Of lay-offs, closures and expansion

I heard last week and confirmed from the internet that Intel Philippines will indeed close its operations in Cavite. This is truly sad news. It's a big loss for the Philippines and most of all a big loss for the employees currently working there.

The decision though was not completely surprising. I think for the past several months the employees were already fearing for this. Although the management did say they were just considering relocation of the plant, they were also hinting at the possible closure by showing the severance package that employees could expect.

Years ago I never would have thought that Intel would be one of those companies that would possibly close. It was the biggest electronics exporter of the Philippines. In fact, I would have thought my first employer (another American multinational semiconductor company) would have been more likely to close sooner. When I started working as a contractual in that company, they had just spun-off from Motorola and there were voluntary separation packages being offered to tenured employees. But the company survived eventually. 

When I started at Intel (my 3rd employer), there were a lot of new hires every week! They were very generous with trainings, bonuses and benefits. I even had the opportunity to work offshore for a few months. But even before I had completed my bond, we were suddenly faced with a decision. Our business group was spun-off, and we were offered a job at the new company with a slightly higher pay but less benefits, or take the severance package from Intel. I thought how unlucky for our group to be separated from Intel. Now it's actually a blessing in disguise. Compared to our Intel counterparts in the other business groups who will now suddenly become jobless, our business group co-workers still have their work.

I am glad though that the Philippines has strict labor laws and Intel is a very generous company such that the affected employees are compensated for this loss. It is of course not a permanent fix to the problem of unemployment, but is surely helps to cope for the 1st few months of job hunting. The severance package may even pave for possible business ventures for those who have worked long enough.

As for me, it opened up an opportunity to pursue other career options. Despite the current worldwide financial crisis, I was able to get work in an Australian IT company creating software for financial institutions. I am confident that my current employer will grow more and expand its reach. In fact, the past few months saw a surge of new hires in our company. I hope it continues to go strong.

Of course we don't really know what the future holds for us. What we can just do is move on, look for opportunities, and do our best. It's a never-ending cycle that is not only effective with careers but in life too.