Thread regarding F5 Networks Inc. layoffs

Sigh

20 years and tossed as trash

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| 2361 views | | 21 replies (last May 6, 2025) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1t5bC2Mg

21 replies (most recent on top)

21 years and tossed as farbage

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Post ID: @1dps+1t5bC2Mg

NGINX - Fail
Volterra - FAIL
and the rest.
services % rev higher than sales. FLD out of his depth

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Post ID: @nwhq+1t5bC2Mg

F5 fell to bits after Macadam left..I was there 30 23 years

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Post ID: @nblh+1t5bC2Mg

me too. I often thought tho....you always see on the F5 website, a video of "why I joined F5"......

maybe its time to do some "this is why I left!" (with blurred faces).....I was there 16years.....

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Post ID: @nvlq+1t5bC2Mg

April RIF was a blessing in disguise.

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Post ID: @exhd+1t5bC2Mg

I remember about 5 years ago FLD said that under his plan the stock would more than double to $500 in the next 5 years. It was $200 a share then. Today it's $168. :-(

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Post ID: @7lin+1t5bC2Mg

Yeah, what has F5 actually done since FLD and Kara? Transition BIG-IP from servers + software to just software (that will run on someone else's servers)? Yeah, sales in NGINX and Distributed Cloud, but only after nearly $2 billion in acquiring companies. Goofy.

  • VP
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Post ID: @7orj+1t5bC2Mg

You have to understand that none of the execs actually did any development. FLD -none. Kara -none. I recall the slick words of offered by FLD when he first came to F5 and introduced himself. "Respect the culture (past / present) and glue that make F5 successful." His words were lies from the beginning. Just slick talk. Nothing he or his team have done have improved company culture or engineering excellence. He was a bad hire. Bringing in the outside consults was a disaster. Yep, this company is now a dumpster. Ruined and rotted.

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Post ID: @6ulq+1t5bC2Mg

OP here----

I do not know the "reason" for my being RIFd. It was not for RTO. I have queried the powers at large - however there is only silence.

From where I sat - what I experienced during my time at F5.

I had the opportunity to be a part of a phenomenal engineering environment that started eroding with the first RIF in 2017. And that erosion continued over each of the following years (SANS COVID) to today. I worked with the best - but somehow others during this same time did not think the same. The final large scale and public RIFs of April, 2023 and November 2023 gutted any remaining engineering excellence.

SAFE, Scrum and Agile were colossal mistakes. Exorbitant amounts of time was spent on the process and reporting side to the detriment of actual development. I believe this was finally acknolwedged by "your leaders" (as they refer to themselves) in those that were selected for the April 2023 RIF. Nevermind that these individuals could have been easily retrained. The November, 2023 RIF gutting documenation writers was based on a belief that anyone can do documenation which plainly isn't true.

I heard the words associated with the justification of each of the RIFs but am not buying into them. The words were too general and subjective. There is something else at play here. I'm hoping that time will tell me.

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Post ID: @5glo+1t5bC2Mg

they keep hiring remote people in my org too.

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Post ID: @3orl+1t5bC2Mg

This is how you do a layoff without doing a layoff.

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Post ID: @3lfp+1t5bC2Mg

Both from Hyderabad?

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Post ID: @3asp+1t5bC2Mg

Meanwhile they literally just hired two remote folks in my silo. Fresh faced, young, degrees…no idea how the internet works on even a base fundamental level

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Post ID: @3ouf+1t5bC2Mg

Definition of cutting off their nose to spite their face... laying off people in offices for not meeting RTO, when doing so leaves them with an even larger margin of remote employees vs those who can easily come into an office.

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Post ID: @2uoz+1t5bC2Mg

Yes, all, yes, all employees who fail to meet hybrid work policy in Q3 will be PIP’d over the next few weeks.

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Post ID: @2jpn+1t5bC2Mg

“It doesn't seem entirely legal to me.” - don’t forget, it’s the US and everything is possible, firing people at will too.

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Post ID: @2nyx+1t5bC2Mg

So how is firing someone for not meeting the RTO days even legal though? My teammates who just so happen to be within 30 miles of an office are worth less than the employees who are remote? Why are they expendable? It doesn't seem entirely legal to me.

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Post ID: @2nil+1t5bC2Mg

"human first" indeed

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Post ID: @1mad+1t5bC2Mg

Felt the same way last year, albeit just 7.5 years. Very sorry to hear this :(

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Post ID: @vmd+1t5bC2Mg

For those who didn't believe the warnings, they are using RTO as a workaround for layoffs. It's going to be 100% termination for anyone who doesn't meet the minimum days. I suspect they'll increase the days if the goals aren't met.

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Post ID: @rll+1t5bC2Mg

Were you laid off because of RTO reasons? My manager put me on a “performance improvement plan” last week because I’m only at 6 days in the tower this quarter, which is such bs. She also mentioned it could eventually lead to my termination. I’ve been at f5 for 8 years! Tossed away like trash indeed.

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Post ID: @pmc+1t5bC2Mg

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