I have spent the last 5 years working for a German company as Technical Director for Southern Europe.
During those years, I have been in charge, multiple times, of supporting my colleagues and customers in Eastern Europe and even, because of the language (I am Spanish), in the LATAM area.
I was called to a meeting on a Monday morning in one of our offices 1,100 km from my home (680 miles or 10K football fields, for Americans). That forced me to travel on a Sunday.
That Monday, after 3 hours working with the rest of the team on strategies and actions for the different markets and clients, my boss, who had come from Germany, told me that he had to talk to me during the coffee break.
He was waiting for me in a room together with the HR Director and the Country Manager.
– We are happy with your performance, but we have to fire you because you are too expensive and we are making cutbacks.
All I said, with a sneer, was:
– I am expensive if I don't produce for the company a considerable profit, regardless of what my salary is.
They showed me my severance package and I had to speak again:
– Do you remember that you made me sign a “golden parachute agreement” whereby I could not leave the company without giving a year's notice? Well, that also obliged the company to compensate me with a year's salary and bonus if you fired me.
They have been calling me for a month to ask me for help with some clients or scientific researches that has been left half done: I have asked them for 1,000 €/day for an 8-hour workday or 600 for a half-day workday, expenses aside. They have finally stopped bothering me.
Best of all: tomorrow I'm going to sign as Technical Director for EMEA with the world biggest company in my sector, their direct competitor (since they fired me, the non-competition clauses do not apply).