep when u cannot put food on the table?
life is not like this lah... you must take into consideration you work so hard make extra 50% money, but end up your medical fee cost 80% of the amount, so end up you still lose 30% with health problems PLUS all the hard work. -
welcome to the real world, seems no one is indispensable unless u have the might
Obsession Kills - turnin a hobby into a money making goal is a difficult task as 1 needs to condition the mind to focus monetary gains
I have only seen 2 types of ppl that make money out from stocks - 1 tat sticks to the TV screen n another 1 with insider infomations, maybe the 3rd type but not met 1 yet - lucky ppl
wish u luck
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Originally posted by lce:
welcome to the real world, seems no one is indispensable unless u have the might
Obsession Kills - turnin a hobby into a money making goal is a difficult task as 1 needs to condition the mind to focus monetary gains
I have only seen 2 types of ppl that make money out from stocks - 1 tat sticks to the TV screen n another 1 with insider infomations, maybe the 3rd type but not met 1 yet - lucky ppl
wish u luck
Very easy.
Make long term investments.
Say for the next 100 years.
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Retrenchment happened to my father when he was 50. And he could no longer find another job with the same pay. So he went overseas and contributed to the GDP of two other countries for another good 11 years. I can tell you there are thousands others like my dad who wouldn't settle for less by remaining in sg.
It's weird here.....u get older, the more worthless you are. One can think of adjunct teachers from MOE who have "gotten on in age" and are asked to downgrade to contracts with much lower pay.
Old is gold. Old does not mean useless. These are the very seniors who train the younger generation to take over the reins.
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my dad was retrenched when i was still 1st year undergraduate in NUS.....it has affected me not because he lost his economic support....but he lost himself into bouts of depressions, alcoholism and self-worth...and having to carry him on my back when he was dead drunk on the street...but i have never given up on him....working part time and study
he taught me what life is without money which is the sole motivating factor for me to goad on through my current success....
but most importantly, he taught me the value of bonding in times of hardship which is more valuable to any material means...
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Hello everyone,
I am the writer of the article http://help-your-money.blogspot.com/2011/12/retrenchment-hits-me.htmlI am quite surprised that someone would pick up on my retrenchment post and post it on this forum.
While retrenchment is a depressing thing, it need not end badly. It gives a person plenty of time to step back and think and who knows what useful thing will come out of it? I work in an industry with poor prospects. When a person works diligently but still ends up with a failure outcome and he is surrounded by people suffering the same fate, he is probably in the wrong place. When you know you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting kicked out of it cannot be too bad a thing :)
This is not the first time I am retrenched. Speaking from experience, my advice to those who have never been retrenched is to keep an emergency cash reserve to prepare for this event, particularly those working in the tech sector where things change at a very fast pace. With a strong cash reserve, at least one can continue to meet family obligations during the down period.