Farewell, going to a direct competitor

I'm an individual contributor and I've been with the company for 11 years with sh---y pay.
Nearly every year my manager tells me that I'm being underpaid but there's nothing he can do about it due to the company performing poorly (meanwhile GM gets a fat pay increase of 30%).

Because of all the major restructures + yearly RIFs within my OU, only a handful of people have been promoted to management (average tenure of those promoted were 15+ years) since I joined and the workload for individual contributors in our OU has always been outrageous due to yearly RIFs.

I had been casually looking for internal jobs with other OU's as well as new opportunities with non-competing companies for 3-4 years with no success.
So this year I decided that I would start interviewing with direct competitors and one of them ended up offering me the same individual contributor level role but with a much reasonable workload and a fantastic package that is equivalent to what a director-level employee would be paid at Medtronic.

I didn't even bother to ask my manger about salary matching as Medtronic is too poor to pay its employees properly and I took the new role with the competitor.

So for those peeps that feel like you're stuck, my only advice would be to be persistent and keep looking.

Comment! It's anonymous!

15 replies (most recent on top)

Don’t let the door hit ya, where the good lord split ya!

unless you're an old timer and you have some important benefits that vest at your regular retirement , it really isn't worth waiting around for things to get better. Everyone who I know who has left has said in essence "why didnt I do this 5 years ago"? Everyone. Dont let uncertainty prevent you from looking around you may be surprised to see that you're value is much higher at other healthier companies.

Leaving MDT as well, different OU tho.

I am looking forward to seeing the greener grass.

After leaving MDT over the summer, I am MUCH happier at my new job. I certainly miss my old coworkers and the product, but until you leave old blue, you don’t realize how toxic, chaotic and unorganized the company is. I acknowledge MDT still has some brilliant employees and great products but for the large majority of employees, there is a BETTER LIFE after MDT.

I’m also looking to leave Surgical. Sinking Titanic. I won’t be left playing the violin

Let me tell you. The grass is 100% greener outside MDT.
I made a similar move too, and boy, I’m sooo happy that I did!

I feel sorry for my good old colleagues that are still at MDT, but to the bad leadership team, I wish nothing more than justice for the harm they caused!

What an exciting 3% drop in stock price today, really winning with these layoffs!!

Great to know you find a good job. I'm in Surgical too and I cannot wait to leave.

OP here:
Non-compete agreements are automatically voided in California so I’m not expecting any problems.

Does it become an issue with the Non-compete if you move to a direct competitor? I'm looking at a similar switch

All the best and it is a good call for making the decision to leave. I’m from APAC and I made a similar move recently.

Company probably don’t care as they think that no one is indispensable.

Fantastic. Happy for you.

Right decision to not ask for salary match also. A company that is too an-l to pay its employees properly throughout the years does not deserve the opportunity to make it right after the fact. How could they ever make it right for all the lost years ?

Move on. And good luck.

OP here:
I’m leaving the Surgical OU.
PTO with the new company is 10 days initially.

Good luck! Can I ask which OU you’re leaving? Hope the new job is better.

Lucky duck! May I ask if you negotiated more PTO than a new hire?

Thread regarding Medtronic Inc. layoffs

Farewell, going to a direct competitor

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