Losing your job

is devastating for anyone even if you have advance warning that it might happen. Even if you do not like the work you do to suddenly find yourself with no income at all is frightening.

It gets worse than that for some people. A much younger friend completed a university degree last year. It was in an area where there are employment opportunities and she was optimistic about her chances of finding work.

For the past seven months she has been "volunteering" in a work place. It has supposedly been to "get experience". She has worked as hard, if not harder, than the people actually employed there. For this she was being paid the equivalent of the unemployment benefit under a government training scheme. When I met one of her workmates, the person delegated to "train" her, she was enthusiastic about this girl's ability to do the work, fit in and take initiative when necessary. She would, I was told, "be a great addition and we'd like to have her". 

That was the feeling of everyone except the person in charge. As everyone else was leaving last week he called her into his office. He then told her she need not bother to come back on Monday. The job application she put in has not succeeded. She was to take her things with her immediately and was not to return. He did not thank her for the work she had done or for the extra hours she had put in. There is a major report coming out shortly, one which this girl has done most of the research for and much of the writing. She will not be there when it all comes out.

The person who had been responsible for her training was the one who told me what had happened. She wanted to know if there was any way to help her. "I have seen the draft report. Her name is not even acknowledged."

I wanted to know why the boss was behaving like this. She shrugged. "I don't know. He isn't interested in women so it isn't that. If I rock the boat then I don't know what he'll do next. Word has it that he has appointed the person I thought was the least suitable to the position. I'll be expected to train him up of course."

Yesterday I had another call, made outside the office on her personal phone.  The new appointee is somehow related to the boss. Yes, he has the paper qualifications for the role. He has no experience. He is apparently not even particularly enthusiastic about the work but "it's a job".  I wonder how well he will do. 

It is another example of "who you know" I suppose. I just hope someone I know will raise some questions about this.