Tuesday, February 07, 2006

More family matters

My eldest daughter has a new job. Instead of a 2 hour commute into the City of London, in future she will work in the charming Hampshire village of Odiham - only a 45 minute drive from her home. She will be working as a manager in a telecoms company. This is a quality of life thing.

Her story is quite remarkable. Her husband left her with two young children and no income. She took all sorts of part time jobs - selling double glazing, selling real estate, garden landscaping - before getting a full time post in a call center while we looked after the children. Within two years she had been promoted internally to European sales manager. This firm was taken over and she was one of the few who were not made redundant. She was headhunted from the firm that did the taking over to a much bigger concern in the City. Again she was promoted internally. She had a big salary, but had to make frequent trips to Europe as they decided to outsource many of their services to Eastern Europe, where labor costs were less. The attitude within the firm left a lot to be desired, so when she was invited to apply for this new job she had no hesitation in leaving. A company that treats its workers poorly does not command loyalty.

We hope for a happier future for her. She is remarrying soon.

My younger son has also been interviewed. He has applied for the post of Chief Engineer in his company. He is only 24 so it's asking a bit much, but at least he has been shortlisted. He has already designed the brakes for the new Bugati, the fastest car in the world, and also did the brakes for the Bentley that the Queen was given for her Golden Jubilee.

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