Thread regarding VMware layoffs

I went through this. Except I started applying as soon as the announcement was made of BC's intent to acquire VMW. The job market was comparatively much better then than now but was already exhibiting signs of a major slowdown. Initially I got some promising responses at a few other tech firms and startups. All of those positions were canceled. The recruiters who had reached out to me went radio silent.

The most difficult aspect of this is that all resumes are now read by bots. And so the chances of a resume being read by a human is much further removed. Resumes that do not match perfectly to the position are automatically rejected. Resumes that have key words added will also be rejected. As someone else pointed out Workday is beyond useless but does a great job of butchering resumes. And since everyone uses them its extremely time consuming to have to manually add everything.

I probably sent out over 200 resumes and spent some 4 months looking before landing something. What is important is to not get discouraged. All it takes is one resume to make it through and for the interviews to go well. The job market is not very good right now. But what I did find was that while the tech industry is in a world of hurt there is a fairly big demand for tech in non-tech industries such as banking, finance, insurance, medical and many others. And many of those industries are more stable than tech. So it would not be a bad idea to widen the application field to seek positions at such industries.

I have not yet accepted to apply for or move forward for any of the jobs that has a pay cut compared to my existing pay at VMW.

You may need to pivot. I don't know what your role is obviously but I was shocked to see how little companies in this ecosystem pay.

I left already so I can give some more details (your mileage may vary).

I worked in PS / Customer Success in the UK as P5 (Staff Architect) working with vRA and the sorts. I was on just under £90k and with car allowance (UK thing) and bonus I tended to be at around £110k. With luck from the bonus gods £115k - although the last year I was still with VMware I think bonuses were funded at 80% or something and they moved it from quarterly to twice a year.

Anyway, when I started looking for jobs two years ago (and it only ever got worse) - the majority of VMware related automation jobs where less than half that. Sometimes half.

If you're lucky you see something like this (just looked at random stuff on LinkedIn)

About the job

Role: Solution Architect
Location: Wakefield (once per month on site)
Salary: £75,000 + 15% bonus (acheived in full the past 2 years)

You can see they don't even bother spelling achieved correctly.

Anyway - as someone else mentioned - most jobs are now hybrid with 1-3 times a week at the office. The example above with once per month on site is rare.

I then tried to figure out if the market is just currently cr-p or what but I think the reality is that VMware just pays REALLY well and over the odds. Which is likely why so many people panicking when it comes to layoffs.

I have been through 4 acquisitions / mergers in my life - two of which resulted in layoffs, one offered me a new (worse) contract and one asked me to transition.

So I have seen it all. I never struggled to find a new job and I only ever struggled when I tried to leave VMware because I really didn't want to lose the package.

Reality is - if you haven't moved with the market (pivoted slightly outside the VMware ecosystem like cloud / security / modern apps etc.) and hope you get a good severance whilst finding a job that pays more or less the same - then you may be in for a surprise.

As someone else posted here. The market is difficult as it is - every company lays off right now and with just 5-10% layoffs at VMware (and lets face it, it'll be more than that) you already see 1000s more people flood the job market.

Anyway, I probably have no right to post here given I left already but all I can say is people - head high - do what you need to do for your own future - at the end of the day you don't owe VMware anything.

I think everyone who is looking for jobs right now is facing the same situation. I have been applying for past 9-10 months. I took time to update my resume and started applying. Here are few things I have experienced and learned along the way. Hopefully it helps others looking for jobs as well

• Ghosting by companies and recruiters is the new normal. Don't expect rejection emails (even automated)
• I have been ghosted by recruiters even after 2-3 rounds of interviews. In past 18 yrs I have never experienced this after 2-3 rounds of face to face interviews. They used to at least send an email to let you know you were not selected
• If the position offers remote option, expect a big pay cut
• If the position is remote and also has an option of a location / office, then expect that they will consider applicants from that area only. Remote option is only to get to see what talent is available out there.
• Workday is used by most of the big companies and it is one of the worst job application tool out there. It cannot parse the best of the formatted resumes. Most other application system can do that very nicely
• It is very common to see 200-1000 applicants for a job posting on LinkedIn and this is common for any type of company (not some se-y popular startup)
• Because of the wide choice, recruiters and hiring managers are very picky and are looking for unicorns.
• Lot of job descriptions have nothing to do with the actual job. When you talk to recruiters, they are looking for 1-2 specific experiences and if you don't have that then you will be rejected
• I am in non technical operations area. There are lot more jobs which require engineering / technical skills then non technical jobs out there
• Remote positions have dropped significantly in last few months. According to LinkedIn stats published recently only 20% of all LinkedIn job posting have remote option
• Every recruiter I have talked to in last 3-4 months asks if I am ok to come into the office at least 3 days a week and usually that is the precondition to move forward
• Internal referrals don't work either. Even after they are made by VP and above folks

FYI - I have not yet accepted to apply for or move forward for any of the jobs that has a pay cut compared to my existing pay at VMW. I guess I might change that criteria after the layoff. I did not stick around for the severance package. I just did not get a good offer that would allow me to ignore the severance package. Things will become more ugly before they get better. Keep applying religiously, keep learning, save money and keep moving forward. Good Luck !!

I feel exactly the same way. Over the past 4-5 years, I've learnt bu---r all. I was once a cracking programmer, but I've gone and forgotten most of it; what's left is just for outmoded tech stacks.

Same ... I got complacent and stupidly thought working for the mothership means a great live. When I applied for other jobs and went through technical assessments my eyes were open as to how much I forgot and how much the market has moved on.

Thankfully I put my mind into changing that. I need to thank Colbert for that. I was part of an internal round table as part of my job and in addition to that part of an AMA session with him too and I noticed he was lying. I always thought he was one of the good guys but that particular lie (can't say what as that would be easy to trace back who I am) made me decide to leave. I put my heart into upskilling for six months (started a month prior the announcement) and have some stuff lined up.

I personally wait for the severance because I need that investment and am on borrowed time as to when I need to start my new journey. So if there won't be a severance next few months I will leave regardless, I will not agree to transition either.

Anyway, best of luck people.

You can't be too correct either. You are delusional about believing in moving to new company will have a better and secured job.

(s)he didn't say that.

The whole point is, and I agree, that the market is difficult as it is and even just layoffs of 10% puts 1000s more into the current sh---y job market making it harder to find a job with more competition to deal with.

The reality is - anyone that thinks a 'VMware Architect' or 'VMware Consultant' (or whatever OPs job is - in the world outside of the mothership pays more or even just equal your current package, is delusional.

At the end of the day - each their own. Only time will tell if each individual's decision - whatever it may be - was correct.

I know that I am waiting for the severance because I want to retire. I am just over 50 and for over ten years at VMware (and 25 years in another large corp) I always put 25% of my salary into a private pension. Including my savings I could technically retire right now so I HOPE I get laid off, get the severance and retire.

Anyway - looking forward to get downvoted too - I REALLY love the (anonymous) internet - people are so gullible .

"what I can say from my own personal experience is that I moved from a much bigger tech company to VMware about 3 years ago and I feel like I have regressed in my professional development. We are so bloated that I was never challenged in my role, I didn’t learn new skills or even use many of the skills I used before in the same role at another company, so I do feel rusty and that will probably translate in interviews."

I feel exactly the same way. Over the past 4-5 years, I've learnt bu---r all. I was once a cracking programmer, but I've gone and forgotten most of it; what's left is just for outmoded tech stacks. At the same time, my managerial skills have also hit a bloody plateau. I've been far too cosy, largely because the dosh was too good to pass up. Looking at it, I reckon I've got about a six-month sabbatical ahead to reacquire some skills after my severance comes through. Blimey, I'll be livid if they don't give me the boot!

"Anyone experiencing the same?"

Yes, but that won't stop me from looking to leave VMW ASAP. I've tried reworking my CV and reaching out to friends at other companies. I suspect that many of us are eager to exit and move on. Good luck with your search. Stay focused, it's just a matter of time.

I can afford to wait for severance because I can stretch it for over a year with some help from unemployment insurance. For those in high cost areas and with high expenses it is very beneficial to be searching for a job now rather than waiting for the ax to fall. I’m trying to brush up on skills in the meantime while being selective about submitting resumes. I might not have that luxury later so best to be proactive.

@1cpj+1opNV9Ty You can't be too correct either. You are delusional about believing in moving to new company will have a better and secured job. Having a severance is better than no severance. If you landed a job with lacking of severance, you are in worse situation because no one can really claim they have a secure job at the new company. You have a fair chance to be laid off in any companies these days. You will be in worse situation because being new, your severance is essentially nonexistence. A very good chance your benefits/vacations/perks will be worse than VMware. It is recession, bad news everywhere. Though, some still don't believe we are in recession. Good luck to those. Consumers cautious in spending and some run dried, the same for any companies that cautious about their investments.

I was never challenged in my role, I didn’t learn new skills or even use many of the skills I used before in the same role at another company, so I do feel rusty and that will probably translate in interviews.

I got so scared about this that I pivoted and learned new skills at the end. Another reason was the local UK job market. VMware based skills pay fu-k all. I used to work in PSO and was on 120k including bonus (P5). Any VMware related role I looked up a year ago, automation, orchestration, network security - paid maybe 55-60k in central fu----g London. Now I learned all about K8s, cloud etc. and thankfully I did. I now earn more outside of VMware.

I remember a post I made about a year ago when people said that they want to wait for the severance. I made the point that if you wait until severance and other companies may go through layoffs, you don’t just get the candidate competition of other companies’ layoffs but VMware’s too so the severance will be dried up in no time - too many people with legacy skills losing their job now.

That was a new record for me with the most down votes. Looks like I wasn’t too wrong after all.

“ what do you mean by "people who are more qualified" than us ? Don't sell yourself short. Just because someone who works for FAANG doesn't mean he/she is "better”

Just because someone works for FAANG doesn’t mean they’re better, what I can say from my own personal experience is that I moved from a much bigger tech company to VMware about 3 years ago and I feel like I have regressed in my professional development. We are so bloated that I was never challenged in my role, I didn’t learn new skills or even use many of the skills I used before in the same role at another company, so I do feel rusty and that will probably translate in interviews.

It is arguably a tougher market than it was even a year ago. Companies have started to realize they over hired during covid or shortly after bans were lifted and now have to adjust. So layoffs are happening and competition is getting tighter.

This was my biggest fear as a house of one income and one of the big reasons I left VMware back in April. I didn't want to be put in a situation that I couldn't get a job in 5 months or whatever my severance was going to be for being there 7 years.

what do you mean by "people who are more qualified" than us ? Don't sell yourself short. Just because someone who works for FAANG doesn't mean he/she is "better".

It’s the job market. Remember there’s thousands of people from earlier layoffs applying. People that are maybe more qualified than us from FAANG companies and many others alike. It is brutal out there so don’t give up. On that note, I just got my first interview after 20+ applications and 5 weeks later when I used to get pinged in LinkedIn 3-5 times on a weekly basis.