Would you rather know tomorrow even if the answer is you're going to be laid off or do you appreciate having a few months to prepare for whatever might come? Considering that I'm here on a Saturday morning not able to let this go, I'm firmly in the first camp. Waiting is worse than knowing a bad outcome, in my opinion.
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I’m assuming worst case scenario for myself. This allows me to move past the stress and focus on finding a new job.
We were already blindsided by the Broadcom acquisition news. At least BC is being upfront about their plans to gut VMware vs. spewing false hope. BC may get a warning from VMware executives, for the sake of business continuity, to 'tone it down' and quit scaring the cr-p out of people. The only unknown is when is the acquisition going to close - more importantly, will it be before Feb. 2023 and if so, how much time do we have?
Anyone want to wager that BC will order its cafeteria to gather all the VMware turtles on the Palo Alto campus, convert 7 out of 10 to turtle soup then serve it to the VMware survivors with cheap, stale bread? RIP VMware & those cute turtles - nothing awesome can last forever.
It's easier for me accepting my job will be gone in however long this takes- the longer the better- I knew it was over the second I heard the announcement. VMware, as we knew it, will be no more and so too will most of our places here. It was a good 22 year run for a company.
I've been in this business for 20 years. It's unfortunately how the way the industry works now: growth by buying each other with the workers who made the product and sold the goods and made the company into the valuable brand it became are for their hard work shown the door.
A few months of course... I still remember the 2010 layoffs when they sent home the new grads (in a LIFO way). I was sad for months, I did try to be put on that list. Then we got together, and some good startups were created (some successful, most not so... but still good times to remember), hired some of those engineers back after some time. Now a decade later, ironically, I'm in the same situation but at a different company (except that now I can mute that zoom). I guess it's the valley way. I hope our kids do it better.
Another way to look at the current situation is what is the opportunity for me here? Maybe you loved your job and your BU was doing amazingly well....maybe not. Either way accept that things are not looking good and you have very little influence over the outcomes.
Instead focus on what the future ideal role and company might look like, skill up, network, maybe look at referrals and start planning. But most importantly....take action now.
Unfortunately, with the odds being 7 out of 10 that you will be laid off, prepare to be laid off. You really won’t want to work there if you are 3 of the 10 retained.
I think most people don't like uncertainty.. it's better to rip the band aid off and start the healing process than being slow roasted over the next 6 months with fake assurances that all will be ok