Last year my company went through a major downsizing exercise. Chaos reined as people spent most of their days speculating who would go in the next mass firing. The good old days of business class travel and expensive meals have definitely faded into the past.
Perhaps Telefonica thought they were immune to the global downturn, but losing a billion dollars overnight in Venezuela seems to have finally woken them up. It amazed me was that upon losing the said billion, the company immediately reiterated that their earnings guidance hadn’t changed.
Apparently Alierta went batshit crazy and took a chainsaw to budgets all over the company. But where do you get a billion in earnings on short notice? Most likely by firing contractors, shutting down all non-essential travel, and slashing marketing budgets (or raiding some rainy day slush fund hidden somewhere in South America). And of course their favorite, sticking random charges on people’s bills and hoping they don’t notice.
A blog about our life in Sant Cugat between 2007 and 2015, strange discoveries, amusing local news, politics, economics and cute stories about kids.
Showing posts with label the corporation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the corporation. Show all posts
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
My most expensive free gift
My company Christmas present arrived today. It was a cute little solar panel that you can plug into your mobile phone to charge it.
Unfortunately, the person in charge of sending the gift to Spain had this weird idea that you should actually be truthful on the customs declaration, and wrote "electronics" with value of $5 on the form.
Big mistake.
Spanish customs charged 0.50 euros in customs plus a 20 euro "processing fee".
Just put "other" as the description with a value of $1. Works much better.
Unfortunately, the person in charge of sending the gift to Spain had this weird idea that you should actually be truthful on the customs declaration, and wrote "electronics" with value of $5 on the form.
Big mistake.
Spanish customs charged 0.50 euros in customs plus a 20 euro "processing fee".
Just put "other" as the description with a value of $1. Works much better.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Computer Envy
I work for a large corporation on a special project unrelated to most of the other business that goes on here in Spain. So I deal with the Spanish subsidiary sometimes when I need things like money, computers, cheque gourmets, etc. The other day I ordered a new computer. I received an email yesterday stating that my computer had arrived, but that there was a problem and it was being held in storage until the issue was resolved.
“A problem?” I asked.
“Yes, the computer has an issue”
“Is it defective?”
“No, it does not conform to the corporate standard”
“Hmm… like the wrong brand?”
“No. The screen is too big, the hard drive is too large and it has too much memory”
“I don’t understand, the purchase order was approved by my VP”
My boss ended having to yell some common sense into the guy (it just a poor IT drone). A couple days later this sticker arrived in the mail. I love my boss.
“A problem?” I asked.
“Yes, the computer has an issue”
“Is it defective?”
“No, it does not conform to the corporate standard”
“Hmm… like the wrong brand?”
“No. The screen is too big, the hard drive is too large and it has too much memory”
“I don’t understand, the purchase order was approved by my VP”
“That doesn’t matter. It does not conform to the corporate standards for the Spanish subsidiary”
“Why do you care?”
“If your co-workers saw your computer they would be jealous and want to be treated the same”
My boss ended having to yell some common sense into the guy (it just a poor IT drone). A couple days later this sticker arrived in the mail. I love my boss.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Severance in Spain
Spain has very strict employee protection laws. This means
1) Lots of strikes. Last year the truckers went on strike and shut down the country. Gas stations were empty, store shelves bare.
2) It sucks to be young, because no one will hire you full time (it seems like half the country works on temporary contracts)
3) Everyone is in a union
Since I work with computers, I'm in the metalworkers union. Is silicon a metal? They get 0.1% of my salary for doing nothing. Thanks.
If you get laid-off (as a full time employee), you get a severance package consisting of a minimum of 45 days of salary per year worked up to 3.5 years pay (many companies give more), unless you are fired. You REALLY have to try to get fired. There was a recent court case that decided that even swearing publicly at your boss was insufficient grounds for firing.
The Spanish legal system arrived at this 45 day payoff somewhat indirectly. Termination without cause used to be arbitrated in court, with a maximum penalty of 45 days of pay per year worked. A small rule change allowed companies to just pay the 45 days without going through the hassle of the court system.
If you come here from abroad via an intra-company transfer, remember to get a rider attached to your employment contract stating that they recognize your time abroad as part of your employment history.
This also means that if you've worked somewhere for a while, you don't want to leave (and potentially lose a huge amount of severence?).
There is some legal gray area concerning whether performance based stock grants count as part the salary for severence purposes. Companies now try to protect themselves by refusing to providing any written justification for stock grants.
1) Lots of strikes. Last year the truckers went on strike and shut down the country. Gas stations were empty, store shelves bare.
2) It sucks to be young, because no one will hire you full time (it seems like half the country works on temporary contracts)
3) Everyone is in a union
Since I work with computers, I'm in the metalworkers union. Is silicon a metal? They get 0.1% of my salary for doing nothing. Thanks.
If you get laid-off (as a full time employee), you get a severance package consisting of a minimum of 45 days of salary per year worked up to 3.5 years pay (many companies give more), unless you are fired. You REALLY have to try to get fired. There was a recent court case that decided that even swearing publicly at your boss was insufficient grounds for firing.
The Spanish legal system arrived at this 45 day payoff somewhat indirectly. Termination without cause used to be arbitrated in court, with a maximum penalty of 45 days of pay per year worked. A small rule change allowed companies to just pay the 45 days without going through the hassle of the court system.
If you come here from abroad via an intra-company transfer, remember to get a rider attached to your employment contract stating that they recognize your time abroad as part of your employment history.
This also means that if you've worked somewhere for a while, you don't want to leave (and potentially lose a huge amount of severence?).
There is some legal gray area concerning whether performance based stock grants count as part the salary for severence purposes. Companies now try to protect themselves by refusing to providing any written justification for stock grants.
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