Thread regarding Sungard Availability Services layoffs

The best people are easily recruited out or know they are highly marketable so they are the first to leave
Then the good folks whose projects are cancelled due to cuts are let go
Then the business declines and friends who left trigger a bunch of good folks to start looking and get better offers
Then folks seeking job security leave
The folks remaining have fewer options, are just afraid of leaving or have a retainer. while some are good, most left are just mediocre.

Of my coworkers who have left, all of them have found jobs as good or better.

Good luck to you all

To GrassISgreener. My point is that not all the best people are gone which I keep hearing time and again on here. By the process of elimination, through countless rounds of layoffs, much of the chaff has been severed and the wheat has stayed on. That is not to say that some really good but unlucky people haven't been let go or have chosen to leave on their own. It's also not saying that there isn't some fat that still needs to be trimmed. What's foolish is stating that "all the good people have left". The good people that are still here are the reason SG is still afloat running with limited personel. As far as mine or many other's reason for staying, I'm sure they are quite varied and valid to that particular individual be it borne out of fear, laziness, apathy, or just a feeling that when/if it happens it'll all work out for the best. I do appreciate the encouraging thoughts however that there may be better paying positions out there offering a better quality of life. It gives me some hope for the future should if and when it come time for that step.

I'm sorry....but saying that you are staying because you are good at what you do, and aren't afraid of losing your position regardless of company status is very foolish (and not particularly self aware). You either are too afraid to step out and look for something new, OR you don't actually believe you have the qualifications to get a solid position elsewhere....OR you are just lazy. I say this as someone who was previously reluctant to look because I was sure it would either take a long time to find something, and that I couldn't find something that would pay me equal to what I was already getting. And so I stayed until I just couldn't keep going through all these cycles of uncertainty. Well..turns out, that once I got serious about looking, I was flat out wrong on both fronts. Didn't take long at all to find something.....and I'm actually getting paid significantly more for less responsibility. I'm absolutely astounded at how much less stress I have and the improvement in my quality of life (I'm not joking when I say that). If you are really that good....do yourself and your family a favor...go get paid what you are worth someplace that is going to be more stable and much less stressful. Why on earth would you remain in a stressful environment, getting paid less? If nothing else...just put yourself out there and see what happens. I think you will be surprised.

@9eac That is the beauty of a site like this. It doesn't really matter what you think. It's a public site and each of us can hang around for our own reasons. I'm guessing at least half the people who post here were either laid off or left on their own a long time ago. It doesn't mean they are any less interested in the outcome of this fast-unfolding train wreck which started so very long ago. We want to see the exciting conclusion, and this is one of the easiest ways to keep track of it.

IMO, if you were not recently laid off by SG or you are no longer an employee & your posting on a lay off board asking, 'how can anyone stay at SG?,' then yeah, you need to look at yourself and figure out what your hang up is. Hanging on to things and hoping for recompense by rooting for the companies demise is a waste of time. I assure you SG has moved on.

@8faa+1gEDYV11

More like "last surviving member of the platoon". Stop kidding yourself; LT doesn't care about you, or anyone else. If they can find an orphan on the Isle of Needful Reversion to do your job, you're out. That was clear when they outsourced sales to the Kolkata Chicken Farmer's Union...just wait until Dr Phil gets back on camera and blames poor sales on the new Avian flu variant and the rising cost of worms.

@8faa+1gEDYV11 What’s your bonus and pay raise look like this year as the best of SG. Must be nice to be the tallest mid-et in the circus.

It's really no one's business why someone working at SunGard, short-timer or long-timer, highly skilled or not, is maintaining their employment at SG. To the parties who are asking this, I have no idea why it would matter to you that someone stays or goes; do yourself a favor and get a life.

Because they're butthurt from getting layed off and secretly wish they were still at SG. BTW - Most of the best and the brightest are still at SG, that's the reason we're still here. Make no mistake, the reason that many have survived is because they're good at what we do and feel relatively safe because of this regardless of the company status.

Unite us! Unite us!

Unite the clans (RS, MS)!

The private equity may take our company, but they’ll never take our mainframe!

Big tandem deal coming and some Data domain deals! Things are turning around!

@2izn - good luck selling Secure2Disk

@2izn: Looks like we touched a nerve. Sorry to hear you have no marketable skills. I hope you're still around when the severance packages are nil.

@3lhh: That expectation is why I never much cared for typical sales folks. I could never lie to a customer outright, and some jobs seem to do nothing but push you in that direction.

In another thread it says that things are touted as "business as usual." That's what you are expected to communicate to customers, but one would be a fool to believe that themselves.

It's really no one's business why someone working at SunGard, short-timer or long-timer, highly skilled or not, is maintaining their employment at SG. To the parties who are asking this, I have no idea why it would matter to you that someone stays or goes; do yourself a favor and get a life.

@OP+1gEDYV11, I posted the observation. No it’s not RB. It’s One Who Knows.

Yes it is harder to find a good position when older. The market always wants 40 years of experience for the salary of a 30 Year old.

The jobs are out here. I get pinged all the time for jobs and referrals. Stay flexible in your comp requirements, recognize that sometimes ya gotta step back to step forward, focus on your network, keep your resume updated and attend industry events. Be smart. Be strategic.

About the younger employees, sometimes SAS over pays to keep young talent then they work em to death. Some ‘kids’ are willing to work their a$$ off to get the resume experience they need to move out and up.

Anyway Don’t get discouraged be patient be persistent Take care of YOU because the company won’t.

At this point I would try to work 2 jobs at the same time if I worked at SunGard. Prioritize the other company and just wait for the layoff from SG. Win / win double dip situation

RB, is that you?

I don't know about the age issue. Sure, you'll have a gig here and there where that may look obvious, but often it's just that they want to pay smaller salaries, and most younger folks are looking for lower salaries in general.
If you have marketable skills AND you've updated your resume so it will make it past the modern ATS so you can actually get calls from recruiters... you should have no trouble finding a job, IF you really want one. If you haven't kept your skills up... get after it, or risk getting possibly canned with no severance and no prospects.