In about 2 hours from now.....

the employees in India that survived this RIF will likely be starting their workday. Those that did not will be wondering what just happened.......

Going across the various time zones as the sun rises, there will be other centers of F5 employees that will be encountering the same.

In the US, I know of Seattle, Spokane and San Jose that got hit. I believe there were a number of remote employees too among those that are now without employment. I'm guessing the RIF size to be > 250.

Having been through 3 RIFs and two closings of my own, the hardest hit are those going through medical procedures/issues and the children of those RIFd and those RIFd that are taking care of their parents. Will savings last long enough so that food can be provided on the table and shelter to provide warmth? Will I be able to afford COBRA to get me through the medical issues? Will I find new employment? How do I comfort my kids? How do I take care of my aging parents?

I don't have any answers. For me, it's unbelievable that I survived those times and situations.

I would hope the various Chief x-x Officers (of which now there are many), SVPs, VPs, and senior management seriously consider what they have just done. It's much more than keeping the stock price up, double digit profit, and maintaining your bonuses. You have just destroyed the lives of hundreds of loyal hard working honest people and it didn't need to be done. There were other ways.

At F5 there was a core group of about 7 of us working on bigip next/centralized manager that continuously raised concerns about the architecture/feature set along with the quality and performance of the products. We also raised concerns that F5's implementation of Agile/Scrum was a poor development choice. Our concerns were dismissed. Gradually, each one of us was eliminated over the course of a number of RIFs. We were silenced.

And now those products are no longer.

F5 is no longer a community member. F5 is no longer human first. F5 has lost it's soul.

#RIF #Layoffs #Leadership

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@cs and don't get cancer, don't have major surgeries that take weeks of recovery.

@a1 The layoffs su-k, but where exactly are the better companies to work for? They all do this. It's employment at will. You get paid a lot, get great benefits, etc. but only while you're there. Anyone who has been in this business any decent amount of time knows that these jobs are not forever. Put away savings.

It lost its soul a long time ago. Pretty much when McAdam left. The board decided to go all in on stock price at the cost of steady, high profit, and sustainable business. Much like the rest of America. The enshitification of f5 happened with fld and his clan. And yes many of us were fired for standing up for what was obvious and factual in terms of the farce of mbip. This company could’ve run for decades without interference from the leadership. But we made money off the RSUs, and in the end the stock price is all that mattered. It makes me sick to think of what could’ve been. This is just a small snapshot of the sickness of late stage capitalism.

@OP F5 has never been “human first”. Human first you get in your family. All businesses are driven by profit.

@OP It is like act of god. This management destroyed may hardworking developers (terminate without any compensation, laid-off) as they expressed different opinion. I remember one very strong senior developer was terminated just 7 days before formal layoff session in 2023. HE didn't get a single penny compensation. I wish he sees this how F5 going towards the destruction.

If you ever tried to speak truth to power, they (those McKinsey Jokers) would find a way to shut you down.

@ac BINGO!!!

I was let go back in April of 2023 and JUST started back at F5 2 days ago! It's difficult to see this BS happening again - I am safe for now.

One thing I will say, when I get let go in 2023, while my late wife was still battling brain tumors, I started my own business that saved my a$$. That business today gives me the confidence to know I have a plan B is always ready to go! I'd suggest those who were affected recently look at small business opportunities to create their own safety net.

Wishing everyone affected the best possible outcome!

@a1 I can always count on you

No matter how you put it, it’s an employment at will. When you raised concerns about the products that didn’t make sense, have flaws, you should have jumped off the sinking, gotten a new job!

F5 is done with you. Time for you to be done with F5. The sooner you move on and don’t look back, the better off you, your family, will be. You’re looking in the rear view mirror now and you need to be looking ahead. Look at this page once more, then never again because it serves no purpose but to anger you. And that anger doesn’t do a single thing to put food on the table.

Thread regarding F5 Networks Inc. layoffs

In about 2 hours from now.....

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