15% is pretty amazing! You're actually beating inflation, unlike most of us. Congrats!

And yeah, the new job I'm taking is partially because of the amazing pension benefits (assuming I stick around long enough obviously). I never though I'd be choosing a job for that reason, but then I also wasn't 40+ before.

Things got even funnier at work btw. The union representation's latest attack was amazing: they used the CEO's own words against him for the purpose of negotiating higher severance packages. You see, the 10% job cuts at our company are mostly complete BS to appease (potential) stockholders. Our company has been in the dumps like all other tech companies lately and just followed suit once google, microsoft et al started cutting about 10% of their workforce.

So on the one hand the CEO has been saying that we are actually a super profitable company (we are) and that we are in a great position to bounce back (eh, maybe once the entire stock market does) in order to get investors to buy our stock. He's also been saying that the people who will be made redundant are actually valued employees and that we're sad to see them go. But then the company also tried to get away with offering the bare legal minimum for severance pay, and the union representatives were quick to point out the inconsistency. So....we're super profitable and ready to get back into the game, and you really don't want to fire these people, but you're trying to give them much worse severance packages than what people got during the previous round of redundancies? That doesn't add up.

In all previous communications the company just reacted saying "it's not true don't listen to them", but in this one they can't really say much since we all got the corporate CEO good news show straight into our mailboxes. It's fucking hilarious.

Anyway, two more weeks to go. Then I need to move countries and get all that shit sorted out. I hope I can find time for a little holiday in between that and my new job!

Oh yea, sounds about right. I'm glad your union folks are calling out the company on the bullshit they pull. That kind of thing happens here all the time, but there are no consequences. It's just considered how things are... which is horrible and stupid, but everyone does it anyway.

Remind me if you don't mind... where are you living now? And also, where are you moving to? If you're not comfortable communicating your country of residence, that's fine too.

Yeah they're still keeping on the pressure it seems, the original deadline for the negotiations has passed, and no one has heard a peep about who'll be losing their job yet. Clearly not great for the people who are (eventually) affected, but at least it's a sign that the company isn't getting away with whatever bare minimum effort they were planning on or they'd all be out on the street already.

I'm technically still employed next week but in practice I had my last work day on Friday. Felt really weird as I'd been working for this company through various ways for close to 10 years! First as an employee for an outsourcing company that worked for them, then directly for them on a freelance basis, and the last few years as an actual employee. So it still doesn't quite feel real. I guess it'll start to sink in in about two weeks, when I start my new job and they lock me out of my work PC.

I am living in Lille in the north of France currently and have been since I got here, and will be moving back to Belgium for the first time in over 10 years for the new job...that'll feel weird too. Not that I mind, I didn't leave Belgium back then because I hated it or anything. But yeah, it's hardly an exciting or exotic place for me. But the plus side is obviously that I know exactly what to expect and do in terms of my administrative obligations, speak the language etc etc. I'll be working near Brussels but will be living in a smaller city between Antwerp and Brussels, so it'll be about a 40 minute commute by train.

Oh, a 40 minute commute isn't optimal. I used to drive to work 30 minutes one way and it seriously sucked. It may not be so bad when you're just passively riding a train (or maybe it's worse?) but man I'm so happy I work remotely now. Anyway, I know how big the change can be. I worked at my last company for 17 years before finally quitting and going to my current job. It's a big difference. That said, in my case (and probably yours) it was a very positive move. I do not regret it, even if it was really stressful acclimating. You got it, bro!

So, I still don't hate my job. There are major things I dislike, but it's still way better than my last job.

Hahaha glad to hear it! Not hating going into work every day sure is a nice thing! Better than most people's lives I'd bet, too.

Eh 30 mins isn't so bad...you can check your emails and answer a few people while on the train yes. In the car, not so much. Wouldn't recommend it anyway. Also eventually I'll be working from home 2-3 days a week too, so that really makes it negligible. Are you working remotely every day now? With some occasional trips to the office?

Oh wow 17 years!! And here I was feeling a bit uneasy after maybe 7 years. So yeah, if you can do it then so can I! And everything I've seen so far about the work life balance and work conditions sounded pretty good so...fingers crossed! First day is next Tuesday for induction, then Wednesday is my first 'actual' work day.

I always hated commuting on public transport. It's great while on it; you can read, daydream, whatever which you can't do in a car. But when it doesn't run on time then it's a nightmare. I constantly used to argue with my manager at Game because at least if traffic was shit she had the option of going down the back roads and avoiding it. I'd just be stuck at the bus station waiting for it to turn up, or stuck in a huge traffic jam because the bus can't take a different route.

Anyway you might as well go read March last year for my update. Moving teams again! Some general structural changes have gone on so I'm staying in the same team but moving over under a different manager. I may end up with more work though as currently I unofficially job share with my friend. She does mornings, I do afternoons and we overlap by an hour. However our service desk team leader quit and is leaving in 2 weeks so she's going for (and is wanted in) that position. I highly doubt they'd replace her role.

I've been with this company 12 years now. Just another 26 years until retirement!

So Ox, how was your first day of work! Hopefully pretty easy... my last job is the only one where we actually mistreated new people on purpose. Regarding your question, I work remotely 100% of the time. In the last 2 1/2 years, I've worked a full day in the office once, because my home internet went out. I have gone in a few times to meet people to go to lunch or something, but that is very rare, maybe 3 or 4 times total. I do tend to get a bit of cabin fever occasionally, but I'm actually a bit of a loner and enjoy not being around a bunch of people, so this is mostly a positive experience for me.

The negative is I get nowhere near as much exercise as I used to when I could walk around the office, use the gym, etc. That has had the expected consequence on my physique.

9 friggin' months haha! But it's already been 2.5 months, there'll be a semi summer shutdown soon where I work from home for 2 weeks, and then I'll have a few weeks of holiday later this year plus a week of closure around Christmas. I'll be getting close to being confirmed in my role by that point (assuming I will, anyway) so I think I'm gonna be able to cope. But yeah, will feel very good. You don't even realize how amazing it is until you don't have it anymore....no crap with finding time for deliveries or services only open during office hours (banks, post offices, council etc), and much more flexibility for my social life without all the time lost commuting.

Where would you move if money and work was no objection? Moutain cabin in rural Idaho?

hah... if money was no object, I'd probably move to Seattle or something. I like the big city life. Living in the middle of nowhere and having to drive 30 minutes just to get to a Walmart does not appeal to me. Not to mention that fast internet is absolutely critical to both my work and my recreation. However, money is definitely a thing. Most like I'll eventually end up on a good sized chunk of land 30 minutes to and hour outside of a major city. Somewhere. Some of the less awesome states have some extremely low-cost. There are also some places (like memphis) where a 15 minute drive will take you from farmland into a fairly large city. No decisions yet, though. We'll see.

Nine months of probationary work? Sheesh. I guess that's the tradeoff for being next to impossible to fire. I mean, I guess I had a 1 year wait before my stock options started to vest, but that's not really the same thing. Well, I hope it goes relatively quickly for you.

Damn money. Always comes down to that.

Turns out I was wrong in my last post. They are replacing my colleague, and my other one who is leaving to do her final year of uni, plus my manager's manager wants me back full time because he has some projects he'd like me involved in that really wouldn't work while I'm part time. I've agreed to trial it, he's happy for me to take it slow so in theory in August I'll go from 25 hours to 30, then after that I should be good to go up to the 37.5 again. We'll see though, I'm still always so exhausted on a morning and getting up to mess around on a computer recreationally is not the same as getting up to actually work on a computer. I had to think about it before accepting as currently I'm still able to save money on my 25 hours (the joy of having no kids or car to suck my money dry) and it's a pretty nice work/life balance on those hours. But considering I work from home so I can take it easier when needed anyway, and how insanely the prices of everything are still going up here in the UK it really makes no sense not to bump my hours up.

Mind you, it's 1 week until August and I still haven't heard anything from HR so who knows when I'll actually go up to 30 hours.

Man, I would kill for a 30 hour work week. I consistently work 40 with my current job, which is a really nice reprieve from the 50-55 a week I did at my previous job. Plus of course the 1.5 hours of daily commute I save by working from home. Being able to dial that back even further would be amazing. I could get so much more done. Or maybe I'd just play more games. Who knows. Anyway, I wish you best of luck with your increased hours (and increased pay). Making more money is never a bad thing.

Oh I get you entirely lol, it's been the thing holding me back for a while along with not knowing how I'll actually cope. If I go out food shopping I usually go first thing in the morning (Aldi opens at 8) so I get to avoid people. I'll still be able to do that once I'm full time but it will be a little tighter on time as I'll start around 8.30. Usually 8 - just before 12 is spent gaming. And when Niall is at work, some of the afternoon is also spent gaming if it's a quiet day, as you know from seeing me on Ark occasionally I don't game when Niall is off work as he steals the pc to catch up on his tv shows. It is really nice only working afternoons though and having me time each side of it that's more than just an hour and is spent rushing around getting ready for work anyway. Ah well. I just need to become a tight git like Ox and save everything in the hopes I can retire before I'm 70

Ah yes, Ox. The guy that scratches his butt with a rusty nail. Who doesn't want to be like Ox?

*spoiler... I don't like rusty nails* Aldi, huh? Aldi is kinda cool...it's where we can get Brie for super cheap around here, and brie is FREAKNG AWESOME!!!