...posting about how horrible a job loss is on ones finances. Really? Do people really manage their money this badly?
12 replies (most recent on top)
OP: no money worries here. Hope to get in the next round of layoffs. Doubt they will accept volunteers, if division I'm in would accept, they would be hurting looking for some pretty major talent.
not easy working here cuz u bust your chops & the hours u work takes toll , so u factor health bills, and ur hub/wife is brunt of supporting kids n keeping things moving while ur under crack of the whip. dunno about 20 something in import euros - could be parents or used. still young so not screwed yet.
work hard, spend hard, move on
176893: It is by request, due to Spouse's employment. Not all people have clients/empployers who appreciate the fact that they have online opinions.
Anonymous176644, how is having kids financially conservative? More like a giant liability. Not like the kids can work the family farm (in Carmel valley) to reap profits.
do you really call your wife "the spouse". Is this a gay marriage or are you just wierd ?
OP: Two major points: (1) Most staff engineers or engineers make under the $125,000 mark unless they have been around for a long time. This is especially true for the H1-Bs. (This does not factor in bonuses or RSUs, which should never be depended upon. IMO.) The Spouse and I costed it out once, and figured that for 2 people to make it in this area owning a modest condo or renting a decent place, it takes at least $85,000 per year after taxes. That means you will need to realistically earn more than $130,000 because QCOM's withholding, even if you take the max. deductions allowable, is close to 30%. What does it go for? Well, there's necessities like food, clothing, utilities, gas, the mortgage/rent, car payments, etc. Then there are the less obvious but substantial costs: Health/dental/vision insurance for family, insurance on the car house, and possessions, life insurance--preferably whole life, private disability and extended care, umbrella liability policy--because CA is the most litigious state in the country....Do the math sometime; it ain't cheap! (2) You seem to forget that there are two things most engineers save for: their retirement, and their kids' educations. Many parents have decided that the local schools don't do enough their kids for the rigors of acedemia at a decent university, so they pay $20,000 per year or more for private schools. Then there is university. With tuition of about $60,000 per year at some of the ivy league schools, and stiffer competition than ever for scholarships, many parents find they quickly exhaust the money they had originally set aside for their kids educations and wind up taking out HELOC or worse, dipping into their retirement savings. When the Junior Edition graduates from Stanford or USC with that B.S. in something that, along with $5 will get him a mocha with sprinkles, Junior often winds up living at home and working at the local pizza take-out franchise--because the entry-level positions in his field have been taken by H1-Bs, and with student loan payments coming due, he really can't afford to work as an unpaid intern at QCOM, for "valuable learning experience." So yeah, getting RIF-ed screws over people who do everything "right."
Nobody at Qualcomm does anything but save their money, get married and have kids. Financially conservative to the max. That crappy 328 or A4 isn't that expensive or nice. Their tract home in caramel valley will end up being toxic in the spring though.
Even if true, so some 26year old gets their car repo'ed and or finds another job elsewhere. Big deal. I hardly consider this finanical ruin. Perhaps typical stupid American money management. But nothing completely unmanagable. Now if these idiots bought a gnormous home with a subprime loan, well that's a different story. But how many of these idiots are there? Its not like one could easily get an overlevereged loan over the past few years after the RE crash.
26 year old engineers show up with 5 series BMWs. Half of Q engineering has been with the company 5-6 years or less (I think?), and completely missed the real gravy train days. Sure, maybe they can afford it by blowing their RSU nut on it, or paying off a giant loan (on top of possible student loans and silly UTC/PB rental prices). The road to serfdom is digitally paved with Instagram photos of one's "totes amazeballs" life. On the other hand, I don't know many posts here that suggest being poor (as no millenial or troll would ever be honest about their digitally curated life), and I don't know why any non QCOMer would waste time lurking here, except those let go in the past year.
Well, I just find it hard to believe that an enginerd making say $125-150k/year for so many years + bonus + stock grants on top of that would be so financially fvcked. I can understand if you weren't a QCOM engineer that weren't making anywhere near this being financially fvcked if you lose your job. But there's been years of the Q gravy train. You have to be a pretty big idiot to not have a sufficient financial cushion to weather this storm. I found the pay disparity between non-Q and Q employees quite interesting. Imho, i think you have a lot of bitter non-Q people now gloating over a measly 15% of the employees who lost their jobs, most of which is probably in IT (which is the worst tech job one could have anyway).
when in doubt, go "non qcom lurker" conspiracy.