Axed

At the new financial year's kick-off meeting, my group CEO declared increments and a small bonus for the whole group. Come bonus payout time, my subsidiary did not receive anything. The issue was escalated up to HR, and they diverted us to our subsidiary's CEO. Even the managers were left in the dark. Rumors started flying like crazy. In the end, a special full-day physical townhall was called, and the funny thing was, they asked the other subsidiaries on our floor to work from home! That set even more tongues wagging. In the townhall, my CEO declared the subsidiary was detaching itself from the group, and a downsizing exercise will be performed. My peer who had just joined for 6 months was first to go. He slammed his MacBook shut, yanked the power socket, and left without saying a word. I was also axed, together with a few others. Felt really bad for the junior who I convinced to stay just a couple of weeks back. Only the engineering team was safe. I had always felt that the top management did not value the other teams, and their decision that day reinforced it. We were told to go home for the day, but we decided on a long lunch at Pavilion Bukit Jalil first. to bitch! From Nanyang Kopitiam, to Tsutaya, to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.  

Broke the news to KH, and he brought me out for dinner at Teppan Sakaba that night. Drowned my sorrows with yakitori and cold beers. I have three months to find a new job. Truth be told, I didn't feel angry. Looking back, my year there was a good learning experience in terms of technology stack, and management experience. Time to switch back to a company with IT as its core business, and most importantly, with enough revenue stream to pay my salary!