alien territory
Vanessa is 38, married with two children, and her working life was great until the small accountancy company she had worked for since graduating was taken over by a big corporation.
"I was thrilled to pieces when I heard about the take-over," admits Vanessa. "It meant more prestige, more benefits, more money and more opportunities for advancement."
"My joy turned to dismay when the move took place and I was not assigned an office of my own as befitting my seniority," says Vanessa, "and if that wasn't bad enough I was separated from my former colleagues and seated by myself in a section of the new workplace that had no bearing at all on what I was doing."
"I felt like I was in alien territory," explains Vanessa. "The people in the section I was seated with were pleasant enough, saying good-morning and good-night, but they didn’t include me in their normal work chit-chat and I suppose they resented my presence among them."
"Also," adds Vanessa, "because I wasn’t working alongside people who were doing the same work as myself, I missed out on their normal team activities, too."
"A whole day could pass by without anyone speaking to me," says Vanessa, "and if I didn't make a point to visit the stationery room and chat to the young girl there I'd go mad.”
"I'm sure she's as embarrassed as I am about the chats we have - her being a clerk and me being an accountant - but that's about the only social life I get around here."
"Whenever I need administrative assistance or feedback," says Vanessa, "I have to walk up a floor and right to the back of the building in order to talk to my old boss and the admin team. Already they are treating me like a stranger!"
"This is turning out to be a toxic situation for me to be in," says Vanessa. "I am losing interest in my work and I feel very strange being with people, and yet not being with them."
Read more about Vanessa's situation:
A lonely only child
Deliberate alienation
"I was thrilled to pieces when I heard about the take-over," admits Vanessa. "It meant more prestige, more benefits, more money and more opportunities for advancement."
"My joy turned to dismay when the move took place and I was not assigned an office of my own as befitting my seniority," says Vanessa, "and if that wasn't bad enough I was separated from my former colleagues and seated by myself in a section of the new workplace that had no bearing at all on what I was doing."
"I felt like I was in alien territory," explains Vanessa. "The people in the section I was seated with were pleasant enough, saying good-morning and good-night, but they didn’t include me in their normal work chit-chat and I suppose they resented my presence among them."
"Also," adds Vanessa, "because I wasn’t working alongside people who were doing the same work as myself, I missed out on their normal team activities, too."
"A whole day could pass by without anyone speaking to me," says Vanessa, "and if I didn't make a point to visit the stationery room and chat to the young girl there I'd go mad.”
"I'm sure she's as embarrassed as I am about the chats we have - her being a clerk and me being an accountant - but that's about the only social life I get around here."
"Whenever I need administrative assistance or feedback," says Vanessa, "I have to walk up a floor and right to the back of the building in order to talk to my old boss and the admin team. Already they are treating me like a stranger!"
"This is turning out to be a toxic situation for me to be in," says Vanessa. "I am losing interest in my work and I feel very strange being with people, and yet not being with them."
Read more about Vanessa's situation:
Labels: alien territory, corporation, jobs, management, seniority, separation, take over, toxic, workplaces
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