I can understand old employees still trying to survive there (more than 10 years with vested $$$ interests), but there's no way I can understand why anyone with less than 5 yrs in the Company (or being 30 years or younger) would sacrifice their career by staying there. I simply can't understand it. Someone please explain to me...
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If you got a 1% raise, then that means your manager did their best to give everyone something. If your manager had actually followed the directives, then only a couple of the "top" people on the team would have gotten a higher percentage (maybe 3 or 4%) and everyone else on the team would have gotten 0%. Sounds to me like your manager did their best with the extremely limited pool they got.
I heard that on the 1% raise. I just spoke to my "manager" who is going to work for a competitor next week.... he gives me gold stars in all areas of job performance and then "rewards me" with a 1% raise. I can't decide if I should laugh or quit. It feels more like a kick in the gut / slap in the face!! Been here since late 90's Compaq / HP / HPE / Newco
Why do we stay? The same reasons many of us avoid any other big life changes - fear and inertia.
I'm 30. Ive been working for HP/HPE for 9 years. I got hired after 2 years as a contractor. I do not have a college degree, but I went back to school last year to finish it, I'm on track to graduate next year. I've been really lucky to work for a great org with a lot of great people. The pay and the benefits were nothing for me to complain about. Until I started a family 4 years ago. Around the same time is when everything at work just started going downhill and hasn't stopped.
I live in an area where the job market is sh--. I have actively job searched and interviewed when possible. But my lack of education in some cases didn't help me, even with years of experience. Which is why I went back to school.
I've hung on to this job because I still have kids to feed and bills to pay and I'm not going to just jump ship without an offer somewhere else, you know. I've been lucky enough to not end up on a WFR list somehow. When I finally have the right opportunity to leave, I will, hopefully I can do so on my own terms.
Why? Because the opportunity to work on a good team solving hard problems in a disruptive space. And then HP/HPE culture and politics destroyed us.
I understand why people would stay -- they know the culture and politics, it's a job they don't have push themselves at, the stock continues to rise even as the salaries don't, there's not a lot of comparable positions in their town -- but geez, if you're a young techie you would be so much better off to work anywhere else that wasn't an incumbent tech firm. HPE is how we used to do things. And those companies are dying off in divestments and M&A. Google, Facebook, Amazon, even Microsoft are better choices.
The company I work for is one of the 10 best places to work for in the US, doesn't "lay off" employees, needs .NET developers, pays well (with healthy bonuses), and we can't fill reqs.
Maybe it's location (midwestern city, low cost of living, no less!!), but if you are living paycheck to paycheck because your employer can't afford to pay the people who make the company work (while lavishing $$millions$$ on their executives), don't say you are staying there because of a "tight job market".
Have some self-respect, leave the bitterness behind (it shows in job interviews, trust me), and grab some glory before it is too late.
I used to be miserable showing up at the soul-s---ing cube farm Meg forced us to return. I might dislike the drive to and from work (about 20 minute longer commute than HP was), but I smile when I enter the building I work at now. A completely different culture - a real eye-opener.
There is hope, but you have to make it happen.
Stockholm syndrome, battered woman's syndrome? Good grief! It is an employers market. A position open likely receives hundreds of applicants. In this scenario, employers have folks by the gonads. There is lots to be sore about to be sure. At this point, HPE is still a pretty good gig. It's all about perspective. With that said, I am really bothered corporations would lay folks off right before Christmas. Pretty cold.
We've been told for years that software developers are in high demand and companies can't find enough people to fill positions, yet we have been surrounded by layoffs for years and the job market doesn't have nearly as many developer positions available as you would think. Either the demand is being grossly overstated, or many of these positions are being sent to India.
HPE saying whopping 1 or 2% raise and say that is all they have, well we haven't had a raise in years. So count your blessings.
The job market is tight that's why no one is jumping ship, anywhere you go the pay will be less than your making now. So save your penny's and when your outsourced (Yes India needs to watch out too because there are a lot of lower cost counties to send jobs too) you have survive while looking for a new any job so you have insurance and a little money coming in
I've been at EDS/HP/HPE/NewCo for nearly 10 years, and I fear I've been here roughly 4 years too long from a career development perspective. From a family perspective it's been a plus, as I was able to WFH and help with my young children, which helped to offset the lack of raises, bonuses, and career development. Whitman wants everyone back in the office now aka Yahoo w/ Marissa Mayer, so the writing is on the wall if I want to stay relevant and further my career.
My advice to those on the upside of their career is to use HPE/NewCo as a stepping stone to a better opportunity a few years down the road. I think this is what management wants their employees to do without saying it, as they will either replace you with cheaper labor or eliminate your position when you leave.
Worked for HPE for 10 years, maxed at $12/hr. Then busted down to contractor to save on benefits and future severance. Cost wise next best thing to offshore.
I needed the money at the time.
It is like Stockholm Syndrome where you start sympathizing with your captors. I left on my own, knowing a WFR was probably on the horizon anyway, but mostly because of not having a raise in over 3 years with no improvement or opportunities in sight at HPE - time to go and move on!! Unless you are a long-time veteran vested in the pension plan and just counting the days to retirement, leave before having HPE on your resume becomes a big negative to a potential new employer (like Enron, etc).
Well as far as doing tech support, HPE usually starts $18-24 hr and many places will only pay $11,$13 or $15 hr for support, so metro ATL wise, the rate is better than other places, but watching the company change before your eyes can be depressing or when HPE always give you that whopping 1 or 2% raise and say that is all they have, yet will hire new people off the street for $45-50k who take the place for granted, but it cant give real raises to the people who stick it out there.
To make it worse HPE is now hiring people as contractors now and some ghetto mentality people are getting hired to makw you wonder how they evwn got hired.
I hope no ones gets offended, but in some way it reminds me of the "battered woman syndrome" (BWS), which is a mental disorder that develops in victims of domestic violence as a result of serious, long-term abuse... Sorry guys, but that's what I believe.