I'm always confused when people say they were caught off guard by layoffs. How? We know layoffs are always a possibility and every single person should act accordingly all the time. Save your money, keep your skills updated, update your resume, network, and keep an eye out on who's currently hiring. Make your own lives easier, folks.
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nasty people running things
@2dc Yes, I was eligible for an early retirement program. This was the third time that it was offered to me over the years.
@29w how did you apply for early retirement? Was a plan already offered and on the table or did you just volunteer for it?
Not everybody is clueless about layoffs. HPE went through a reorganization right before the pandemic struck. I knew that salary cuts and layoffs were coming so I applied for early retirement. As an older worker, I became a target but I was also severely underpaid. Small raises and bonuses did not keep up with inflation so I was ready to go. Leaving HPE and the computer industry was the best thing to ever happen to me. My salary and benefits have increased considerably and I am doing meaningful work in aerospace.
I’ll give some layoff victims some credit: if you are surprised by your layoff, it might mean that you were actually contributing to some degree of success. These are the people who the company hates the most: hard working people. Any momentum a worker may have is scary for the company because giving out merits is financially risky. So why experience they risk if you can just lay them off?
Frankly, I felt my layoff coming a few years ago. Work slowed down because my product line was less in demand. There was no way to contribute to a higher level and no jobs were open internally.
@ax I always take the hard drive out before sending back machine just in case
You know I'm always happy to read these posts, means what I've been saying for years, that others know and understand it as well. The only thing to add....keep very little personal stuff at your office, if you have an office....and never anything personal on the company computer.