Things have been pretty crazy as of late, and not totally unrelated to the fact that my manager now has a new manager at HP who has decided to shake things up a bit by conducting a massive reorganization of the marketing division. One of his goals in this shake up was to eliminate all of the freelance contractors that currently make up about 50% of his marketing team. I, myself, being a freelance contractor, have spent the past few weeks in the most uncomfortable state of vocational limbo.

Word was first passed to me while I was vacationing with the family in Florida. I received an email from a friend at HP (also a contractor) relating the tale of his recent meeting with the new big boss where he was told of the changes about to take place. He was also told that, as of June 1, his services would no longer be needed. It had begun and he simply wanted to warn me of potential impending doom and financial ruin.

I was scared. I’ve only been working at HP for seven months now and I think I’ve finally found my groove. The pay is great and the flexible hours are an absolute godsend. We can afford the luxury of having Jan stay home with Emily full time and I’ve actually begun my first ventures into the world of serious financial planning. I wasn’t ready to give this up.

My fate was to take the form of one of three options:

1. Lose my job
2. Keep my job (unchanged)
3. Keep my job, but be forced to sign on with an employment agency, not effecting me personally, but making my continued employment less desirable to HP as the agency’s markup would make me “more expensive”

If they decided not to keep me on, my manager would then be responsible for both her duties and mine.

When we finally returned to Barcelona, I made a point to meet with my manager to see if she had any idea of what the future held. She promised to meet with her new manager to see if he had already decided what he wanted to do with me.

Now would be a good time to tell you about my manager, Nuri. She’s the best. I get on very well with her and I love her philosophies. She’s an avid photographer, she loves horses, and she’s a straight shooter. Plus she seems to really appreciate the value I’ve added to my position in that I’m dependable, efficient, and I’m able to take a lot of the heat off of her position. Nuri’s definitely someone you want in your corner – especially when you job’s on the line.

Apparently, Nuri’s meeting with her manager went something like this:

Him: Is Joshua absolutely necessary?
Her: YES!!!

And that was good enough for him.

So all is well… for now. I’m happy to be working under the same conditions as before the reorganization, but the freelance contractor position is definitely lacking in the field of Job Security. But my position is a very interesting one. Of the literally thousands of people that work in the Barcelona HP center, I am the only one who is currently capable of doing my job. Most of my direct dealings are with the Data Team in Boise, Idaho. Sure, almost anyone can learn to do my job, but that training time is expensive and they’re happy with my performance. Plus, Nuri is eager to have me assist her on new projects that are coming up in the near future to “broaden my horizons”. I may be here for a while 🙂