Office Gossip

I promised an update and although I don't have much time today, I will write just a bit.

Yesterday, I lunched with two office mates and heard a juicy bit of gossip that directly effects my near future as well as the future of many other people here at the firm.

The short of it: We're running out of money.

There are a lot of reasons for this (including mismanagement and over-hiring) but the real cause is our new strategy. We'll be implementing this strategy starting in December.

The result: Mass layoffs are coming.

And not just in my department. In at least 1 more, but probably in all divisions.

What this means: When contracts are up, they aren't being renewed.

Instead of laying off people (which is particularly costly here in Colombia), they're just letting contracts expire. My contract is up in 3 months. Which means, I have to up the level of effort in my job search.

I'm actually pretty happy about this. I certainly couldn't continue in the same job for another year without going postal and this gives me a definitive end point. And while the uncertainty of my employment future isn't the best thing, I have several things simmering at the moment and the hope is that something comes through. If not, there's always English classes and whatnot.

Either way, after hearing that, I felt relieved. I have 3 months more to go in this job and then I'm done. That's a good thing. I'll count one year of experience in this type of company and then I can move on to something else.

Now it's just a matter of securing something else.