I think @gnkz’s analysis is on point, and based on everything I’ve read here, and comparing that with what was rumored and what eventually happened in October...folks should be prepared for March 13th. Given that some of the more obvious targets (lower/newer performers, high cost vets, and those caught in the wrong vertical/product/segment) were already let go in October, I don’t think anybody below Director is terribly safe.
As someone who was impacted in October (Raleigh), I’ll also add that now is the time for everyone to get their resumes and job board profiles cleaned up and updated. Line up some recommendations and network with a person or two outside your department...it helps. Fortunately, Q2 is as good a time as any to look, and there are a lot of opportunities in Raleigh for smart, dedicated people at all levels...and Citrix is full of people who fit that criteria.
Obviously, there’s gonna be some troll-age, both here and internally, so take everything with a grain of salt. Amazon to Raleigh is a joke, especially in the time frames we’re talking. HQ2s not coming to Raleigh because mass transit here s---s and Bezos lives in DC. I also love me a Taco Bell Cantina, but they’d be way better off putting it on Hillsborough or Glenwood for the foot traffic lol.
Don’t, for one second, take ELT at their word until proven otherwise. If you have any doubt, go back and listen to the August GEM. I was in the room when DH said “there will be no October layoff event”. I’m sure someone can argue semantics about the actual words used, but the meaning and intent was clear at the time...as was the lie, in hindsight.
However, i wouldn’t subscribe to the theory that management is systematically laying the groundwork to reallocate resources or knowledge based on advance knowledge of a layoff. Again, I was there in October, and I know for a fact that most of my departments leadership were in the dark until the night before...turned out two of them were cut loose too.
If you do get affected, it’s uncomfortable but not the end of the world. Most of the people I know were back on the job long before there was any real financial hardship, because the skills we all gained at Citrix are in demand and valued in the market. I’m a few months into a job that I couldn’t have sniffed prior to my Citrix experience, so while I wish I’d had the chance to write my own ending, I was grateful for the opportunity...and more than a little relieved that it was over.