I was part of the layoff in March. I recently got a letter about a job position unrelated to my work at Oracle. I did kernel development for about 10 years. The position seems to be for QA work that needs a response in a week. Are they just sending these positions out to everyone who was laid off to justify hiring new people?
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Another year of dropping a load and not flushing, no thanks.
So, suppose you are laid off and then take another job at Oracle shortly afterwards.... then you have to give back you severance, right? Posts seem to say that.
Then when you take a new job at Oracle, that will have a new start date.... so you lose your years of being an oracle employee, right?
Then, if they RIF you after that, they no severance to pay? Wouldn't that be right?
In Oracle EMEA, people seem to advance quicker than in other regions. Most of my colleagues who have received promotions have experienced 10-25% hikes in salary and they manage to achieve this every 2-3 years. The way that they do this is to study fo,r and be awarded new certifications before they ask to be submitted in he promotional cycle and they also get external offers and use this as a negotiating tool.
I have friends at SAP, Microsoft, IBM and Amazon who complain about the same stuff we do (lack of pay/ greedy management) and I know for a fact the grass isn't greener at other companies unless you want to move into a sales role at an ecommerce company. Its a myth that the salary for the same role at one of Oracle's competitors is going to be much more. In my arena, sales the difference between the base salary at Oracle compared to Microsoft or SAP is about €5k . I've heard its the same for Presales roles too.
Here's the reality..
If someone works at McDonalds flipping burgers for 10 years, are they more valuable than someone who has worked there for 2 years? Not really. If you increase your value you will earn more at Oracle, but no one is going to hand you a bonus on a plate.
Gotta hustle.
"I've been laid off before decades ago, and unemployment benefits were complete rubbish. No idea what they're like now."
In the US it varies by state, buy they typically max out at about $500 per week.
I got (small) raises when I complained very loudly to my manager about it. I also got RSUs that I correctly predicted would never be paid out to me. What a joke giving a bonus and saying you get zero for a year. I agree with the sentiments that we should take our severance and find something else to do.
Anyway it sounds like they are trying to backfill my own and my colleagues old jobs. Turns out this work isn’t as easy and trivial as the bean counters thought. The two Bobs from Office Space thought they could gut the QA departments with no ill effects. Ask Boeing about that. Tech companies might be better served to reallocate engineering resources, rather than letting underpaid and highly skilled employees go. I’m not bitter, but I am critical of how this went down.
How much is the unemployment and is it worth giving up the severance if they offer you a job just after layoff?
I've been laid off before decades ago, and unemployment benefits were complete rubbish. No idea what they're like now.
You have a choice then, lose the unemployment payments or lose the severance. Is it six of one and half dozen of the other?
Maybe the one week requirement is to get back as much of the severance as possible if they hire you.
In the state I live in if you refuse an offer of employment after being laid off you become ineligible for unemployment benefits. You may want to check with your state gov if thats the csde before making any decision.
thanks for that info. That explains why I / we got the notice with return-receipt requested. I thought it was strange, but it would make sense if they needed that for official records
Geography matters. You're in the USA? Some USA states require that laid-off employees be officially notified of job openings.
"Payrise n Oracle are for top performers"....Very true man, ...The 5% hike in 1.5-2.0 years and sometimes even after 3 years are for top performers whose are able to lick it better because of 70:30 rule...Or because they share the same ethnicity/religion/bloodline/country/mother-tongue as that of the manager.(while the ticker "we are an equal opportunity employer" plays in the background....With some pre-recorded laughter as in TV shows also playing )
Payrises in Oracle are for top performers, people company wants to keep, they also get decent RSUs. If you never got either, well, you know the rest of the story.
Unless your salary is very high...You need not go back. There is huge difference of salary between Oracle and the rest of the world (except for people who have spent less time in Oracle)....
Those in India, other MNC 's range is double the salary of Oracle..
And the smaller companies and startups offer thrice that of a guy staying more than 4-5 years in Oracle....In my case , the potential employers get confused as to where to place me with such less salary...They either think that my work experience is fake...Or that my happiness on joining their company will be short-lived , once I learn that my juniors and super-juniors are making much more . (The same companies can't offer a giant leap to candidates like me to match their band)......So please run as fast as you can....TRUST ME, EXPLAINING TO THE POTENTIAL EMPLOYER ON YOUR STAYING IN A COMPANY WHERE THERE IS NO HIKE IS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN EXPLAINING A MINOR GAP IN FINDING A NEW JOB (Or may be you can use the layoff as your strength to say that you resigned to retrain yourself to apply for market level salaries, which was not easy with your commitment to your job then...)
I also got the same offer letter with deadline within a week. Of course, that would also mean paying back severance and going back to the same grind if accepted. I'm definitely reluctant and the short week deadline for the internal offer is probably a tactic of sorts.
I chose not to apply internally as it would mean another year of uncertainty and no raises. Get a good severance And take a hike. The place is no good anymore and if you are any good, you will get a good position where you don't have to grease your m*""$ ball$ to get you otherwise deserve.