Pantry Signs

When we all came back to work on the 5th of January, the first thing I noticed was the pantry. The tables had been rearranged and set against the wall, allowing only one side to be used. The "interior design" struck me as senseless and thoughtless at that time. But I didn't know what was coming end of that week.

By Friday morning of the first week of January, something was clearly going to happen. The bosses were unusually visible throughout the floor, flowing in and out of each other's offices. Majeed, our former editor-in-chief, was having more closed door phone calls and meetings than he could handle. And a colleague saw the head of the HR department come out of the General Manager's office!

Tip No. 1: If you see the head of HR getting involved in anything you can't put your finger into, you better dilate your eyes and expand your ears because it's definitely more than your usual guidance counsellor let's-have-a-chat stuff. When the HR is involved, it's about employees.

At 3pm of January 9, 11 officemates faced the "firing" squad. Brutally retrenched. The retrenchment did not come to me as a surprise as much as the number of people laid off did. I know that much bigger trimming off happened in the past but I wasn't there to witness it. This was the biggest I've seen so far in this company, and it involved some people who have been there for a long time.

Majeed had resigned in November. He had known about the merging of departments and the downgrading of our editorial department into a service unit, no longer a business unit. He had tried to get around the mergers, to find ways to work within the new setup. But we heard him say to a superior manager, who apparently had no idea he was leaving, that things didn't work out so he opted to resign.

The pantry knew. What struck me many days later was that most of them who were laid off in our department ate breakfast and lunch in the pantry everyday. It's like the whole lot of their lunch group were sacked. I should have seen the signs in the pantry. Tables facing the wall, not allowing the other side to be used? It meant there would soon be less people using the pantry -- at least until this coming Friday, January 30.

Our two editorial departments that had been merged will be placed in one floor -- our floor in the 14th. The editors in the 15F will join us. We'll be one big family, not sure if happy though. This Friday, the movement will happen.

I noticed the other day that the pantry tables were back in their original position. Anticipating more diners huh? By next week, it will be full again. Tip No. 2: If you're not sure but have that squishy feeling in the pit of your stomach that something's brewing in your workplace, check out the pantry. Maybe it knows.