Swimming Against the Tide

Have you been confronted with damned if you do and damned if you don't situation? Well, I have one in hand right now.

The situation, when it first happened, was supposed to make me happy but it is making me feeling very depressed as the way things progress. It is about a job.

One would think an unemployed bum like me would jump for joy to get a job offer, especially at a time like now, I do. The job itself sounded very attractive - a well known international firm which reputed to look after its employees, the tasks are what I can do and find interesting, the pay sounds good, the office is located not too far from home, and then there is the economic crisis and the recruitment agent...

Well the economic crisis came first, this firm came under spotlight and was unable to hire due to a global headcount freeze. Fine, I thought, I will just get on with life and see this as a positive turn in my job search effort, everything went back to normal after this little bump.

Two months later, the recruitment agent called and said this all may go ahead, yay I though, good things does come to those who wait, this is finally happening. I was happy until the agent called again, saying that they have managed to move around this headcount freeze road block, by hiring me as a recruitment agency staff to be contracted to the firm.

Having been on a recruitment agency's book before, I am all too familiar with the ups and downs of being a contracted staff, but if this is the only way to get me a job so be it.

The twist of this arrangement is that, the usual obligations from an employer to look after its employee does not apply. That means no medical leaves, no annual leaves, no public holidays pay, no superannuation, no employee benefits, and it sounds to me neither the two companies will look after my welfare for the duration of 12 months. Oh, there is also a 20% reduction in the pay level, which I assume will go to the recruitment agency.

Suddenly, the job doesn't sound so exciting anymore.

I felt that the recruitment agency was working for me but now against me, by listing all these conditions which seem to me is quite unfair. I can't help but feeling quite angry and cheated, and at the same time, this job offer is becoming more of a moral burden than anything else. I understand that I have nothing now so I am not losing out by taking the job, but at least I choose nothing, I didn't choose to be treated to the above conditions.

Do I take the job and accept the conditions as they are, and work as a disgruntled employee, or continue living as I am? When will such opportunity arise again? When it does, will it be better than this - I believe it will be. If I do not take this job will the people around me be disappointed? Will I be letting the people supporting me down? Does working as a disgruntled employee better than living as an unemployed bum? Do I want to be taken advantaged of? Will I kill my career by not taking this job (actually, I believed my career has been killed off already)?

Argh, it is damned if I do, and damned if I don't...