And like that, it's gone

[goldendesign]

Morning One on One with my direct supervisor had a surprise guest. HR! Seems my position is slated to move overseas in their cost savings initiatives. As soon as the meeting ended my computer was remote wiped and all credentials revoked. I had about 5 minutes to email myself some contacts and that's it.

I'm now no longer slowly looking for a new role, I am for REAL looking for a job. I did get paid out till the end of the month and then my severance will last for 7 more weeks. 

 

I knew I wasn't happy with the changes and was looking for a new role, but it sucks when the transition isn't your choosing.

[jsharr ★]

Damn, sorry to hear this.  I know you will land an even better position with a great title. 

[petitepedal ★]

You got this...sell yourself just as strong as when you had the job.

[bikeman564™]

sorry

[ChrisL]

Sorry to hear.  Yeah it’s better to leave on your terms but at least you know your status & can plan accordingly.  

[shootingstar]

Wow. So sorry goldendesign. Hope you land a great whopper of a fish for next job.  Is your wife working?

[goldendesign]

12 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

Hope you land a great whopper of a fish for next job.  Is your wife working?

Wife actually works for the same company as I did.

She's probably safe. 

[a bunch of numbers]

bastards

[Randomguy]

1 minute ago, a bunch of numbers said:

bastards

Wankers, too.

Did you ask for a title change from HR as their last act?  They might be amenable to that since there would be no other ramifications, and at least you could put that on your resume.  I'd ask for that parting gift, worst thing they could say is no.

I hope your wife is looking for a new outfit to work with, too.  I hate hearing these "We are cheaping out through BPO because it is more convenient for us" stories.  If it can happen to you, it can happen to her, too.

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

From what you've posted previously, it sounds like they did you a favor. My previous employer did.

Still, it's nice to be the one going out the door with your finger in the air.

[Wilbur ★]

Sorry man.  Leaving is always better on your terms but at least the indecision part is gone.  Good luck with the next opportunity. 

[Razors Edge ★]

1 hour ago, goldendesign said:

Morning One on One with my direct supervisor had a surprise guest. HR! Seems my position is slated to move overseas in their cost savings initiatives. As soon as the meeting ended my computer was remote wiped and all credentials revoked. I had about 5 minutes to email myself some contacts and that's it.

Back in 2008 when stuff went sideways, our company was trying to make themselves look good for an acquisition. My boss and I arrived at work and noticed a 9am meeting with HR.  We chatted a little about it, and then realize we were each meeting with a different HR person at the same time.  A quick check with some other folks on the team and it seemed several had the same type of meeting on their calendars.

They axed our whole team (we got all day to clear out and say goodbye), but it ended up for most of us as "promotions" as raises within the company were not as competitive as new job offers were.  But it was a super headache, and scary in the moment, and a clear sign to always have a back-up plan and an FU option.  

You'll land on your feet and be better for it, but it still is no fun.

[MoseySusan]

Is an overseas position still on your radar? I remember a few years ago you were looking. 

[groupw]

Mine happened in 2002. Similar situation. They couldn’t remote wipe me, but one of my best friends in the company had to watch me empty my desk and escort me out. I had access to terminate the CEO on down from the system so I get it. It was more uncomfortable for my buddy because most times this scenario played out was someone being dismissed for cause. Not my case, but my position meant it had to be. 
It took a couple years to be in a better position, if not financially, at least to have more quality family time. However, it worked out well. 

[goldendesign]

4 minutes ago, a bunch of numbers said:

bastards

The initial shock has worn off. What their doing is some fuckery, end-stage capitalism bullshit for sure. As for how the decision that I was the one to go, I can see at least the manager's viewpoint. 

I was the smartest and most prolific member of his team. I delivered 16 projects last year that directly contributed to the money-making initiatives.  I did this by being loud, opinionated, and usually by riding herd on the rest of the team. He's a wet wipe of a personality and a yes-man to his boss. He's also only been in the position for about 6 months as they promoted him over the rest of us. So if he has the opportunity to select his biggest threat, why not?

Of course, the trouble with that is there is literally no one else on the team with the competence or skills to do the things I did. So they'll be fine today, but when things need updating or the major projects that I was in-flight on are needed, who knows? No one on my old team does any type of coding.

[goldendesign]

14 minutes ago, groupw said:

They couldn’t remote wipe me, but one of my best friends in the company had to watch me empty my desk and escort me out.

Short-sighted on them too to do that. If they had just given me the day, I'd happily have handed over the 6k lines of various code that hadn't been committed to the Git repo yet. Now they have active test processes that are going to be executed with nowhere to pull from. 

 

Oh well. They shot their own foot. I'll land on my feet. The sting will fade.

[Randomguy]

3 minutes ago, goldendesign said:

Short-sighted on them too to do that. If they had just given me the day, I'd happily have handed over the 6k lines of various code that hadn't been committed to the Git repo yet. Now they have active test processes that are going to be executed with nowhere to pull from. 

Oh well. They shot their own foot. I'll land on my feet. The sting will fade.

Did you tell them your consulting fee is $500/hr?

[Razors Edge ★]

13 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

Did you tell them your consulting fee is $500/hr?

That's a @JerrySTL move!

[ChrisL]

18 minutes ago, goldendesign said:

Short-sighted on them too to do that. If they had just given me the day, I'd happily have handed over the 6k lines of various code that hadn't been committed to the Git repo yet. Now they have active test processes that are going to be executed with nowhere to pull from. 

Oh well. They shot their own foot. I'll land on my feet. The sting will fade.

The sting will fade, turn the page.  You have unique & marketable skills that will be desirable to other firms.

I was laid off from my current job in 02 (yes I said that correctly). I was thinking, shit I don’t think they thought that move through but oh well, out I go. 

Come to find my boss whacked me instead of some others who he protected.  He ended up leaving anyway, his boss was whacked and the person who took over was like, security is a cluster fuck, why the hell was Chris let go?!?!  She then reached out & was able to reinstate my position with me back in it.  Oh and damn near everyone my boss protected was laid off in a new management purge.  
 

 

[MickinMD ★]

Sorry to hear it.  My brother's last job, running the loading dock and designing shipping packaging, ended because the shelf/cabinet-making company was sold by the original founders and the new owners moved production to China.

He looked for months then two job offers came.  I, 15 years older and retired, urged him to take the one that paid a little less because of an excellent State Pension with low-cost subsidized retirement health insurance.  So now he manages a State Roads Commission Warehouse.

[maddmaxx ★]

It is indeed a shock to find that your job which you are the only one with the experience to do is suddenly gone by the whim of someone in corporate.  I know that in my case they simply abandoned the work I was contributing to.  I guess they got in a couple of quarters with good management bonus numbers and suddenly the company was sold to someone else lock stock and barrel. That's the entire company, not just our division that had been purchased but the company that purchased us.

Late stage capitalism indeed.

[Airehead]

It is unfortunate that they did this. Time will show them. It is rare that there is only one person laid off. I wonder who is next?

[Kirby]

I'm sorry for the timing, but I'm glad you had already decided that your career would benefit from being somewhere else . The reason they provided is easy to explain to other companies and doesn't reflect on you or your abilities.  But I'm sure it's frustrating because it's always easier if you can control the timing.  Good luck and remember, the forum is always happy to serve as a reference.

[goldendesign]

2 hours ago, Airehead said:

It is unfortunate that they did this. Time will show them. It is rare that there is only one person laid off. I wonder who is next?

Last year they shed 10% of our workforce, about 1500 jobs. This year they are shedding another 2k and replacing an additional 1800-2500 in Eastern Europe and India.

They've been doing rolling terminations each week since the year began. Really took the air out of the room type of "efficiency initiative"

[maddmaxx ★]

8 hours ago, goldendesign said:

Last year they shed 10% of our workforce, about 1500 jobs. This year they are shedding another 2k and replacing an additional 1800-2500 in Eastern Europe and India.

They've been doing rolling terminations each week since the year began. Really took the air out of the room type of "efficiency initiative"

I'd look at it as an opportunity to improve your work situation.

[Bikeguy]

22 hours ago, goldendesign said:

Wife actually works for the same company as I did.

She's probably safe. 

I met WoBG where we worked. 

For many years that was a major concern.  We both could have been let go during the many reductions in the workforce. That is when we learned to live well below our means.

21 hours ago, goldendesign said:

I did this by being loud, opinionated,

Been there done that.   Sometimes rocking the boat too much doesn't help.  I learned that slowly...

Most who I knew that were eliminated did better with their next job. 

Don't loose sight of you life goals.

You will get through this.

[goldendesign]

2 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

live well below our means

Since starting in tech after leaving the jewelry industry, I've worked hard to maintain our lifestyle status quo and saved/invested all the extra.

 

3 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

Been there done that.   Sometimes rocking the boat too much doesn't help.  I learned that slowly...

I'm still learning. If I know I'm right, or believe in the direction, regardless really of who put it forward, I become the champion of the cause. Need to settle back and not ride herd every time.

4 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

Most who I knew that were eliminated did better with their next job. 

I've been joking for the last decade that I keep "falling up". I figure it's another one of those opportunities.

@All, thanks for the words of encouragement and support. Ya'll fucking rock. Best virtual friends a guy could ask for.

[Kzoo]

54 minutes ago, goldendesign said:

I become the champion of the cause. Need to settle back and not ride herd every time.

Consider being the torchbearer and recruiting a team of champions for each new windmill you attempt to take down.  I learned that very early in my career and it served me very well.

 

[Bikeguy]

3 minutes ago, goldendesign said:

I'm still learning. If I know I'm right, or believe in the direction, regardless really of who put it forward, I become the champion of the cause. Need to settle back and not ride herd every time.

Yeah.. I've been right, but management above me did NOT want to know and/or look bad.  There is politics everywhere.  

I learned you my win the battle, but loose the war.  Some times a battle is not worth the results.

One guy I knew quit back in 1979 because of the company politics. About a year later I remember talking to the guy.  He was even more upset about company politics at his new job. I asked him where he was working. He tells me IBM.  So he leaves a large company and works for a  bigger company and didn't expect company politics to exist there?