Layoffs are the gifts that keep on giving. Everyone should have the experience once in their life so they can see first hand how they impact people’s lives. If you have not experienced it you have NO idea thus the many of the ignorant comments on here like “you’re lucky” “you got the severance” blah blah blah. Yah walk in our shoes.
I agree with @1sdw+1qwhvF7H 100%. People saying cr-p like that is inconsiderate at best, and downright malicious at worse.
This is true from an empathy standpoint. This is really not a nice thing to say to someone. I was told by someone that thought was a well-wisher that I “should be grateful” and it’s nice to get paid to not work. Well, I’d like to see if they still would have had this reaction if they had to actively spend the next 3-6 months job hunting and had friends and family actively looking for a new job for over a year.
I was lucky to land a better role for 25-30% higher pay and remote. Now I look at the past few months as a gift. But during, it did NOT feel like it. I took stock of my finances and had to see where I could cut back to stay longer without a steady paycheck. I’m grateful to have the buffer, but it is very emotionally draining. I also believe I partly got another offer because I also took the help of a paid recruiting service that charged me $10k and will now be taking 10% of my base salary for a year (they helped me negotiate a sign on bonus which covered this and will refund it if I lose the job for non performance reasons within 90 days).
Here’s my take after the long rant above- times are tough. For everyone. So let’s just be empathic and not say things resentfully to others.
speak for yourself. I feel "lucky" for sure. with a better company now and a big extra paycheck from the severance. now that i'm out of Schwab and elsewhere, it's made me realize how toxic Schwab really was and how much they didn't care about their employees.
I know everyone’s situation is different but I feel lucky. I wouldn’t want to be the “survivor” and stuck with my previous workload plus all the new work that has to be absorbed by those left. The “do more with less” mantra should be the company tag line. I don’t know what the future holds but I know my mental health is a thousand times better than it was a few months ago.
"Nobody is lucky to be laid off"....NOT TRUE!!! Some of us were in the process of retiring and ended up getting a retirement gift from an employer that only dreams are made of. I'd say that's pretty lucky.
...For those in other circumstances, things may not feel so lucky, but they actually are. There is a big world full of opportunity out there. Near term disruptions are never much fun, but there is the longer game to consider. Schwab has become such a soul su-king environment, riddled with politicians, powerpoint jockies and poor leadership. That ultimately leads one to nowhere good in the longer view. Being given a gift to transition ultimately to something better is very lucky IMHO.
Have faith. All things happen for a reason.
To @cqe+1qIVLIyZ: Just voice your displeasure enough to the MD's and I'm sure you can make it happen in the next round. ;)
Been laid off twice and heartbroken I wasn’t in October. Both were tough, but the companies were digging a grave and I’d have left with nothing. October would have given me a nice retirement package without having to listen to Walt.
I’ve been laid off twice before, it was a struggle sometimes but both times I ended up with a better job and a better place in my life. I voluntarily left this garbage company, so for me I do feel people who were laid off and paid a severance to find something better for themselves were lucky because this company is pure trash. You will find something better because Schwab is the worst out there. It’s been months, focus on your future and all the amazing things that can come from this. Good luck to you.