Thread regarding VMware layoffs

My decision to leave had more to do with what I still strongly believe will be mass layoffs. The other and probably more important reason was related to what kind of company BC is and how they treat employees. First of all, they WILL require everyone to come back to the office. That would have meant close to 20 hours a week just sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. That su-k ba--s. Secondly, from reading comments on glass door their culture sounds almost exactly like the culture at another large tech firm I worked at for years where there are constant and never-ending layoffs, a toxic working environment and increasingly impossible workloads to handle. I did that once and won't go through that again.

Word on the street is HCL

I'm with EUC. I'm pretty sure I'm not getting laid off. However, it's kinda exciting to think about who we're going to be sold to...

I was not an engineer at VMW and knew there was no doubt BC was going to lay me off. Started working on my resume that same day. And despite the job market being better, it was still not great and took me months to land a new job.

For everyone who overvalues their own work, there are twice as many who undervalue it. Many feel that BC will lay them off. BC can't lay off the entire company, or even half of it. Many don't realize how great their work actually is and how needed they are. And it's hard to communicate that with tightened budgets and promotions.

While everyone is stressing, only a minority will actually be impacted. Don't give up on yourself before a decision is even made.

I've mentioned this before. But ANYONE here who spent just 5 minutes researching BC and what they do when they acquire companies should have made a decision immediately. There are few times in a career where such obvious green lights are given to you. I distinctly recall the very moment that the announcement was made I Googled BC and their history of acquisitions. I was not an engineer at VMW and knew there was no doubt BC was going to lay me off. Started working on my resume that same day. And despite the job market being better, it was still not great and took me months to land a new job. Occasionally I'll visit here. Over a year of people asking for reassurances that they will be fine when the answer has been there all along.

It is not too late. Get out the resume. Make contacts with others you know in the industry. Consider looking into non-tech companies as there is a demand for tech people in non-tech sectors. Start applying for jobs.

Good luck to you guys.

That's NOT fair!

The job market has been trash for the past year.

Additionally, you're competing against multi-THOUSANDS of laid off workers from FAANG, etc where bushels full of them likely have better qualifications and/or inside connections to that Req.

The wise goal would have been to leave ASAP back in May. Now everyone is a Maze Runner with no horizon in sight.

And for those who held out for packages, unless you're VP or above, that pittance given to will evaporate in months. And those retention RSU's will evaporate too during the layoff.

And for H1Bs, I feel sorry for you all, as every realistic scenario is bleak unless you take a slave job at a start-up to stay in this country. I'd probably move back to India or Asia to earn more (with families that are dug into the culture though is another issue)

This makes total sense. Here is why:

1. You are assuming that vmware is the only company to ever layoff people. Look at the the big picture - https://layoffstracker.com. in May 2023 you had to compete with 20k Meta employees who got fired. In January 2023 there were massive layoffs too. So, when was the right time to look for your next job if you take into context these other layoffs?

2. While on severance package you are given a 9AM-5PM opportunity to prepare for your next interview and deliver stellar results. All of this while Broadcom pays your bills for at least 60 days. Whereas if you looked for your next job before acquisition closed you most likely arrived for the interview unprepared or paid your own bills while preparing for the interview.

This made no sense. So you stuck around and will have a decent chance of getting laid off with a severance package. Hooray. Only problem is that the job market- despite what the headlines say- is beyond awful now. That severance will run out and you will be stuck looking for a job with the many 1000's of others who have been recently laid-off.

Was this supposed to be a reply to something instead of a new post

No! This post is a word play to the one with title "You've had a year" spreading fear.

In other words, most of us who have sticked around for the past year know very well what we are doing. Either we will work in Broadcom that focuses on making money or we will get nice severance package. This is a win-win from game theory point of view (with exception of H1B visa holders who should panic).

Was this supposed to be a reply to something instead of a new post?