Hi. I'm currently working as Head of HR in a software company that employs 100 people. It is UK based but has a US parent company. I'm a stand alone generalist and my role covers all aspects that you would expect of a generalist as well as Payroll, benefits, Data Compliance, Fleet Management, H&S and buildings maintenance.
Having been promoted to the job title 'Head' 6 months ago and given 2 payrises since, I have now been told that due to economic circumstances, the company can no longer afford the role of Head of HR and my job is at risk of redundancy.
I have my first consultation meeting on Friday. The main issue I'm struggling with is understanding how they can justify the loss of my role. Short of asking me to take a significant pay cut, then if I leave they will have to find other coping mechanisms because the work will not go away. Obviously they can't replace me, doing all the same work, but would they be justified in handing over my workload en-mass to an outsourced service, to training others internally to pick up aspects of my function?
I'm just seeking to understand what they can reasonably do here because I'm not aware of a company that has done away with HR altogether when it is not closing.
