Rendundancies in any workplace are commonplace these days... and right now in the FIFO industry, they are dropping like flies.
In many ways, the threat of redundancy is worse than the actual redundancy. If you're made redundant, the immediate path is at least obvious.
However, imagine being told that within three to four weeks, there are going to be major redundancies across all divisions of the company but no decision has been made as to which staff will be going. What is your best course of action?
It's not as simple as it seems. If you stay and wait, you may be one of those made redundant and receive a considerable payout (depending on length of service), or you may be one of the lucky ones and retain your job.
If you choose to wait and are consequently made redundant, you'll join the already over-crowded employment market chasing the same few jobs as your fellow workers, but if you jump ship immediately into another job, you'll quite conceivably, in the current market, accept a lower salary package for a job you may not have lost and miss out on the redundancy package.
It's an unfortunate fact of life that we tend to spend according to our income and one thing is certain; throughout the mining industry, wages are dropping by an average of $5-$15 an hour, so even if a FIFO worker does find another job, his or her income will be less than currently enjoyed – so any redundancy payout would be an enormous help.
The role of deciding who's to go and who's to stay is just as onerous, how does an employer decide
Certainly there are always trouble makers and those who call in sick with monotonous regularity, who inevitably don't survive the first cull, but then an employer is faced with emotionally draining decisions.
If the retrenchments are to be extensive, do you let the young guy with a mortgage and three young children go, or do you let the older person with a sick spouse go? Or do the accountants override you, ordering that those with the least amount of pro-rata long service entitlements go first.
As with the staff trying to work out what way to jump, managers are grappling with equally impossible decisions.
You may or may not like FIFO mine workers, or even mining, but all across Western Australia, people working at minesites are doing their best to work under the threat of the axe falling.
As Bob Dylan once wrote, "you can feel it in the air".
Sadly there are already reports of suicides, with FIFO workers being asked to look after each other and watch for signs of stress, and the situation will only get worse
* The author is a current FIFO worker in Western Australia
*Support is available for anyone who may be distressed by calling SANE Helpline 1800 18 7263; Lifeline 131 114; beyondblue 1300 22 46 36.
