Job news update →[More:]We were told there'd be a big announcement today about our jobs. I posted in December that we'd been told there would be redundancies this year, involving several hundred people, with our jobs being replaced by zero hours contractors.

We had the announcement today - and I have been spared! Sort of. My existing job role will be redundant at the end of July. I can then take voluntary redundancy if I want to (I most definitely do NOT want to, as I'll be 62 then, and finding another job in a Covid/Brexit economy will be nigh on impossible).

If I don't take redundancy, I can then move to another role which is pretty much identical to the job I'm doing now, but on a new contract, and at a slightly lower salary (£2K down on what I earn now). It's a permanent contract, so I retain all my pension rights, paid holidays, benefits and employment rights.

This is such a relief. I'd been losing sleep over what I would do. I know from what colleagues in other areas of the business were saying that the 40-odd of us in my current role were doing such a huge amount of the work that the Exec was told if they lost us, it would cause significant operational and reputational problems for the organisation (which is already under Govt scrutiny in relation to waiting times for people's cases to be dealt with - it's a quasi-public organisation, so subject to Treasury oversight).

I know some of my colleagues have had enough and will take voluntary redundancy. But at my age, this is so much better than I could have hoped for.