Next week is moving week at work. The company I work for (to be further known as the Old Company) was bought at the end of March by another company (to be further known as the New Company). This is the second company I have worked for that was bought while I was an employee. It’s a different experience.
Both are international companies in the same industry but the New Company has a much broader field of work. That is because while the Old Company has less than 80 employees total, the New Company has about 7,000 employees. And the integration of the Old Company into the New Company is going to happen in stages over the next seven months (we weren’t told why this was happening but there are rumors).
So what this means for my little office of eight people is that we are physically moving to the office of the New Company which employees over 220 people. The building is in the same town. It has six floors and the New Company occupies office space on four of them (two floors are completely theirs). That is going to be an adjustment.
And with any big change there are pros and cons. Here are mine, starting with the pros:
Pro #1 – I will have a window. I think people take for granted natural lighting until they spend years in a workspace without it. My workspace for the last five years has not included a window. There isn’t even one in my line of view. For me to look out a window I have to get up and walk halfway down the hall to the conference room, which has a window. Believe me, a window is a big deal.
Pro #2 – Voice mail. The Old Company was a family owned company (New Company is employee owned). With not a lot of employees the Old Company felt that no voice mail meant better customer service (i.e. the caller talks to a live person). Tell that to the 90% of callers who ask to leave a message on voice mail. I think people would rather have voice mail than talk to a real person but that’s just my opinion.
Pro 3# – More women. Women can be a fickle bunch to work with. Some are great and supportive and some are backstabbing and gossipy. In my current office of eight, I am the only woman and have been for the last year. Before then there were two of us and at one time (for less than a year) there were three. It’s the nature of the industry were in, men outnumber women. Because of this, for the first time in my adult working life I don’t have any work friends. But at the New Company there are woman (I’ve actually seen them) so I’m hoping that will change.
Pro #4 – I am guessing that 35% - 40% of the job duties that I really didn’t like to do at my Old Company I will no longer have to do at the New Company. While this is a pro, it also leads to Con #1.
Con #1 – This is a BIG con – I don’t know what my job will be. The New Company doesn’t do things the same way as the Old Company, so I have no clue what my job duties will be. I have been told that this could be an opportunity to do something that I will enjoy but I have also been told that they will assess my current responsibilities and place me where I am needed (possibly resulting in a terrible outcome). Will I have input or not? I don’t know and I’m not very optimistic about this. I will be doing a lot of my current duties until September and that is when things will change.
Con #2 – Location. For the last five years I have been extremely lucky because my office was less than two miles away from my home. I can sleep in later and go home for lunch (it’s awesome!). My new office, while in the same town, is 16 miles away. My commute is going to double from less than 10 minutes to about 20 minutes. Yes, I know that I’m not going to experience normal rush hour traffic but I liked sleeping later and going home for lunch.
Con #3 – My co-workers. I already know this is going to be a big adjustment for my co-workers from the Old Company because I am learning that a lot of things I used to do for them (see Pro #4) they are now going to have to do for themselves. I am preparing to hear a LOT of bitching. Also, I spent a lot of time working with Old Company co-workers in other offices and as we integrate more into the New Company I will lose touch and not be working with them much.
Con #4 – Benefits. I found out that I am going to be screwed out of at least on vacation day this year. I blame the Old Company because they didn’t have a vacation policy in writing (that is a whole other can of worms not to be opened). Some of the benefits are better and some are not. The biggest inconvenienced is our 401K. The Old Company terminated it at the end of March and we can’t contribute to the New Company’s plan until June (Why? It probably has to with why the integration is happening in stages instead of all at once) so I have to find someplace to put my money for the next two months.
Con #5 – Lip service. You know when you’re getting lip service and we are getting it now from the big wigs at the New Company. Yes, they are telling us everything that we want to hear right now so as not make any big stinks (of course, my boss is the exception to the big stink rule and I can’t really blame him because he’s getting screwed in the sale in a lot of ways). The New Company hasn’t really told us how things work, although we’ve heard little bits and pieces here and there, but nothing official. And this causes anxiety in different levels from different people.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful to have a job in this economy. But I will readily admit that I’m worried about what I’m going to be doing come September. I’m not good with not knowing about certain things, especially when it has to do with my paycheck. I hope the thrill of having a window will stay with me for a while...
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