So, the federal Public Service is downsizing. Which means they are going to cut staff. And like all large bureaucracies, there are bureaucratic terms to understand what it means if you get “laid off”, so to speak. But wait, you say you have a letter appointing you in the first place to an indeterminate position, presumably “permanent”? Except that isn’t what “indeterminate” means. It means of “undetermined length of time”. Now, they’re telling you the real length of time. So you’re done sometime perhaps soon. Or are you?
How do you get downsized? Well you can be subject to “workforce adjustment” if the government decides to:
- cut your position due to lack of work (i.e. they cut your job’s functions, often by cutting your program);
- they’re moving the job somewhere else and you refused to go; or,
- they’re implementing an alternative delivery initiative (usually contracting it out or automating, but not always).
So, you are workforce-adjusted, and you fall into one of three new status categories:
- “Affected” — this means you’ve got a letter that says your services MAY NOT be required…think of this as a “warning shot”. The good news is that it allows you to be put on “priority” lists within a department to allow you to apply for other jobs;
- “Surplus” — this means you’ve got a letter that says your services WILL NOT be required…direct hit.