If an when you get the slip, do you stay for 60 days or leave and break free of the madness?
15 replies (most recent on top)
I would leave while you are still employed. Why wait for 6 month blood money when there are tons of jobs out there right now and as I have found they pay more than what T was paying.
Much more relaxing to look for a job while you are sill employed. You can be more picky and chose the place that you think is right for you.
Need the money..stay. Still looking for another job...stay. Need 60 more days of health insurance.....stay. Don't care anymore...stay. DO what is best for you and your wallet. I was cut loose in December and stayed for the 60 days till Feb even though I planned to retire. I am also collecting unemployment. No guilt here....I didn't choose to leave.
My replacement was a new hire team in the Philippines.
I was downsized and off payroll 3-29 due to my job location. My job was backfilled with someone in Atlanta in late March.
I was notified on the 28th of January and off payroll by February 19th. I chose not to stay the duration because I knew there was zero chance of getting picked up from career path. I had been around the company long enough to know career path is just a formality. Most jobs listed are earmarked for a predetermined candidate. I left at first availability and have not looked back. The relief of stress was tremendous. Those last three weeks I felt like “Deadman Walking”. People avoiding eye contact, whispering. Not a comfy feeling. Staying to March 30th was not worth it to me. I’m happily retired. Lumped out both my pensions. Severed all ties with AT&T. 40yrs and happy. Adios.
@pto -- "...refused to train my replacement" ?
Who is replaced anymore? When someone on my team gets the boot, their work is just there for those remaining to absorb. Haven't seen anything backfilled in quite some time.
I chose to stay and look internally because I am in no position to retire. I can tell you that I still did my old work albeit not nearly as much out of respect for my customers who were internal. I focused the rest of my time solely trying to find an internal job because with 23 years, my pension would have gone up almost triple if I had made it to 25 years. :( I would have scrubbed toilets for 2 years if I had too. I applied to many positions that I was well qualified on career path. Crickets. Nothing. I did have 1 actual interview that I, again, was well qualified and the interview went great only to rec a denied letter. If I could do it all over, knowing that I feel once you are pegged to be off payroll, the company, I don't think, is really serious about trying to keep you on, I would have focused more on external positions.
If you are management, you only get accrued vacation, not the full amount. If you have no current job offer, why not stay for the extra pay. The chance you will find something internally is about .0000001% so use the time to focus on what is next. I did minimal work during that time and refused to train my replacement.
I was surplussed last year in the Southeast. We were give an "off payroll date" that was 8 wks out. If you left before the off payroll date, you lost the severance pay, job bank time, and would be treated like you resigned. We were allowed to take vacation days whenever we wanted to. A friend of mine was threatened with termination because his MSOC went down to 25%---so you do have to do some work!
Stay, get the extra pay, and plan for the next phase of your life.
Stay, do what I did, nothing for 60 days and find another job... You CAN overlap jobs! just don't tell AT&T!... They have no way to find out.
if you get a 60 day notice, and you are able to jet immediately...then it sounds like you were not needed to begin-with (i.e. you don't have any special knowledge or skills, as compared to someone in India). you need to be careful, to not get yourself into that situation. if you are in that situation, find another job, because its only a matter of time before your position is deleted, or off-shored.
I'm staying for the 60 days.
There were some people in the last round that stayed the 60 days and had other jobs lined up outside the company. Within 2 weeks of their last day, the company said never mind we made a mistake you can keep your old job. They had one foot out the door and were ready to leave, but at that point, they lost the severance package. Something to consider if you really want to leave.
It does cost you money not to hang on for those extra weeks of option 1. Will get another PTO day, 6 weeks pay, slightly higher pension lump sum, slightly higher 2020 bonus. But you don't have to look for an internal job or hang around awkwardly waiting for the end and you can get on with your new life after AT&T. If you are retirement eligible and financially secure, option 2 can be a good choice. You can get all your ducks in a row with Fidelity and Hewitt before the big wave of option 1 people overwhelm them and have your retirement party and gift making the situation a positive experience.