Students due to start as trainees at CMS, Nabarro and Olswang this September have been offered £10,000 to go on holiday for six months instead.
When the future trainees signed up one and a half years ago they thought they were joining a real estate specialist, a media specialist and whatever CMS is. But in the preceding months Olswang expanded and exploded and the three firms decided to join together to form CMSNabawang.
The same 'synergies' that will enable huge payroll savings by making 300 support staff redundant also mean the firms will have more trainees than they know what to do with. So they offered all 46 students due to start as trainees in September a £10,000 incentive to defer for six months. A spokeswoman said the "voluntary and incentivised deferal programme" was in order to "balance the intake" and "honour all the training contacts".
Two future trainees opted to participate in a “strategic CMS Corporate Social Responsibility project”, apparently unaware that they had passed the interview and didn't need to impress anyone anymore. The firms themselves appeared caught short by the pair's decision to pick cabbage from the menu, telling RollOnFriday, "the detail of this project is still under discussion".
23 others simply took the money. Because unless you absolutely could not afford to, why wouldn't you pick a funded vacation with a guaranteed job at the end of it over winter in London? Especially in offices where staff will be gnashing their teeth and rending their clothes over the integration of three IT systems, allocation of desk space and disparities in salary.
Which is, incidentally, what is already happening. According to one source the merger is "already off to a rocky start" because of a pay review policy. CMS lawyers are currently paid more than peers at Olswang, and although salary reviews across the new firm are scheduled for July, two months after the merger takes place, RollOnFriday understands that any increase given to the legacy Olswang lawyers will not be backdated. It has ticked off at least one lawyer, who said the eight week mismatch would come "despite doing the same work". Other Olswangers may be more sanguine, and just grateful to have a safer berth, after Olswang's bizarre mismanagement brought it to the brink. A spokeswoman for CMS said it would not be commenting on salary reviews.
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When the future trainees signed up one and a half years ago they thought they were joining a real estate specialist, a media specialist and whatever CMS is. But in the preceding months Olswang expanded and exploded and the three firms decided to join together to form CMSNabawang.
The same 'synergies' that will enable huge payroll savings by making 300 support staff redundant also mean the firms will have more trainees than they know what to do with. So they offered all 46 students due to start as trainees in September a £10,000 incentive to defer for six months. A spokeswoman said the "voluntary and incentivised deferal programme" was in order to "balance the intake" and "honour all the training contacts".
Two future trainees opted to participate in a “strategic CMS Corporate Social Responsibility project”, apparently unaware that they had passed the interview and didn't need to impress anyone anymore. The firms themselves appeared caught short by the pair's decision to pick cabbage from the menu, telling RollOnFriday, "the detail of this project is still under discussion".
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"Maybe we should have done the CMS Corporate Social Responsibility project." "Yeah." |
23 others simply took the money. Because unless you absolutely could not afford to, why wouldn't you pick a funded vacation with a guaranteed job at the end of it over winter in London? Especially in offices where staff will be gnashing their teeth and rending their clothes over the integration of three IT systems, allocation of desk space and disparities in salary.
Which is, incidentally, what is already happening. According to one source the merger is "already off to a rocky start" because of a pay review policy. CMS lawyers are currently paid more than peers at Olswang, and although salary reviews across the new firm are scheduled for July, two months after the merger takes place, RollOnFriday understands that any increase given to the legacy Olswang lawyers will not be backdated. It has ticked off at least one lawyer, who said the eight week mismatch would come "despite doing the same work". Other Olswangers may be more sanguine, and just grateful to have a safer berth, after Olswang's bizarre mismanagement brought it to the brink. A spokeswoman for CMS said it would not be commenting on salary reviews.
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2. Show them how well they can cope without you.
3. Extend that vacation - indefinitely.
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The funniest thing there's been on the site all year. FFS!
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