Having so many layoffs in the past, what happened to employees when they get laid off? Do they usually get a better job, a worse job or just retire? Considering also that the average age of seagaters are late 40’s to early 50’s.
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It took 9 months to find the RIGHT job. During that break from working I felt like I was in recovery - from Seagate. It took nearly all of that time to feel "normal" again. People started to mention that I looked "better". It was oddly a relief to finally lose my job after living with the fear of losing my job every day, every quarter for years. I find it Interesting that this question is near the top, since I haven't been back to this sight in a long time (I used to look at it weekly), and now I can contribute something that might help. Hope. It's true that it is better after Seagate. So many on this site said it when I was so worried, and I couldn't really believe it, but I'm living it now. Now I'm not afraid, not depressed, not down. My job doesn't cause me intense stress or weigh me down. It's sad, however, to see that nothing has changed for the good people at Seagate. What's different for me? Everything really. I was lucky to land in a higher position with much higher pay and a growing company. I'm happy again and enjoying a work-life balance that I didn't have before. I'll always miss the good people at Seagate, but my life is so much better post-RIF. Good luck to you all!
Once you leave seagate, life is over.
Wow, a bonus after 3 months? Where do I apply? I'm not eligible at my new place until next January.
I got laid off last year after almost 20 years of being a seagater. Even though there were regular RIFs through the years, I was still shocked and heartbroken to leave my comfort zone. I quickly accepted that I was already facing a new chapter and took it as a new adventure. I'm in my mid 40's and I haven't hunted for jobs in a long time. The feeling of uncertainty was scary & exciting at the same time. I realised I have to step back and reflect on what I want to do next. It's not about finding the next job but its a chance to transform your life to do what you want to do. Finally after 3 months I accepted a job that has a 10% paycut but gave me a chance to learn about a new and more promising domain. The big change was of course not as comfortable as seagate but there was more vitality. I feel younger and more excited about possibilities. I guess, when you stay longer in a company, comfort also means you just stay in your shell & miss out on other things in life.
By the way, I was recently surprised to have a far larger bonus than seagate which compensated that 10% paycut!
its good to be let go early instead if you are early 40s
the current personnel is all waiting for package, how much motivation can that be?
Yeah, I don't miss the nearly quarterly tension where every missed earning mark means losing a few hundred employees in 3-6 months. Management is so utterly clueless about what that does to morale. Not that they give a rip.
For better or worse the constant layoffs the past 8 years gave me a pretty decent skillset picking up other people's work so it took me about 3 months to land a new job.
Working at Seagate can be depressing since everyone is aware the top would lay them off in a second to avoid a slight decrease in their vast wealth assets. There’s still some interesting work to take your mind off that but the atmosphere trends back to default.
I got hit last July. When I called around getting job tips from other ex-Seagaters, about 75% took a 10-15% pay-cut. I was just trying to gauge expectations. The rest got near-ish what Seagate was paying them +/-5%.
Personally, I got 10 month severance. I was paid through August 1 for knowledge transfer. I started working a contract job mid September at ~10% less than my Seagate salary. I turned down one regular job at about ~7% less mid-October and took my second offer at about 5.5% more. I started December 2nd, and while it's too early to tell long term, I will say it's nice to not have the specter of lay-offs every below expectations quarter. They missed Wall Street projections 2 consecutive quarters and they're still hiring.
In my 50s I was laid off, shocked and worried for a couple of weeks but once I got my resume together and started talking to companies I was able to get a title bump and pay bump and at a high growth software company where everyone is energetic and focused on the company's goals. I should have quit years ago but stx was so comfortable and at the time did not notice the dread of everyone around me. Now I look forward to going to work, my wife and kids say I am 20 years younger than when I worked at stx.
I have to admit, it took a long time, (and the majority of a 25 year severence package) but I am currently employed making 11K more than I was making at Seagate when I was laid off.