I’m a fairly new employee here with less than a year in. I haven’t reached the point where layoffs affect me mentally or that I am becoming fearful of my job. How many layoffs has everyone survived, and at what point did you become numb to it and started treating it as BAU? Personally I think that if I ever reach that point I’ll start looking for something else ASAP.
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LEAVE. I have survived 30 years but, when looking around at the end of my career, everyone I've known has been left by the wayside. If not surplussed, they've become outsourced. My biggest accomplishment has been surviving the annual and bi-annual -- and for 2 years, quarterly -- cuts. This is not a good place to work for unless you are in management, know how to BS, flatter your superiors, and move up the food chain of our -- what now 15 levels of -- mgmt. (BTW: when I started legacy T, think I remember us having maybe 8-10 layers and constant theme was 'too many levels of management. Once SBC took us over, that mgmt-food-chain exploded to so many VP levels that even the biggest banks would be envious of.
LEAVE. Even Stankey's last town hall he stated his philosophy: no employee these days should expect to make a career at the same company. Those words came directly out of his mouth. LEAVE.
Surplused off payroll in 2004 after taking a transfer in 2001 just ahead of another surplus. Rehired in 2005, surplused and forced to move in 2010, 2011 and 2019. Have 25 years now so hopefully I’m good, but still looking over my shoulder.
To continue with the weather metaphor even longer, if one lives in an area subject to severe weather (or layoffs for T), one can always decide to pack up and move to a place where the storms aren't quite as fierce or destructive. I mean, if your home keeps getting destroyed by a hurricane, you can always leave and move inland.
Sure, you'll still get bad weather and have a chance of destruction (tornado, blizzard, wildfires, etc), but perhaps the risk is lower.
Using the weather metaphor, you never know when a storm is coming. You keep your house prepared, however, for when one comes. If you worry about a layoff, pay down your debt. Save more before making large purchases. Keep money going into your savings account for emergencies, and then also your 401k. Improve your skills with inhouse and out of house training. If you don't want to do this, leave.
Layoffs are like the weather here at T ,storms come periodically, you can see a storm coming, and just take cover and hope you don't get hit.. Like the weather you can't really do anything about the storm (layoffs), just keep on truckin but realize one day you may get hit.
Remember, per Mr. Stankey: No one is safe! Get out if you can, on your terms not his.
There have been too many layoffs and outsourcing events to count. If you want to stay with the company, keep your eyes open and always have a plan B ready.
You don’t become numb. I think the more years you have the worse it gets because if you get laid off after a year, who cares. But if you have 15 or 20 years, you don’t want to get laid off and start over.
Why wait for the constant threat of losing your job because of c-suite incompetence to become 'normal' before you look for something new? Just update your resume and start looking now.
I mean, seeing as how the deathstar has several rounds of layoffs (or surplus, or reorg, or headcount optimization, or whatever other sanitized phrase is in vogue among current management theory) every year, what is the point of hanging on until you get smacked or become desensitized?
All you need to know is that T is a moribund place being led by an arrogant douchenozzle who's responsible for not only all of the major failures of the last 7 years, but also the unmanageable debt, the shattered benefits, and the low employee morale. If that isn't enough to get you looking, then nothing will.
21 years off payroll once, surplussed from other titles 4X, 7 surplus meetings. Am the Jr ranking in half of the state
Yeah, after certain number of threats everybody became numb. Ask holocaust survivors.
If you can find a more stable company I would go now if you are young. Don't wait till you are like me, in my mid 50s with almost 23 years. I have been through so many potential layoffs and two 60 day notices that I could probably be diagnosed with PTSD, lol. At this point I just want about five more years and then I am done.
I survived every one since 1981.
I stopped caring as I got enough seniority to make it.
And I really didn't care after I hit 30 yrs.