This is not the best of times for employees worldwide. Folks are losing jobs in record numbers and unemployment figures are climbing to all-time highs. Back here in Nigeria, Access Bank is in the news for throwing 1,500 Intercontinental Bank staff into the job market as a result of the successful acquisition of the bank in what some see as controversial circumstances.
It is bad news to those affected but good news to shareholders of Access Bank. Different strokes for different folks. That is not the whole picture. Those that remain have been offered the devil’s alternative – forfeit your gratuity and start afresh or accept your gratuity and go.
It means you have two options – either become a new hire (your years of service and gratuity gone with the wind, start afresh, on probation for 6 months, go through medical and all the works), or accept your gratuity and go. In summary, whichever option you choose, you lose. You are caught between the devil and a hard place. Do you swallow your pride and return to ground zero or collect your gratuity and call it a day?
This is a very difficult question to answer. Do you take the money and hope for the best or start all over again? If you don’t know what to do with the money, you may find yourself out of money and jobless at the end of the day. If you take the job, what about the gratuity, seniority etc?
I am not going to dabble into the morality of what the Access Bank management did. Companies downsize all the time. Some do it by setting outrageous targets, putting their staff under untold trauma, and showing them the door at the end of the day. The reality is that the company does not love you. You will be kidding yourself if you think it does.
At the first sign of trouble or turbulence, you will be tossed overboard to face the waves. Very few companies hold unto their staff through thick and thin. Leaving your financial destiny in the hands of your employer is like giving a bunch of ripe bananas to hungry monkeys for safekeeping.
There is no one right answer to give to someone in this situation. It depends on your level of financial education and the state of your financial foundation.
Do you have up to six months’ equivalent of your take-home pay in a savings account?
Is the interest income from your fixed income investments up to your monthly living expenses (or can your gratuity guarantee you that?
Do you have growth investments you can pull out some funds to start your own business?
If your answer is yes, yes, and yes, then what are you waiting for? Take the money!!!
If banking is the love of your life, you can take the money and look for another job commensurate with your current experience and position. If you can’t find one immediately, you will not starve.
If you have not achieved financial security after more than ten years of working, then chances are you have not yet acquired the financial education or acumen needed to invest your gratuity or “last card”. This means that you and the money will soon part ways. You are better off taking the job, and starting all over again – wisely this time. If you are 100% dependent on your salary, then you are left with no choice but to eat the humble pie. Pride will not put food on the table. What has happened is like being pushed out of an aircraft at cruising height without a parachute. Without a parachute, your chances of survival are slim.
For someone who already has something he or she was doing on the side, you can afford to call the bluff of your employers, take the money, put it in a high-interest-yielding fixed deposit account, and put your heart and soul into your business. Again, it is possible to take the money and get another job within a few months. There is no one right answer. This is being caught between the devil and a hard place.
The core of the issue is being at the mercy of circumstances outside your control. This is the reason I am very passionate about financial education. As an employee, you can enjoy multiple streams of income and create jobs for others. It is not too late to start. I started at an old age after wandering for more than 15 years in the wilderness. It is not too late to rebuild your broken financial foundations. If you are a staff of Intercontinental Bank, my heart goes out to you. I pray that you will take the right decision and follow your heart, not react based on anger or fear.
The path before you is a well-worn path. Many have gone before you. Some have had to confess afterward that one of the best things that ever happened to them was losing their jobs. It was as if God gave them a kick in the butt, to go out and fulfill their purpose. After the storm and the rain, if you learn the lessons, you will emerge to a bright new day, thanking God for the storms that made you see the light.
Photo: joebarclay.com
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.