Whenever concerns are raised about layoffs the tone you tend to get from management is a slight smirk accompanied by “You cant believe the internet and make life decisions based on paranoia and comments online”
It makes use concerned employees sound like fools who believe gossip and speculation. Is it just that? speculation?
34 replies (most recent on top)
Please provide a link to such statements.
Why feel bad about a positive outlook? I’m so confused about why people act like VMware is the only tech company to work for? There’s hundreds of thousands of great tech jobs out there. Who cares if your department is a flop.
Someone mentioned that maybe Google would buy us and the same exact woeful mantra of “cuts to the bone!”; “all jobs gone!” came up. Microsoft could buy us, tell us it’d be like the LinkedIn purchase, and the comments would still say we are all getting laid off.
Broadcom has never said they were going to leave us as a stand alone business. You have to pay attention very carefully to what is being said and what is not being said. If they cut 100 percent of G&A, they still have no path to get to the savings they shared publicly. That means they have to cut in ALL departments. You can live in a dream land and think they will treat is differently, they won’t be. This is how they run a business. They would be crushed if they paid so much money for us (based on our revenue) and kept things largely the same. I feel bad for some of you, you really don’t get it. And that concerns me about how smart our talent at this company truly is.
Doesn’t Broadcom keep saying that it’ll basically allow VMware to continue to operate as its own org, just eliminating redundancy in IT, marketing, HR, finance, etc? They’re going to rebrand their own software team under VMware and not handle this like CA or Symantec, that’s their own words. Everyone keeps focusing on the EBITDA comment that’s supposed to be the goal in 3 years though.
Personally, I think it’ll be a self imposed reduction in force because Broadcom will just make everyone work in office. So for most people it’ll be either relocate or find somewhere else. That’s my own opinion.
@2wjl+1hvEkalR
Im sorry that lady is off her rocker. VMware was left as an independent company something Michael Dell made clear day one, why did she leave? That is not comparable to what’s going on right now.
I had no such fears about losing my job when EMC was the 80% owner of vmware, nor when were spun off into pivotal, nor when we were acquired by dell, nor when pivotal was acquired by vmware. None of those events presented the kind of employment risk that the take over by Broadcom does. The tone of those events were totally different and the acquiring company’s pedigree was not even remotely close to what we have learned about Broadcom’s. No predictions, but this is not like the other changes in control from my experience.
A vmware employee posted on LinkedIn saying that she panicked with the Dell buyout announcement — left the company for another role out of fear. Hindsight is 20 20 because she said she wish she stuck around @ the time seeing as it wasn’t what she imagined. Broadcom is different, yes, but bring the drama down a notch.
The sentiment I am talking about is the ine stating that if you are worth your salt you should find a job in a month. That is simply not true. Even if you are extremely talented you may not. I didnt say it wasnt possible to do so and it can only be done at walmart. I did find the jobs because I was lucky enough and good opportunities presented themselves to me but it’s certainly not the rule
You literally implied that finding a job in a month could only be done if someone worked for Walmart doing inventory and that anyone who didn’t understand this was clueless.
Now you’re saying you got 3 in a month? They must be 3 jobs from Walmart, Dollar General, and Amazon warehouse for overnight inventory associate.
@2kdd+1hvEkalR
What a load of nonsense! I was simply stating that if you were to go through a normal technical recruitment process it would take 4 interviews so at least three weeks depending on scheduling, availability, and preparation needed. Saying “should” get a job in a month otherwise you arent worth your salt is at best removed and at worst stupid. Ironically, if i do have an abrasive personality it clearly didnt hinder me. I did find a job in a month, three offers actually and I am leaving but I simply dont live in la la land and think that the world is always pink. I have very talented friends, insanely talented and it took them months to find a role. That’s reality, welcome!
“Do you live in the same world we live in? A month to find a job? What jobs are you talking about, restocking associate roles at walmart? Most technical jobs of any respectable companies do at least 3 to 4 rounds of interviews. I apologize you are either trolling or clueless”
The arrogance in this comment is why some employees are worried. They’ve been in back rooms for years doing “engineering” and come with such abrasive personalities. When Broadcom brings down the axe the porcupine personality employees know they’ll have a long job search because their attitude is in the garbage and they rub people the wrong way. Not a great talent to have when doing an interview in today’s environment.
“ this expansion extends the presence of VMware’s office of the CTO..”
The fact that Broadcom itself doesn’t have a CTO would indicate no need for such an office to exist.
https://www.broadcom.com/company/about-us/executives
Sounds like a resume/interviewing problem. When job hunting is your full time gig you should be able to schedule the rounds back to back and have an offer in about a month. How are the employees who jumped ship already starting their new non Walmart jobs at great companies one month after the announcement?
Do you live in the same world we live in? A month to find a job? What jobs are you talking about, restocking associate roles at walmart? Most technical jobs of any respectable companies do at least 3 to 4 rounds of interviews. I apologize you are either trolling or clueless
I agree, I’ll find another job and I do indulge in schadenfreude knowing how some clueless product managers will struggle to find a new job given the damage they have done to the company.
“It's just sad people that work here either wanna keep denying or are too dense to understand.”
Yes, they should be on here posting about how worried they are of the possibility of something happening they have no idea about. Anyone worth their salt can find another job in a month. And considering what VMware pays, unless you’re an id--t, you should have enough money to float you through the job hunt.
I’m optimistic if this works or if it all falls apart. It’ll be fine.
It's just sad people that work here either wanna keep denying or are too dense to understand. Of course VMW is gonna pretend it's still trying up until close date. "We're committing to hiring 200 people in Ireland" is all BS - understand the second Bcom owns us, they can just say 'LMAO not anymore' and it's done. Existing vmw management has no control
Search the Internet much for brodcims’s playbook?
In anycase, I have a bridge to sell you I brooklyn. Totally legit, a Nigerian prince is funding it.
Please send me your Twitter handle so we can do business.
https://www.techcentral.ie/vmware-commits-to-grow-dublin-team-by-200-over-next-three-years/
This is not gonna happen when H.T. gets his hands on VMW, mark my word.
Symantec pre Broadcom, in Ireland = 1,000
Symantec, now during Broadcom = 130
Expansion is now only Poland and India.
The denial will hurt you in the end. Accept this for what it is and start job hunting
anyone who knows how the strategic details of this acquisition will play out and how BC will increase revenue, would be a C-Level exec somewhere and not posting doom stories on here.
"No one knows anything. The sentiment on here is way more alarmist than when discussing this matter with real leadership who have more insight than posters @;&3&:@/‘EdiaQq though"
What a laugh. Leadership who have every reason to lie to you. Top leadership are getting $millions out of this. Lower level leadership wants to save their job or get their severance. People on here know way more than what leadership will ever tell you. Just look at the numbers and history.
They are getting free money from the Industrial Development Agency of the Irish government. Offsetting cuts will be made elsewhere.
"Why commit to hiring 200 employees in Ireland and building out an entire engineering hub focused on the cloud if 80% of the company is getting axed? That’s just stupid."
"Supported by the Irish government through IDA Ireland, this expansion extends the presence of VMware’s office of the CTO, which is dedicated to exploring, inspiring, researching, and innovating technologies that impact the future, in Ireland."
@1gmo+1hvEkalR
Here is the problem with this type of statement. Yoy have brought forward no actual factual reasoning or any form of objective thinking. “Why commit to hiring 200 people” that’s not reasoning, that’s gossiping. The people that are airing on the side of saying everything will be ok use this form of argument while those that say it wont tend to talk about EBITDA, revenue margins, previous repeated acquisition plans that Broadcom has excuted on. Im supposed to believe you over financial metrics and proven patterns? Also saying “it cant be paid people that come here are just debbie downers” isnt an argument, that’s ad hominem. I get your point, but people are stating facts.
Im not stupid enough to ignore the numbers, believe my manager who gives no fu--s about me, or anyone online but the numbers dont lie. Getting VMware to 1 million revenue per employee in its current structure is impossible
assuming CA has integrity and transparency and vmw doesn’t is odd. Your company was in the dump when they got acquired by BC. You think vmw would commit to hiring 200 plus employees in one region alone, publicly announce the expansion plans of an entire practice, all with the knowledge the people they are hiring won’t have long term jobs?
I wish this was Reddit so I could set a remind me. Go outside, enjoy the weekend. I think some of you need to breathe some fresh air and look at grass.
I will say no one can guarantee what will or won’t happen, but history shows us, and public announcements tell us, the cuts will be severe - how severe, all speculation at this point. I worked at CA when we were acquired, and everything posted on this site turned out to be accurate. The only real difference between here and there, HR at CA didn’t sugar cost anything, basically told us that the company was going to cut 50% of the people on day 1. I appreciated this level of transparency. I don’t feel we have that here at VMWare. Perhaps they don’t know. But I realize the only way for this to work is to do exactly what Broadcom has committed to doing. Cut drastically.
Ask your manager to get quotes from named Broadcom executives explaining why “it will be different than Symantec/CA” in acting out their private equity playbook.
Of course there will be “differences” but we don’t mean immaterial differences. We mean mass layoffs , closing of product lines one way or another, and increased prices for customers. Instead of retaining only the top 600 customers, it will be top 5000 customers is not the “difference” we are taking about here.
Ask if all 150-ish of the companies a d government agencies in the french cigref consortium are also fools to think there won’t be such consequences.
https://www.cigref.fr/broadcoms-takeover-of-vmware-customers-are-alarmed-about-a-drift-in-practices
Ask why PE firm SIlver Lake, who perfected the playbook for leveraged buy outs of “mature” tech companies, who installed Hock Tan as CEO of Broadcom, who together with Michael Dell own greater than 50% of VMware shares is not going to ring out as much money from this deal as possible.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/silver-lakes-backing-dealmaking-ceos-pays-off-2022-05-26/
Ask for your group’s revenue and profit numbers so you can make an informed decision as that is the primary lens though which you will be evaluated to be kept.
Ask your manager if the reviews on Glassdoor and similar sites are really just crazy people taking badly about Broadcom and if so, can you speak with current Broadcom employees to get their viewpoints?
Ask why we should believe that the tech industry’s veteran reporter Dave Vellante’s pessimistic conclusion for vmware employees is all wrong. For shareholders, it is great though - cough - Silver Lake and Michael Dell.
https://www.thecloudcast.net/2022/06/what-vmware-might-look-like-under.html?m=1
Show your manager press releases from Broadcom for CA and Symantec when they were acquired with the same double speak as now, asking how that turned out.
Sadly, like deers in a headlight, your manager is just as clueless about what will happen, especially if they are low in the totem pole. They feel they are doing their job to repeat the nonsense they are being told.
At this point nobody has a crystal ball and it is all speculation. Sure you can look at trends however you can look at those same trends and get different ideas.
You are dreaming if you think this acquisition won’t be like the last few. Up to 70% of VMW employees will be load off, 40-50% most likely day 1
Hock Tan said in the town hall meeting that there’ll be layoffs. So there shouldn’t be any surprises. Plus you cannot double profitability without cutting the most expensive part of the business - people.
Broadcom declared what they plan to do in press releases, they are cutting expenses. The only way to do that is cut people. If anyone thinks anything else, I truly feel sorry for you.
I don't believe what I read on the internet. What I do believe:
- Based on evidence from the last acquisitions and their stated financial goals, that there will be mass layoffs.
- Given the current economy and possibility of a recession (if we're not already in one) that finding a job will be much harder towards the end of the year and into the next when we're also going to be competing against each other for whatever jobs might be available.
- There is nothing keeping us here since bonus (if it gets funded (bad Q1 results, no targets for remaining Q's to measure against) and paid) is almost another year away.
- The VP's and C's will all be looked after and they don't care about regular employees so will just say anything to keep "business as usual" so they get their slice of the pie
- Managers need to keep their respective teams productive and will say anything to keep if that way while they are still working here in the hope that they will still remain working here
- Nobody has a crystal ball so nobody knows for sure what will happen.
- You are responsible for your own wellbeing. Make an informed decision based around your wants and needs and do what you need to do.
- It is OK to leave and find another job.
- It is OK to stay and hope to remain employed at Broadware
They don’t know either