got my christmas bonus!!

[colinm1]

my bonus this year is!!!!!

i keep my job!

for an other week

or atleast i wasn't sacked today when i left work, so i suppose they want me next week!

my son got a $2000 bonus

im lucky if my boss cracks a smile!

anyway at least i have a job and im greatful for that

[Upfront]

I'm in the same boat Colin. I'm in the construction industry and I think I'll be lucky to make it past January. But I did get a coffee cup for Christmas.

[Luc]

My boss gave me a Xmas bonus which has gone straight into the cunning kick for future hifi purchase

Very accommodating he is and I bought him a slap of Asahi and six Pewseyvale reislings for being so liberal with his cash.. .

[andyr]

my bonus this year is!!!!!

i keep my job!

for an other week

or atleast i wasn't sacked today when i left work, so i suppose they want me next week!

my son got a $2000 bonus

im lucky if my boss cracks a smile!

anyway at least i have a job and im greatful for that

Yeah, I worked for a guy for a number of years who had exactly that belief - your bonus each week was that you got to keep your job for another week!

As you say, you're grateful for that.

Regards,

Andy

[Catostylus]

My boss has given me the best Christmas present of all - he's gone on holiday.

[Saxon Hall]

A Christmas bonus is nice if you get it but I guess just having a reasonable job and keeping it a bit longer can also be considered a bonus. Sometimes I have got SFA,sometimes a six pack of beer, sometimes a nice cash bonus, just a lucky dip really.

[Stump]

My Boss Christmas Bonus bought me a new camera and a one month all experiences paid trip over seas.

(I'm self employed)

Stump

[Batty]

I get to go back to work in January.

[caddisgeek]

5 weeks study leave

[Addicted to music]

I got $100 as a gift vouchor,

but Im in the same boat, 2 weeks prior an order came from Tokyo; reduce the workforce by 20% world wide. In Melb I saw 11 people get retrenched effective imediately, the supervisor who had the unfortunate job of calling them in was also let go at 14.00 after lunch. A further unknown addition have also been told that there position have been terminated and will not exist after March. Thnxs to the Victorian and Queensland State Government, in order to get back into the red they have suspended permanently on all purchases and renewal of contracts. Thnxs to the ipad and smart devices as the paper usage world wide has been reduced. Thnxs to the carbon tax that forces industry such as the car and other business that have taken steps to move there operation else where to remain competitive. We have seen many business closed in 2012 and you wonder why there is a reduction in tax revenue.

My wife is in the same boat as a nurse, there is a threat that her hours will be further reduced from an initial reduction of 6.5hrs. The organisation she is working for is making her position redundant as an Enrolled Nurse and they are replacing them with Personal Care Asistance(PCA).

Im very luck to still have a job, I dont know how long my position will exist in the near future as paper usage takes a dive and the paperless society gets closer to reality. The cost of maintaning paper storage and archiving is now no longer viable and is gradually being replaced by electronic storage.

Have a Merry Xmas and a prosperous new year

[LogicprObe]

My boss is a real bastard.

eg - the other other day I caught him sneaking into my house and sexually abusing me while I was asleep!

[Telecine]

A bottle of red and a significant pay rise here. I feel fortunate to have kept my job and the jobs of my staff this year, others in the organisation weren't so fortunate. Here's hoping things turn around as predicted in 2013.

Edited December 22, 2012 by Telecine

[Luc]

If I were giving advice to a teenager at a jobs forum I'd tell them to concentrate on a trade and to put off tertiary education until they'd been successfully employed and finished their chosen trade.

The number of graduates I know of who don't have jobs in their chosen career path is quite amazing and the number of business's I know of and individuals who cannot hire qualified tradesmen is equally so.

I'm sure we all have stories of the prices plumbers, brickies, electricians,floor tilers ect charge and I say good on 'em (within reason) and there is always going to be a need for them, always. The same can't be said for graduates positions in many fields.

[L J T]

$20 gift voucher for me. Grateful for that and my job.

[valvelover]

That's cos Uni is so overrated. Once upon a time, university education was for the elite, but these days, every Tom, Dick & Harry does it...it has lost all value imho.

Whilst trades have been diminished. The problem with doing a trade is that the first 2 years are so poorly paid as to make it simply a horribly enticing experience. If our government(s) want to save trades, then they really need to start pulling the finger out now. I wish I'd done a trade to be honest - I left in year 12 back in '86 and only did the HSC because my parents wanted me to - it was a requirement to get into the RAAF. I didn't want to go into the RAAF, but had tremendous pressure put on me by my parents to do so. i did my HSC and told them to sod off and entered the ordinary workforce. I wish I'd left in year 10 and done carpentry.

edit: Oh, I forgot about bonus - no bonus here, been 16 months, nearly 17 months since my last pay rise too. I don't plan on staying in the job anyway - I want out of the IT industry (hate it).

Dave

If I were giving advice to a teenager at a jobs forum I'd tell them to concentrate on a trade and to put off tertiary education until they'd been successfully employed and finished their chosen trade.

The number of graduates I know of who don't have jobs in their chosen career path is quite amazing and the number of business's I know of and individuals who cannot hire qualified tradesmen is equally so.

I'm sure we all have stories of the prices plumbers, brickies, electricians,floor tilers ect charge and I say good on 'em (within reason) and there is always going to be a need for them, always. The same can't be said for graduates positions in many fields.

Edited December 23, 2012 by valvelover

[Luc]

Well you can thank the free market mentality of the Howard/Costello governments for slowly doing away with all the initiatives that successive governments from Menzies all the way up to the Hawke/Keating ones had built into the TAFE system and the subsidisation of apprentice wages through employer tax benefits.

The first two to four years of low wages are to my mind an absolute necessity, the next time a pimply faced kid stuffs up on a job wont be the first time or the last time it happens and there is no way that an apprentice deserves anything close to full award wages while they're learning their trade.

An employer used to be paid for the time that his apprentice spent at school, no more though and there is one of your major reasons for the lack of trades and the lack of offers to take on an apprentice; It's just very expensive for a single operator to afford to pay wages and teach and guide a young bloke and then have him go to TAFE for two days a week without some kind of Government subsidy.

I know I can't afford it, much as I'd like to pass on my skills to another generation, yet 25 years ago I could and did: Not any more.

*Sorry OP for the topic drift.

** Builder I'm working for at the moment has put an apprentice on as he wants to pass his skills on and he's got a first year lad working for him now. I spoke to him yesterday as he was heading off on holidays, this is what he said: " I gave the young fella three weeks holiday pay and a Xmas card with a $200 bonus in it. He never thanked me, never rang up, never wished me merry xmas, just hopped in his ute and took off. Young blokes eh..."

I didn't know what to say. Carpentry apprenticeships with a single builder are as rare as rocking horse shite, they really are a rarity these days. I wonder if the young bloke realises how damn lucky he is...3 weeks holiday pay in his first year, he only started in July.

[minsik]

Well some good and lots of bad news here.

Unbelievable how companies treat people/employees/workers.

I worked for a large media organisation based in Wollongong with Aust wide branches who had been cutting back and centralising over several years. However being on a project to equip every 150 sites with gear I figured I had a few years work left b4 retirement. So total disbelief when Feb this year I was told on a Tuesday morning 9:30 after 11 years continuous service, that your job is redundant! HUH, Go home NOW.

11 years ago after 20 years of self employed I got a proper job, working for a large company confident in their longevity, who you do extra for, go the extra mile because they will look after you. Only to find that there is no such thing. Not even offered a cut back of hours/sub contract or any other arrangement that would have been workable.

My Christmas present this year was finding that someone wanted a mature aged technician and I now work in Sydney in control of services for 4.7 million customers. We left 50+ years of living in country SA, our families and owned home for Sydney and are in fact loving the job and people I work with. However its not without and we certainly cant get over being a past number and not the valued employee we thought we were. That loss of personal value was the major king hit to someone who has worked in customer service since 1971.

To all those who are forced into new situations never give up, never let the bastards get you down and grab every opertunity and above all enjoy life.

Minsik

[LogicprObe]

Ha!

I'm always getting hassled to get a 'proper' job.

After all this time though, my LFT prohibits me from working at any large organisation.