AFTER 25 YEARS AT NETS: FIRED BY UNKNOWN MANAGER THROUGH TEAMS
"Nets could easily have found me a new job." Marie Katborg did everything she could to stay when her department was let go – she even travelled to Poland to instruct the people taking over her job. In return, she felt she was treated with disrespect.
Kept hoping
It became clear during the meeting that the future looked bleak for the department handling the so-called card transaction disputes for business customers. However, obstacles remained before the move to Poland could be completed, offering the department’s employees some hope.
"I still didn't believe we would be affected. I especially didn't think that I would lose my own job," Marie Katborg recalls.
The reason why she didn't think so was because, back in 2018, after her first 19 years of employment, she went from full-time to a flex job. And she felt convinced that Nets would take into account, at least to some extent, that a termination would hit her particularly hard.
She got the flex job after contracting a chronic ailment, which causes severe dizziness and especially breaks out in connection with pressure.
"For me, there is no doubt that my illness was triggered by stress. When I became ill, I was involved in a very exciting project at Nets, while having four children living at home. I felt I could manage, but my body refused, and I was on sick leave for nine months."
Helped by Nets
At that time, she felt supported by both the local branch of Finansforbundet and Nets. There was nothing but goodwill and support, and she was given an 18-hour job and allowed to stay in her department.
"Nets has meant so much to me, and I felt really well treated. I also know that I was well-liked, skilled and efficient, and I had no sick days."
Therefore, she did not really feel at risk when the move of the department was announced.
"An organisation as large as Nets would take care of its vulnerable employees and take its social responsibility seriously – they could easily have found another job for me."
Fired by unknown manager
In June 2024, after months of uncertainty, it became clear that Marie Katborg would not be allowed to keep her job either. Six of the department's nine employees were fired one by one on Teams.
"We were not allowed to have our manager present, because she was also going to be fired. So we took the Teams meeting in turns with our union representative. A Finnish manager I didn't know at all, but who had apparently become our manager during the transition period, attended the beginning of the meeting."
The Finnish manager said only few sentences in English to Marie Katborg:
"I'm here to tell you that you're fired. Now I will let you talk to your union representative in Danish."
Then he logged off.
“That was it. After 25 years," Marie Katborg says laconically.
She immediately started crying.
"It was so humiliating, with no consideration for me or my colleagues as human beings and loyal employees. It was a bit like getting a divorce. And it was at the same time as my 25th anniversary. Like having a silver wedding without your spouse present."
Chaos
She had no idea how to find a new flex job, and she knew for certain that it would mean a significant pay cut.
The chance of finding a job elsewhere where Finansforbundet's collective agreement would apply, with health insurance and good conditions, was zero.
Marie Katborg, who lives in Mern in South Zealand, explains: "It's always tough to be fired. For me in my flex job, it also meant that I lost DKK 6,000 a month in pension benefits. At the same time, the drop in income made it uncertain whether I would be able to keep the house. I was on my own with my children and so it was chaotic."
In the four months after her termination, Marie Katborg did everything she could to demonstrate that she wanted to stay. She contacted several of the people she knew at Nets.
As one of the only people in the department, she also agreed to go to Poland and provide instructions to the employees who were to take over their jobs.
"Several of my colleagues called in sick during that period, and some of them asked me why I didn't do the same. I didn't want to. Partly because of my pride, I wanted to be there with my head held high – and partly because I hoped that I would get a chance to stay."
Polish respect
The trip to Poland was special.
She went with another colleague, and they were armed with lots of gallows humour. At least they were getting a nice trip to Poland out of it.
However, it was very special and mentally difficult to face the Polish colleagues, says Marie Katborg. Her professional pride suffered because she had to pass on her work to someone with no experience in the profession whatsoever.
"They were nice and respectful young people, but it was extremely difficult to pass on the work we had put so much pride in. It wasn't just work, we went to great lengths to help our customers in the best possible way – and now we had to give it away, without being able to train the Polish employees properly."
Nets let us down
While talking, she sometimes slips into the present tense when referring to Nets – as if she still works there.
"Nets was my workplace for 25 years, that large company I was proud to be a part of. It was a significant part of my identity, and I still haven't let go of it completely even though I have been lucky to find another flex job."
She now works ten hours a week as an administrator in a small private company, but she is still in contact with her former colleagues.
"We feel that Nets let us down after many years of loyal service, but our friendship remains. The company changed after being bought by Italians. After that, it was all about money," she explains, referring to the acquisition of Nets by the Italian company Nexi in 2020.
"I understand that the point is to make money and restructuring may be necessary, but I honestly believe that what we went through could have been avoided. In any case, it could have been handled with greater respect for us."
Improve
She has agreed to tell her story to the newsletter Finans because she is able to do so now that she is no longer connected with Nets – because she feels that she and many other loyal employees were and still are treated badly.
She also has a faint hope of letting the company know that they could have acted differently.
Marie Katborg for instance wishes that she and her colleagues had been involved and consulted:
"Decisions were made far away from us. If we'd been asked, we would have been able to suggest how to optimise processes, for example. But no one asked. The company I've otherwise liked so much and put so much energy and identity into has come down a lot in my estimation," she says and states:
"I still can't go on LinkedIn and read about Nets and its activities. It hurts not to be a part of it anymore."
COMMENT BY COUNTRY MANAGER AT NETS
Based on the criticism raised by Maria Katborg, the newsletter Finans has asked Nets a number of questions, including about the considerations behind the way terminations are carried out.
Allan Bonke, Country General Manager in Denmark, sends the following reply through the press office:
"Since 2021, Nets has been part of the European payment group Nexi, which is present in a large number of European countries, including Poland. The decision to join selected operational activities in a shared centre in Poland must be understood in this context.
Nexi has many qualified employees in Poland, and the purpose of the organisational adjustments has been to standardise processes across the group, strengthen operational efficiency and take advantage of scale and synergies for the benefit of customers.
Throughout the process and since the spring of 2024, Nets has chosen an open and transparent approach. Finansforbundet and the employee representatives have engaged in ongoing dialogue, and the process has continuously been adjusted and communicated to the affected employees.
The purpose has been to be as clear about the situation as possible and provide as much time as possible for employees to accept the changes and to look into the opportunities that exist within and outside the company. The terms and agreements that applied to the affected employees were handled within the framework agreed with the relevant employee representatives and parties to the collective agreement.
When organisational changes result in tasks being transferred to other parts of a group, the affected positions and tasks are changed or discontinued, not the individual circumstances of the employees performing them. The same applies to flex job employees.
I understand that a termination may be seen as a difficult situation for the affected employees, and Nets respects the personal experiences that follow in the wake of organisational changes."