Lovely Christmas Bonus

Supposed to be 6 months I thought, but if they fiddle the job descriptions and merge or tweak roles then they can get away with it.

I think you're right to take the voluntary, and then punt your shares on too. Should give you a nice amount as a cushion whilst you job hunt, or more likely if you say your skills are in demand - a nice amount of cash to see you back to Canada in a couple of years.

If the above does pan out, I'd make sure you get a chance of an exit interview with the two people you started working with 5 years ago to voice your disdain at recent developments and how they've gone about it. Christmas redunancies are cold and heartless, giving you until the 2nd of Jan to make a decision is even worse because now you'll think of nothing else over Christmas.

As the others have intimated, a company that does that to you isn't worth diddly.
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
If they make you redundant can they instantly rehire on the same job?
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If it's in a significantly different location I'd guess they can, it'd be a bit barmy otherwise.

Example, company wants to move 200 miles away, member of staff doesn't want to move, what else could they do?
 
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I couldn't see any issue with a rehire, they have made it clear the position where he is is no longer available and have offered him a 'new' position in another location, if he does not take the new position and the redundancy instead then his position is no longer on the market just a new one.

If you are quite sure you can secure a new job with your skill set then i would go that route, the company is obviously expanding well and they are taking steps to secure further expansion by optimizing the efficiency of there work force, fair it may not be but understandable really. After all you are planning to leave the country and your job in the not too distant future.
 
It's worth getting "proper" legal advice in advance around the redundancy and stock options so you're properly informed and up to speed on what is reasonable and what isn't when it comes time to negotiate.

It's not being awkward or argumentative, it's simply business in much the same way it seems the requirement to have everyone in one office now the company has grown is simply a sensible business decision. You had also made the decision presumably to quit the company in a couple of years and move to Canada in much the same level headed way. Maybe now is the time to offer to help them open the Canadian dev office? :)

Taking the emotion out of the situation usually helps, although when stuff impacts people lives and emotions it's hard to do.
 
Tough situation for you but taking the redundancy cash and getting a new job in Bristol sounds like a winner to me. Do you think you would find a new position fairly easily?
 
Athanor said:
You had also made the decision presumably to quit the company in a couple of years and move to Canada in much the same level headed way.
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Actually, they were fully aware of my plans and assured me that I would be able to continue working remotely after I'd moved to Canada. However, that was when plans were to market and license the system we built, rather than focus on the websites we built it for.


Stretch said:
Op, what is your skill set?
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Typical front end dev stuff really, though I'm also an able designer.
XHTML/HTML5, CSS2/3/LESS, JavaScript/jQuery, crossbrowser, accessibility, etc. etc.1
 
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Beggars can't be choosers, whilst I'd hate to move up to Leeds, if I had no ties and it wasn't an issue and quality of life would be good then I'd do it. Wouldn't be happy about it. Though if I had family and/or it really wasn't a step up, then I wouldn't do it. However, if you think you can get another job lined up, then go the redundancy route - just be careful.
 
phil675 said:
Leeds is nice but it's still the north.
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I was toying with moving up to Leeds and taking a bit of a pay cut for an easier life a while ago actually. Got lots of friends up there but I don't think I'm ready to leave London yet. :)
 
Thread necromancy!!
10 year update!
  • I took the redundancy
  • They screwed me out of my shares by selling the CMS we built to a company the other 2 directors owned for £1. (it was in contract that any major company decision had to be voted on and approved by a majority of the directors, which I obvs lost 2-1) This left me with shares that were completely worthless.
  • I took a month or two off and then landed a freelance job at a big digital agency where I spent a couple months building an experimental and interactive site for a book being published by Penguin.
  • I then freelanced at another digital agency for a couple months until they decided to offer me a permanent role, which I accepted.
  • After working there for 3 years and 4 months, I was promoted to Senior Front End dev.
  • 1 year and 4 months later I took voluntary redundancy to save the jobs of the 2 front end devs under me (I was getting tired of the work anyway and knew I'd have no problem finding another job).
  • I bounced around for a couple years freelancing, including at my old agency. And it turned out that taking the voluntary redundancy was actually the best thing that could have happened because when my Mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, the freedom/flexibility and money that comes with freelancing meant I was able to fly back to Canada every 3 months for weeks at a time to visit her.
  • And finally, while freelancing at my old agency a couple years ago, their new head of technology asked if I would consider coming back permanently. I made them woo me a bit, but eventually accepted as I was kind of missing everything that comes with a permanent role and I'd also worked with the new head of tech before and he's quite literally the perfect boss.
And a couple more bullet points that didn't quite fit into my timeline
  • We never ended up moving back to Canada. One day though.
  • I was granted dual citizenship (British Canadian)
  • My mom was initially given 6 months, but she's a very stubborn and strong willed woman and said "F that!". It's been a few years now and although it's still terminal, she's won every battle so far.
  • I've done so much more than I ever thought I would with my career and I've really enjoyed it. There's an almost certain chance that you've seen/used/visited something I've worked on.
  • The original company was later sold to a larger competitor and then subsequently purchased back after that company dissolved. They eventually sold it again to a major UK airport for 7 figures.
 
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