By Nadine Armstrong

The Hants Journal/NovaNewsNow.com

Last week, more than half a dozen employees of KLJ Field Services Inc. in Windsor were informed that their positions would be terminated due to restructuring.

One group of staff members says they were offered the option to remain on for four more weeks, but they simply left.

“It’s understandable when a business needs to downsize,” said one staff member, who wished to remain anonymous. “But the manner in which we were given the news and the way we were treated made it impossible to stay.”

Company vice-president and co-owner Stacy Black confirmed that the company has eliminated one position in a field operation that had seven employees, but in doing so they would create two new operations and this would create eight new jobs.

“There was a structural reorganization of the production floor,” she said. “We did what was deemed necessary for optimal production and staff growth.”

Of the new positions created, Black said that those former employees would have the opportunity to apply internally. “Everyone here has equal opportunity,” she said. “There are some excellent opportunities for staff; we are very, very fair.” She noted that all the management at KLJ had started out as telephone interviewers.

Cold comfort

However, that appears to be cold comfort for at least four of the former staff members, who said they aren’t prepared to start at the bottom again. Two staff in particular had been there for more than six years and had already risen up the KLJ ladder.

None of the group says they are willing to apply for the new positions. “Why would we reapply to do the same job we’ve been doing for years at a lower pay?” said Mike Colter, who has worked for KLJ for the past three years. He sees the restructuring as a cost-saving measure by the company.

All four have families to support and no idea what the future holds, but say returning to KLJ is not an option. They admit that complaining publicly at this point may lead some to see them as simply disgruntled workers, but the group is concerned for staff still working at the company.

KLJ is a locally owned and operated company with more than 100 employees.

Black said the company recently celebrated its seventh anniversary and is growing steadily, despite having the lowest revenue on record this year.

The company plans to remove some of its technology and create a pilot work-from-home program that Black says is very exciting.

“You need to worry when any business stays with the status quo,” she said. “The new positions will involve more responsibility and accountability. There are a lot of growth opportunities here for all of our staff.”