Yesterday's news that Koixia has secured $12.7B. They have now approached Japan Industrial Partners to consider investing in the planned merger.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/kioxia-has-reached-out-jic-invest-merger-with-western-digital-bloomberg-news-2023-10-20/
No deal ppl, stop dreaming
@3ysb+1pbmhJvI good luck to you too
I enjoyed working at Western Digital. That might put me in the minority on this forum, but not necessarily in the company. I built strong working relationships and had a track record for driving significant improvements with limited resources. That didn’t stop them from laying me off though. They had cost savings targets to meet ($$$). Good luck friends!
They need to work with customers like SK Hynix threatening to pull out assets and China will probably still block it....
They supposedly had banks ready last month, what is the point of keeping delaying it?:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-20/kioxia-s-banks-prep-14-billion-loan-for-western-digital-merger#xj4y7vzkg
Kioxia will run the merger day to day, so if you're in Flash HR, IT, Legal, QA, SG&A, or any other "shared support" function, get ready for your walking papers. They don't need two of everything.
what happens to the people working for HDD and Flash, if flash is split from HDD division?
Call me sadist cuz I love me some bloodbath 😋
@kes+1pbmhJvI
People with common sense would know that the merger means a bloodbath. I would say at least 30% from each side will be gone. Kioxia and WD practically use the same NAND, so there's no need for multiple solutions (HW, SW, and ASICS). From Admin side even more overlaps. Probably 50% or more. My experience from previous merger/acquisition all HR and most management were gone.
Respect to those who stay for whatever their personal reasons. This time, we know flash will integrate into a much different situation. It’s naive or wishful thinking for any of us to imagine an integration without cost cutting because shareholders will demand this merger deliver on its promise, something merging with WD sadly failed to do.
@ckg+1pbmhJvI
Some people are not happy because of the uncertainty, me included. I'm at the point in my career where I would like to stay at WD until I retire. Not because WD is the best company to work for, but at this time, it is good enough for me. I don't have specific goals that require me to look for another job.
Also some people just complain regardless.
I heard layoff announcements are mid-nov.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-deals/Western-Digital-Kioxia-secure-13bn-in-financing-for-chipmaking-merger
Funding secured?
@mvr+1pbmhJvI I understand that. But looking at the comment section in all the posts it sounds like no one wants to work at WD. I have not seen a single positive comment like "I like to work at WD". So isn't a layoff something to be celebrated and highly anticipated by most people in the comment section. Look at it this way you get a divorce from a toxic relationship and on top of that you get compensated in terms of severance. Happy days :)
Funny, two poor companies trying to merge but having trouble to find money for that purpose
@dih+1pbmhJvI, if you honestly don't know, here's the answer: each individual is different from another and their situations are unique.
Some people have hard time to find a new job. Some because of their skills, but often due to other factors such as immigration status, location, age, and believe it or not sometimes due to their physical appearance.
On top of that, some people are in financial situation that don't allow them to go without jobs for too long.
I know this is not obvious to some people, and that's good for them because it means they have been having good lives. But some of us are not that lucky.
@dih+1pbmhJvI is this a serious question? Have you been through a merger?
Why are people worried about layoffs so much???
According to the article they expect to announce before October 30th. So the Nov 1st layoffs announcement someone posted maybe legit after all.
Deal Close