#careerpivot

A lot of you knew this day was coming. Seeing all the panic post and comments just says, no one prepared for what could come. Verizon is a mega business and they will cuts ties in a second. If you’re let go, look at it as a blessing. I left Verizon and thankful I’m not dealing with this. I’ll end it with, at first I was scared, time went by and it was the absolute best decision. Blessing to you all

Folks with 10+ years tenure…who can say they’re enjoying themselves right now? How many are merely holding on in the hope of redundancy? Anyone contemplating a future beyond the IT industry?

Am I alone?

Now I actually feel relieved. I’m not even all that scared about what’s next. There was so much pressure and focus on just keeping the job that I forgot how unhappy I really was at Target. I know the grass may not be greener, and finding another job won’t be easy, like it isn’t for anyone right now, but I still feel better for it. Sometimes change is necessary for your own clarity and sanity. In any case, wishing the best to everyone, both those who were let go and those who stayed.

If you're early or mid career think longer term about the implications of a shrinking oil and gas industry, and where you want to be in the future. This will NOT be the last round of layoffs if history is any guide. Do not wait too late to transition to something else with more long term promise. Don't box yourself into a role that will not translate to another one elsewhere. It is quite rare that you will make it past 55 (or even 50) in this industry and by then it would be too difficult to pivot.

Sound advice. OP: @c8+1ka0j1k60

Losing my job in the past taught me real quick that nobody is as safe as they think they are, and the moment you settle in, that is when the rug gets pulled. I have been hit twice over the years, and both times I walked around thinking I was set and maybe even a little too sure of myself, which only made the blow land harder. These days I keep my resume fresh, my contacts warm, and my options open, because in this game the surprises never slow down.

. I was grossly underpaid but being single w/no kids and having that leven of comfort knowing your job inside out, I decided to stay and never seek opportunites elsewhere. Sadly my mother got sick w/dementia around 2019 and I was forced to step away from the my career (did get 1 yr od severance) to take care of her along with my father who is also up there in age. She eventually passed from covid, so it was just me left with my father (who was early 80s at the time).

I decided to give up my apt and move back to the family home (wasn't far anyway...long island, ny) to watch over my dad. I also decided that I wasn't going to stress about working again as a hack for some thankless corporation and decided to just drive Uber. I'll tell ya what, the last 5 years have been the most stress free and happiest of my adult working life! I'm eventually going to inherit the family home (valued at 1.2M), and along with making about $1200 a week (while only paying about 5% on taxes since we're considered "gig" workers...I've realized that happiness isn't about banking big check every week...it's about using what time you have left on this planet to enjoy yourself and do the things in life you love. I can easily cover my monthly nut, which isn't much.

Sure, I live frugaly and I'm able to pull this off because I don't have kids but nevertheless I don't think I'll ever work for a major corp. again stressing everyday and hating life. Doing uber allows me to go hang out on a whim with my 7yr old nephew, take him to soccer practice or maybe an afternoon movie on the weekends, etc, etc, etc.

I was a former D1 college soccer player and I even took up coaching my old high school team. Life is great. Most of us ki-l ourselves working to our early 60s only to then have maybe 5 good healthy years left.

Fk that.

Like most I am worried about being laid off.
What advice can you think of for those who may not be in the best headspace of the worst happens.

Trying to ask a somewhat positive and practical question. I have many issues with the logic of some choices I’m aware of but they may end up being a different thread sometime.

Being laid off blindsided me. As it seems, I was a little bit arrogant and far too comfortable. I guess this sm--k in the face is what I needed to reframe my perspective and to make sure I invested my time and energy in a way to still do a good job but not make work my entire personality. I plan to take that lesson with me to my next job.

I was cut back in 2015, I've seen posts on LinkedIn and it did triger a bit of PTSD. I am so sorry you have to go through this again but... life after Target has been a breath of fresh air for me. Ended up in a small company where I feel wanted, valued and heard. I did have good time at Target but I feel this change put me in a better position. With this being said, keep your head high and good luck!

I work as a support engineer in Business Intelligence and have already been affected by recent layoffs in my team. Currently, there is no growth in our team; it feels saturated.

I received a job offer from a midsize company for a position as a junior tech project manager. However, this position comes with a 20% pay cut and does not involve support work. I'm considering whether I should leave Oracle and take this opportunity, especially since I'm concerned about the possibility of more layoffs. Feedback?

and move to West Virginia to become a Coal Miner. All the Mines in West Virginia are hiring coal miners at all levels, entry-level, mid-level, and senior coal miners. There's plenty of over-time to be had if that is what you are looking for too.

I did this two years ago and never looked back after moving from Michigan to West Virginia. I work 50 hours Monday through Friday and spend the weekends outdoors either fishing, hunting, hiking and camping. I don't miss my old GM job at all.

not worth competing with AI let us abandonIT tech careers and look else where for livelihood

After more than ten years here, I honestly can’t wait for the door to hit me on the way out. It’s just a two-year engagement, nothing fancy, but I welcome the change. I completely lost perspective at XOM, got su-ked into the “Exxon way” until my career flatlined. I stopped growing years ago, stopped learning anything useful. If you’re as fed up as I was, do yourself a favor: make a change if you can. The feeling of walking away from this place is worth more than money.

I want to leave the industry but not sure what transferable skills I have. I’ve been unhappy here for a bit. So to those of you who have left and are happy, what work do you do now?

Here's a serious thought if you end up getting a layoff notice from Starbucks. You can tailor your Starbucks resume to make yourself attractive to become a Coal miner. Every Coal Mine in West Virginia is hiring right now. The Coal mines are looking for people for entry-level, mid-level and experienced coal miners. There is lots of overtime offered if you want that too.
A coal mining job is a real job that requires hard work for good pay. It will be a huge shock to most Starbuckers, because accepting your Starbucks job you expected you could just skate by.
If you move to West Virginia to become a coal miner. In six months, you would have plenty of money saved to go out and buy yourself a brand-new Ford 150 or Chevy Silverado truck. You can then put your truck to good use with weekend outings to go hiking, camping fishing, hunting or skiing too.

I strongly recommend all you Starbuckers bag Seattle and move to West Virginia to become a coal miner, even if you don't get laid-off at Starbucks. A big plus in moving to West Virginia is the people in West Virginia are much friendlier than people in Seattle. Plus, it does not rain all the time in West Virginia like it does in Seattle.

Got up this morning, went for a walk – logged on to see if there were any replies to my employment applications. None. Been doing this almost everyday mon-fri for coming up to two years since my RIF from F5.

Found two more software engineer/developer openings so crafted an application for the first and sent it. Started crafting the second application and stopped. Why am I doing this? With the state of software development as it is, when all you have to do is pay $1000 to $3000 for a 1 to 3 day course to get guaranteed certification of Expert or Black Belt level, it trivializes what software engineering is. I choose not to be a part of the game anymore. I’m giving up seeking new employment and will let it find me if the software gods so choose.

There was a time early on where software development required being a craftsman and artisan. I was working at a company that was in the first 100 that applied and received its domain registration in the 1980s. Those were good and exciting times. You were a part of something greater. Bugs/Errors/Failures as a result of your work were not an option. If something did come up, that became the first priority to solve (that day). The customer needed to trust you. That doesn’t exist anymore. F5 (as well as other corporations) willingly and routinely release software that has multiple serious issues. Big IP Next is a prime example. Development methods of Agile, Scrum, and SAFe were adopted that have no engineering validity to being used, but they are used anyway.

There are likely hundreds of reasons why I should continue seeking employment – all likely are valid. I choose to be the craftsman/artisan and that type of position will have to find me. If it doesn’t so be it.

We were doing really well at Ansys, and we came in here with very competent people. But I always expected it wouldn’t matter. I started preparing my exit as soon as the first acquisition rumors surfaced, and now I’m negotiating a move to another job. Hopefully it works out. If the timing lines up with being laid off here, even better. If not, I’ll resign and move on. Why fight to stay at a company that doesn’t recognize value or know how to manage experience, skills, and proven results?

For those that worked in Technology Operations and were laid off, can you share where you landed if you were able to find something, or the industry you moved to? Feeling like my days are numbered, so keeping my eyes peeled for opportunities.

Sitting here on the beach pondering my next move. Do I really want to rejoin the corporate grind? Nahhh...

Toes in the sand, drink in my hand.

Hope your post Intel journey goes well.

I worked my a-s off for this company for ten years and barely broke 65k. With news of the NM layoffs, I decided to look elsewhere and found loads of companies hiring. I immediately found employment making over 70k starting. It just su-ks to think back on how dedicated I was to this place and was given such a low ball offer to mine to Covington. Up yours Crystal! Life is so much better outside of the bullsh-t corporate green Fidelity umbrella!

Although I shouldn't be surprised, I was. I received the out of cycle 1x1 and was notified yesterday that my role was being eliminated and that my last day was this week.
I'm not here to complain, point fingers, or play victim. But want people to understand that there is never a better time to prepare for your future career than now.

I panicked at first, but now, with some time to really assess my situation, it almost feels like a blessing. I wasn’t planning on leaving, but I was so unhappy that having them make that decision for me actually did me a favor. I’m still looking for something new, but I have a few interviews lined up, and even without a secured job, I’m happier than I was at Optum. Go figure.

I imagine there are many of us (mid career 10+ years) that assumed we would retire from this company. However this was the year that got some of us, and now we are left standing. However are you holding up? What are you doing now/plan to do next? Genuinely interested in hearing what folks have to say.

Longer you stay rustier you become.
And they treat you bad and may let go any day.
Even if you make it to MR75 no benefits and even harder to get out.
Cash out your meager pension on the way out. Better use it to get debt free.
Explore options to buy your own insurance.
Live below your means, get debt free , update your skills, invest in indexed funds and get outta here.

Anthem expanded rapidly and with each acquisition decided who to keep or dump, but instead of keeping those with true subject matter knowledge or leadership skills they selected based on favoritism, self-promotion and the ability to take credit for the work of others. The current state is an extremely top-heavy royal court of tone deaf “leaders” who in my opinion, add little to no value. Because they are in over their heads, I believe they relied on overpaid consultants who sold them on a dysfunctional and elitist business agile model.

Senior leaders were to identify their subject matter experts and make them a grade 15, with stock options after 3 years, higher bonuses and unlimited PTO. But instead of choosing the most worthy, they chose their glam squad, the people who make their PowerPoints and make them look good.

Now that they believe they’ve secured their “brain trust” phase 2 appears to be a business strategy where they replace current experienced employees with a) cheaper on shore hires, b) offshore employees, or c) will completely eliminate positions and replace with AI. If you are still working long hours and weekends trying to bail this sinking ship, just stop. There is no place for you in the lifeboats and there never was.

If you are a grade 15 category and one of the, I’d estimate 40%, who are carrying the other 60%, who use their unlimited PTO all the time, I would put in to take the month of September or October off and see if your peers step up; spoiler alert- they can’t so they won’t. You should plan to leave the minute you get vested.

Agile philosophy means you learn and expand your role; it doesn’t mean you take on the workload of three people. Collaboration in Agile is organized, it isn’t just random in office time to check a box. Return to Office mandates will result in others leaving, when collaboration has the people who work witness first-hand the lack of knowledge and work output among others who are paid much more and do far less.

Elevance has now created an organizational caste system. It used to be if you worked hard, you succeeded, the company succeeded, and everyone reaped the benefit; even if some were better compensated than others. Under this new methodology, there is a largely unworthy noble class that does very little, other than attending meetings where they assign out work to the small minority of grade 15’s who work and to grade 14’s and below. It takes no skill to say something is broken, it is fixing it that requires knowledge and effort. As shown last year, when bonus time comes around the pie is sliced so that those who do less are rewarded more.

With recent layoffs the royal court is scrambling to find peasants to pick up the slack; don’t fall for it. Let the favorite children who still get decent raises and bonuses finally do real work and fix things; if they can. Do enough to keep your job and your sanity until you can find something better. Set an alarm and work an 8 hour day, but when the alarm goes off if you think about working one minute more, remember that there is a VP that is taking 6 paid weeks to climb Everest and will return and still have more PTO, while you are neglecting your friends and family. Don’t overexert during upcoming peak and before you ever consider working a weekend realize that Elevance must be well staffed since they’ve yet to revoke unlimited PTO.

This is the logical conclusion of Elevance policies. Almost every working employee could likely qualify for an anxiety diagnosis. The lack of transparency in layoffs, where employees are disappeared overnight like you’re living in a communist regime, leads to a fear response. In the short term, you might get a burst of productivity, when workers try to do more to avoid getting on the RIF list. But when the RIFs keep coming, and there is no transparency or apparent logic to the RIF’s, the avoidance phase sets in. The weekend or PTO provides short term relief, but you come back to the same stress and if work piles up during PTO it is even worse. Politely turn down the extra work and cite health reasons; it is not a misrepresentation, maybe they can create a new diagnosis code for Elevance induced anxiety- Elevancia.

Calculate the hours you work verses your pay to arrive at your true salary. Calculate the cost of a commute that you may not have agreed to when you were hired. Calculate the impact of stress. Give the minimum you can but don’t buy into the fact that you owe more to fix problems that other’s incompetence and egos created. Notice that some of the fixers are leaving, so believe if or not, it may get worse.

Don’t sacrifice your physical or mental health for an organization that views you as completely disposable. If you set boundaries and get RIF’ed, it potentially was only a matter of time anyway. RIF’s no longer appear to be an unfortunate business necessity, but rather an Elevance business strategy. If the stock drops enough maybe the board will finally step in and replace the current inept leadership team and their royal court.
#IChooseMe
#Elevancia
#PeasantsUnite

More than 15 years with Nike. I gave it every chance to change and improve because of those good early days. But I’m done waiting and wasting time with a company that lacks vision and a real future. I just landed another job. Not better by any measure, but in a different environment. If I stayed here another day, I’d have jumped out of my skin. Wishing you all the best. And if you end up as fed up as I am, don’t hesitate - leave. There’s no point staying somewhere that makes you feel awful.

I didn’t want to have to start interviewing again, but the situation left me no choice. The thought of sending out resumes and preparing for interviews feels draining, but staying in a place that doesn’t value your work to this extent is even worse. I'll rather be uncomfortable then staying here longer than I have to.

I was laid off, and I don’t have regrets. I’d been bracing for this, the anxiety had been building for a while, so in some ways, it feels like a relief. I’m also grateful it gave me the push I needed to start looking elsewhere. I stayed at Oracle too long, became complacent, and lost sight of other possibilities. Staying in one place for too long isn’t great for self-confidence or professional growth, especially with how companies have been operating over the past decade. The job market is tough, but here’s hoping I prove I’m tougher.

Good luck to the rest of you, and don’t let yourself fall under the psychological pressure the corporate environment, and especially layoffs, can create. There are always other options, and other opportunities to prove to yourself that you’re good at what you do.

For those of you who are still with the company and are unhappy with the state of affairs, you need to start designing your exit plan. That may mean updating your resume, looking for new roles, hitting your network for opportunities and/or brushing up on new skills. Don't wait for senior leadership to tell you it's time, you control yours and the future for your family. Secondly, set a date. Once you have a set date of when you want to exit, whatever nonsense is happening will impact you less and you will be working towards something productive besides feeling unhappy about what senior leadership is doing and not doing. My last comment is about the topic of Toxic Leadership which has seem to come on to this board as a main point of concern. Toxic Leadership is always 100% a problem with the tone at the top. A top research in labor studies told me that these type of leaders learned, at a very young age, that if they did not have absolute control that they had no value. It is why the behaviors are so pronounced when they are in position to oversee others and to maintain it they surround themselves with yes men or those that will help create a work environment that normalizes the behavior. Remember, good people don't go around trying to destroy others.