The Announcement

It’s been a month since our company has released their announcement.

Four months ago, our company made an announcement that the management level in our head office had decided to remain in Qatar. They advised us to maintain good business relations with our subcontractors, suppliers and clients. That we will secure new profitable projects after a couple of financially disastrous projects over the years our company has been in Qatar.

The management has also prepared some motivations for everyone. A bonus awaits us once we finish our project by 31 March 2010 and another bonus once handed over to the Client by 30 April 2010.

Everyone must have been happy and had revived hope of staying in Qatar. I was one amongst those who quietly celebrated. I was beginning to like Qatar and I want to stay in Qatar. I don’t know with the rest, but everyone was wearing a smile on their faces when they left the meeting room.

Everyone has new hope, new beginning, new motivations and need to work hard to complement the company’s new motivaton and to stay and be competitive in Qatar.

Last month there was an emergency meeting, everyone was surprised. All the senior staffs including Site Staffs were called in. The meeting room was full to the brim.

I thought to myself, this is very unusual and I was beginning to have a hunch. As we were waiting for the Vice President, the room becomes eerie. Slowly and slowly the noise had died down. Everyone seems to realize this must be an important announcement. A very important announcement, that everyone has a stake or will be affected.

When the Vice President has arrived, the silence in the room was deafening, you can hear a pin drop.

After going around the bush a bit, the bomb was dropped.

“The company has decided to close operation in Qatar in the meantime”. Everyone was shocked and surprised, the Project Manager was not spared.

The Vice President went on with his scripted speech, but for a moment no one seems to care. He talked about the justification of such a decision, tried to make some rationale and the measures way forward.

As a solace, he offered everyone to move to Saudi Arabia as the company tries to consolidate its limited resources to cater the substantial projects on hand in Saudi Arabia which is around SAR 14,000,000,000.00, yes with the capital B.

After the announcement everyone left the room very quiet, without a sound not even a sigh and with a common face, a poker face.

Our secretaries might have noticed the eeriness after the conference room door opened. That he cannot help but followed me in my office to scoop what have happened. I shared him the news and his face turned blank.

I was thinking to myself, how they can decide on that drastically. With over one thousand employees in Qatar, have they thought of impact to so many lives. How many families will be affected? What about those who might have passed on the opportunity four months ago, just to stand by the company when they announced that they are staying. Is this what they deserve for staying behind the company through thick and thin?

No one can change that now, the owners had decided. Emotional statements will never overcome the financial interests behind the decision of the owners.