Thread regarding VMware layoffs

Reposting- From a CA/Broadcom employee

This came out when merge was first announced. Everything seems to be spot on based on what is now unfolding:

“So, first thing to understand is the Broadcom mantra: "We're in the business of making money."
Everything, and I mean everything, comes second to that. All that Hok is doing is done to raise the stock price.

In the end, it will probably around 70% of the workforce being let go. This comes in several stages and it depends on your position / department which bucket you fall into.

Post acquisition there are 3 buckets:

redundancy, transition (redundancy within 1 to 6 months) or stay
Anyone in Marketing, Training, Communication, Administrator or HR (or any other support function) will be let go immediately. Finance and Legal will mostly follow.
Sales will be given new sales targets / commission structure that will make them quit by themselves.

Dev and support will stay on at first but weeded out as well. Anyone in middle management will be cut, they run a very tight ship with no overhead.

Decisions on who stays or goes are final and made by consultants working for BC. If a deal is announced, these plans will already be more or less finalized.

Broadcom is a no frills company with a very flat hierarchy. You get paid well, get stock options and a bonus, but nothing else. There is no culture, no personal development and they do not care about any of the touchy - feely stuff.

Everything will be wound down to the bare minimum, including office space (have fun sitting back to back like 1980's IBM), software and tools being used etc. No fuel cards, company cars or anything like that. Office lunch? Sure if you want to pay for it.

You can make good money if you are lucky and get to stay for a few years, but this is the exception, not the norm.

BC will pay you to do what you are doing now until they no longer need you, and you will be fired without a second thought.”

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| 4611 views | | 11 replies (last May 16, 2023) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1mC1TGRj

11 replies (most recent on top)

As Tom Kraus went to Citrix this would be the example what VMware can expect.
After the restructuring Citrix focus will be top 1,600 customers WW only (1,000 USA & 600 Europe). All other customers will be served/pushed/handled by partners. This will save Citrix a lot of headcount at Sales/Marketing/Finance/Support etc. Main focus of remaining Sales team are subscription renewals (easy money). Next to it regular subscription price increases are getting quite common as TK strategy is "Milking existing customers as much as possible". Good luck all.

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Post ID: @2lao+1mC1TGRj

Hock wants to double epitda in three years - the only way to do that is cutting cost and the highest cost is people and buildings. Do your math.

And people seem to have forgotten what Hock said on the first all staff - he literally said layoffs cannot be avoided whilst - and I quote - 'sitting here in a gorgeous empty campus'.

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Post ID: @1cay+1mC1TGRj

do the maths. Look at VMWare revenue per employee and AVGO revenue per employee, then also look at the profit margins within that revenue $$$$!!
VMWare is a very fat cat, AVGO may take a few bites of the cherry (guessing about 3) but if all goes ahead. One thing is certain....they'll get VMWare to hit their numbers.

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Post ID: @1geq+1mC1TGRj

"They can’t fire everyone immediately! VMW is too complex."

Yeah, sure. Delusional. Outsourcing partners will laugh at your thinking when they get the VMware business support and you get rebadged to them.

Get back to the real world - $$$

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Post ID: @1lap+1mC1TGRj

Well, this was before Hock realized that software is so much more difficult than he had expected (he said that!), and before he knew that we have 400k customers.
This was also before we had so many people jumping ship. They can’t fire everyone immediately! VMW is too complex.

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Post ID: @1wzu+1mC1TGRj

extra RSU plus cash September bonus plus severance isn’t bad at all. The early warning is the biggest plus!

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Post ID: @hsl+1mC1TGRj

I'm ready to be laid off. I volunteer as tribute.

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Post ID: @oda+1mC1TGRj

"The FTC, EC and CMA know this too."

They care about competition and customers not employees. So even if they know that, it's irrelevant to their decisions

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Post ID: @rep+1mC1TGRj

The FTC, EC and CMA know this too.

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Post ID: @nub+1mC1TGRj

The BC playbook is well understood. Nothing new here.

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Post ID: @tif+1mC1TGRj

Make them rip the bandage! HOLD!!!

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Post ID: @osn+1mC1TGRj

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