Moving on

Well that's the end of another chapter - I just had my virtual farewell meeting, having come to the end of my redundancy notice period at Atkins. I've been with the firm for almost 15 years and have worked with some extremely talented people and built some really good working relationships and made some really good friends along the way.

It's sad to be saying goodbye, but was great to be able to catch up with a few of those friends and colleagues tonight. It is though, rather bizarre to be doing so over Teams and not in person, down the pub, with just a few of those pints I've been promised over the years! On the plus side, I didn't have to stand in front of the office and make the dreaded leaving speech.

With so many redundancies across all kinds of workplaces at the moment, and most people working at home, not having seen colleagues for months, it got me thinking this evening how sad it is that so many people are just slipping away from jobs and workmates they may have been with for years. Sure, in the grand scheme of things mid-pandemic, there are certainly more important things to think about, but this is just another of those parts of life which has been temporarily taken away from us by our efforts against this virus.

I'm fortunate in that I've managed to find a new job, one which I'm very much looking forward to getting stuck into having been furloughed for the past few months. There are so many leaving one job at the moment though, not knowing where they'll be going next, and if you're in that position I absolutely feel your pain and hope that you can get something lined up soon.

As for me, I thank Atkins for all the opportunities offered me over the last 15 years and, relieved that my and my kids' future is in a safe place for a while yet, I'll be grasping this next chapter with both hands and will be throwing myself into my new role in a whole new sector for me.

Good luck to anyone out there in a similar position, I hope everything works out for you, and for the better!