How do I tell people I've been made redundant?

Noodleworm

I was told 6 weeks ago my job was being made redundant and I am now in "consultation" which means they try and find me another role.
Well nothing was available. So tomorrow I will have been officially declared redundant and will start my 4 weeks notice.
The business is doing great as a whole, its just my niche job on my paticular team.
How should I go about telling people I've been made redundant and I will be leaving?

I have told a few people, my immediate team(none of them are in Dublin) some senior managers, and those on teams I was trying to find a new job on. But then I just got sick of telling people and seeing their look of pity.

The company I work in is a big multinational, Because of the size I would often work closely with people for a few weeks, and after that I wouldn't see them much. So I keep running into people I haven't seen for weeks/months asking how I'm doing and what team I'm with these days. Lately I've just been saying 'fine'. because I don't want to get into it.

Since it's official tomorrow, should I make a post on our internal network? On linkedIn? Twitter?
Should I just start telling anybody who asks how I'm doing when we're waiting on the microwave in the canteen?
Otherwise I'm going to 'Irish Goodbye" a lot of people.

hooplah

Sorry to hear about what happened to you. It's a tough situation.

For people in the organisation you could just send around an email, you don't have to mention that you're redundant, just that your time with the company has come ot an end and that you're looking forward to the next thing. You could say taht you are interested in new opportunites - people will understand what this means but it doesn't sound defeatist or whingy.

I woulnd't bother posting anything on twitter or linkedin. In fact it might be better while you're job hunting to keep your linkedin profile as is.

pwurple

Hey Noodleworm, do you get a redundancy package? Most large multinationals will give you the following as part of redundancy:

- Redundancy payment (statutory and sometimes more in the package)
- career coaching
- training


You're framing this quite negatively. Most of the people I know have been made redundant a few times during their career, and took it as a boost each time. Certainly no looks of pity were forthcoming, unless the person was upset themselves., Generally they are called "Jammy Bastards" for getting out of a company easily, with a packet of cash in the back pocket, and the freedom to get another role.

Don't worry a bit about making announcements, I don't think everyone makes them. Take a break if you can afford it, line up the new role, and off you go. "I was made redundant" is one of the best reasons to have for leaving a previous job in an interview, as it means there was no fault on your part.

Glass fused light

If HR are ok with it I would send out early email to people who you liked, worked with, dep heads, people who you want to keep in contact with. A number of emails tweeked may work depending on the response you want.

Do a "it was great working with you, we may meet again" and add your contact detail mobile/linkedin. Invite the people you want to keep in touch with to contact you that way.
As you are not sure what you are going to do you can add this in with a note that you might take a few months off.
Add in what the close off process is for the role, and who should be contacted after you leave.

NB the role has been made redundant not you.

As for the canteen etc pratice saying something like this to your soon to be ex-workmates "due to management reorganisation / outsoursing ...etc the role was ....." and have 2or 3 success stories where you benefited the company or 'learned' something prepared to cover any awkward moments.
Don't be afraid to ask people to let you know if they become aware of a suitable role that you can apply for.

Good luck in the job hunt.

LimeFruitGum

I didn’t, because I feel that unless that person can help me get a job in some way, why should I bother to tell them. (Apart from my partner, obviously, and a couple of close mates). I never like people knowing my business anyway.

I couldn’t be faffed with the looks, the nosiness etc either and having the same conversation several times a day about it, so I asked that we just announce mine a week before my final working day. I didn’t want sympathy, I wanted to hear about new roles.
The door is often open to good ex-employees if suitable roles come up later on. So you could reframe it that way if applicable.

I left my LinkedIn alone, but obviously updated my CV to give an end date to my last job. After my redundancy, I decided I wanted to get out my industry, so nearly all of my LinkedIn connections would be useless, and there was therefore no value in making an announcement.

Having been through the redundancy process last year, I strongly recommend taking at least the first month or two off to unwind and chill out. No matter how helpful your last company was, it is still a stressful process and you need some time out.
I have found that interviewers actually don’t mind about redundancy; it is in your favour that you could start work sooner, compared to other candidates.

Also, Springboard courses are now open for applications so you should check them out. I did Prince2 while I was unemployed.

Glass fused light

Some times its good to pratice just saying it and taking on board that the role not you was made redundant. Companies dont mind redundancy provided you can demonstrate that as a potential employee you have coped with the situation. I remember speaking to a lady who's tone and speach pattern clearly showed that she was very bitter about what happened. Now to be fair the ex-employer did not treat her well, but that is emotional baggage a new employer wont want to deal with.

Apiarist

Noodleworm wrote: »

How should I go about telling people I've been made redundant and I will be leaving?

Send an e-mail to your extended work team. Don't say anything controversial and please do not try to be funny. No need to mention the redundancy either.

Say first that you are leaving your post tomorrow and how much you liked to work with them and if you really liked to work with some individuals, do mention them by name and mention their contributions to your skill development and their impact on the company's success.

Closing the e-mail, saying that you will be looking for new opportunities in the XYZ sector and that you can be contacted via your personal email Noodleworm@gmail.com (create one now to pass as your personal email ).

Remember --- the goal of the e-mail is to leave a positive impression of view as a professional who values others. You do not know if one of the guys you liked to work are planning to do next -- they may start their own company and who are they going to call? A disgruntled ex-coworker or a nice person who told everybody how great they were?

Noodleworm

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Of course I am bitter about it - it was my first real job, the company as a whole is doing great etc - But after reading the responses I realise keeping up appearances is the most important thing now.

I need to keep my head high and gracious about it, I didn't get fired, my redundancy pay will get me by for a few months. I'm lucky in that way.

Things are difficult because my job was super niche and it could be a long time before I get a new one, and I will definitely be taking a massive pay cut.

But I think it helps to hear people talk about it as a normal thing, It's pretty much unheard of around here and I think I need to get some perspective and see this is a normal occurrence.

Thank you all!