It's hard not to take layoffs personally. I will never again work long hours like I did here. I always tried to meet all goals despite being extremely overworked and in the end I get laid off. I'm frustrated because I think there isn't much logic in this layoff madness and at the same time I feel awful and depressed.
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How can you feel? Feel lucky to be out with a severance pay. Use the money to take a break from the madness.
It sure is personal. Someone came up with a number. Someone else moved from the number to red circling names on a list (unless your group was eliminated).
You are a chess piece, a commodity to be traded or discarded. Its nothing personal. HR is there for the company, not for you. As another poster mentioned already, some number cruncher will run a spreadsheet formula and you may or may not be on the hit list.
When you are let go, your ex-coworkers feel the need to not so readily associate with you. This is encouraged by the Microsoft fostering the sentiment of “letting the weak go” and you certainly don’t want to be seen by management by wasting your time on the weak being tossed aside.
The company is in it for itself. The management is in it for themselves. Where did you read it the company is in it for employees? Companies are not charity. People at Microsoft work long hours and get laid off. Why work long hours if you are going to be kicked out sooner or later? You know in good years, even if you cruise along, nothing will happen to you. You might get a bit less bonus. That is all. In bad years, it is harder to save your a-s. But still, you should judge if it is worth it to slave for it. Do as little as possible to pass the grade in all years. Then even if you are laid off ultimately, you will not have so much remorse for working so much so hard , giving your life to them and being stressed constantly about this job. The goal: make the hourly pay higher, and expense (emotional and health toll) lower. Save your money for rainy days while you working. Do not ki-l yourself working for them.
Every generation of workers either gets laid off or knows someone who has been.
Every generation tells the younger generation to take care of themselves and their family first .
Every generation learns the hard way. This is a learning moment. Will you save your money and learn from this or will you fall into the trap again at the next company? Up to you.
The reality is that the company didn't NEED to cut people, it was a reaction to the stock market, economy, slowing growth, etc. It is just a ploy to make shareholders and wall street believe they being efficient with resources. It irritates me that the Communications Control Team ensures every time SN speaks he is applauded by the press and media as though he personally delivered sympathy notes to each individually impacted employee. Then to read it costs 2.1 Billion in payments to eliminate 10 K people... Was ANYONE offered voluntary retirement?
Watch "Office Space" it was relevant in Y2K-dot com crash and more so now. The next gen didn't see this coming. That's the difference between smart and wise.
You being layed off is NOT necessarily a reflection of your skills. Some number cruncher ran an excel spreadsheet formula and it high lighted a bunch of people to be let go. The formula was based off of “X” manager making some “X” determination.
Gee lets see Bob…..let’s pick out of a pool of people who’ve been here for more than 3 years but less than 10 and who’ve worked less than 60 hours per week. Yep, that sounds good to me, run with it Bob.
There’s not always a rhyme or reason.
"I know folks who worked hard and survived the layoffs, had even tougher time with the guilt of surviving"
You are totally delusional. Your Microsoft former coworkers are not suffering a Guilt trip at all. Your former coworkers forgot about you 5 seconds after your final email you sent or you walking out the Microsoft door for your last time. Your coworkers may even had a hand in your dismissal without you even knowing it. Its called backstabbing and some people are very good at it and hide their deeds well. Go ahead and kid yourself but those other people you used to work with see it as them winning and you losing.
To be laid off is really hard and is personal, although managements claim otherwise. This would sting like a break-up. You would question, "What did I do wrong?" while your partner would say "It's not you, it's me." It crushes your confidence and trusts. It would incept self-doubt and insecurity.
Some corporates market themselves as "tight-knit families" and "People first" cra@p. Heck, real families don't do that. They throw tantrums, fight, but support at adversity.
I say one thing to myself. Grieve, but find a way to come out of it. This is not the end of the world. I know folks who worked hard and survived the layoffs, had even tougher time with the guilt of surviving, fear of next in line, while taking up added workload. This is corporate America. This had been the culture since imperialism and slavery.
https://www.thelayoff.com/t/1l9NhQQH
This isn't the first in my career, so I'm not personally hurt about it happening to just me. What does hurt is that from the start of my time at MSFT, I was taught that MSFT was really different than other companies and how MSFT would always do what is right and best for everyone. This only shows that they care about the investor stock price and just like everywhere else, you are expendable.
Looking back at how every single thing an employee does is led by the dollar, its silly to not believe they were different. We were lied to and I'm embarassed to admit I fell for it.