WSJ - Europe: Recently Laid-Off Employees Experience a Lifestyle Change
Business and Finance -
August 28, 2001
By AMY L. WEBB
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Every morning, Richard Joseph Winstanley e-mails his business contacts in Europe from his desk in the Philippines, looking for job leads. Shorts and a T-shirt have replaced black suits and matching ties since he received his pink slip four months ago.
"My lifestyle has changed dramatically," Mr. Winstanley says. "I have two young children, so of course, I'm worried about them. For the past three months I've been looking around, but it's hard to find the right kind of job for me right now."
Mr. Winstanley is part of Asia's most recent wave of layoffs, which stems from the dot-com crash in Asia last year. In Hong Kong, Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. dismissed 340 employees in July. Malaysia's human resources ministry reported that 1,000 to 2,000 people a week lost manufacturing jobs that month. And in the Philippines the unemployment rate hit a high of 11.4% in January, as a disappointing fourth quarter forced 3.59 million people out of their jobs, according to the National Statistics Office. "The crash last year is now starting to affect nontechnology industries. We're starting to see certain sectors -- banking, new technology, consumer goods, retail -- being hit," says Sue Knox, managing consultant at international out-placement firm Drake Beam Morin in Hong Kong.
"We need to make sure we don't get into financial trouble. We're still planning a family, but not until my career is on track."
"From secretaries up to CEOs, everyone is affected. It will continue to get worse for the next quarter or two. My hope is that organizations that reduce the sizes of their work forces do so on a measured basis rather than a hard sweep," Ms. Knox says.
With more layoffs seemingly inevitable, some people have started to make lifestyle changes -- waiting to start their families or relocating to less-expensive neighborhoods, she added.
Others view their pink slips as tickets to explore new career possibilities. Some are content to rest or travel. "Many of our clients are developing new skills, making contacts, and connecting with people now," Ms. Knox says. "But the bottom line is that the poor employment [outlook] in Asia is causing people to really think about what to do with their time."
The profiles of those affected by the most recent cuts include young graduates caught up in the technology craze and seasoned general managers who had served as company men for decades.
When Richard Joseph Winstanley originally joined Iquest Corp. in 1998, he signed on as a technical advisor to help fit out hotels in Asia with computer terminals with business applications. Like many Internet start-ups, the Hong Kong office had fewer than 10 employees, so Mr. Winstanley at first took on many roles within the company to help it grow.
"At the time, the company was so small, I thought that I could make more money on my own as a consultant," he says.
So he struck out on his own in January 1999, only to have Iquest call him six months later with news of increased funding and a proposed share listing. The company promised Mr. Winstanley $3,800 a month in salary, plus benefits and stock options. Last April, however, the company laid off 25 people. In May, Iquest laid off Mr. Winstanley and nine others.
Mr. Winstanley has created an office in his home to do consulting with engineering firms and broadband companies in Europe while he looks for a new job. "For the past three months I've been looking around. I have two children, house payments, and basic living expenses," he says. "But I also have more time to develop new strategies so that I can expand my own business, or make my business a division of a company that will not collapse, as Iquest did."
Julee Sahanarian Tajulsrama, Formerly at Motorola
Julee Sahanarian Tajulsrama wasn't surprised when she received her notice and a severance package in late June, after having headed recruitment and staffing for 10 years at a Malaysian unit of Motorola Inc. of the U.S. Last December, the company started downsizing its human resources department, and Ms. Tajulsrama started looking at other possibilities within the company. "It was inevitable that my position would be cut, because the company just isn't hiring."
Ms. Tajulsrama and her husband had planned on starting a family. Now, they are taking a slow-growth approach to their immediate future. "We need to make sure that we don't get into financial trouble, so we eat out less. We're still planning on children, but not until my career is set on track."
Since April, she has been aggressively looking for a job, approaching future employers with her resume and list of skills. Ms. Tajulsrama and her husband hope that she will be employed by the fourth quarter this year.
Ms. Sim heard rumors of impending layoffs at asiacompany.com after the company changed its business model from online publishing to Web services in May. "I was working as a designer for corporate communications in Hong Kong at the time, so I asked for a transfer back to Singapore." Just after Ms. Sim arrived in Singapore, asiacompany.com laid off most of its corporate communications staff in Hong Kong.
With her transfer came a host of new duties, most of which dealt with developing company strategy. "I told them several times that my background was in design, but there was no room for compromise. At the end of June, I was asked to leave the company."
Ms. Sim hasn't found a Web design job in Singapore, but she isn't worried about the immediate future. Rather than searching aggressively for openings in new companies, Ms. Sim has decided to take some time to travel. "I'm not concerned about payments, because I can free-lance if I need to. I'd rather look for a job slowly, and find a job that I love that does not involve the Internet. I'm not worried because I've found new opportunities for other kinds of jobs and I can hope for something better."
Edward Lau, Formerly at a Corporate-Services Firm
Edward Lau was one of 16 senior managers in Asia laid off by a corporate-service company, where he helped his clients manage business travel expenses. Mr. Lau had been with the company -- which he cannot name under the terms of his severance package -- for four years.
"I saw the company starting to downsize, and I did not have the illusion that I'd be around forever, but I was surprised when I was called in," he says. "I had hoped to stay with the company for a number of years, but during the second quarter of 2000, the company started to consolidate expenses."
Mr. Lau used the terms of his contract, which promised long-term employment and benefits, to negotiate a severance package. In the end, he received payment and outplacement support with Drake Beam Morin.
Mr. Lau worked with Drake Beam Morin to develop a short-term plan, and found a consulting job in Singapore with a U.S. multinational. He and his wife, who is a homemaker, have cut spending until he adjusts to his position. "I think this is the job for me. I took a pay cut to do this job, but I don't mind, because I think I will excel. I used this layoff to get to a field where I wanted to be and did some personal development along the way."
Write to Amy L. Webb at amy.webb@awsj.com1
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