Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My role is safe but I’m in the know about who is going to be impacted. I know the managers who need to deliver the news. There’s lots of angst and it just sucks.

No questions. Just a vent. Thank you for listening.

Sorry to hear this. Having to fire people is the main reason I have never sought a promotion past my current job. You have to be a psycho not to care about the distress you are causing. I have been fired one time from a crappy sales job 25 years ago, and you never forget the blank soulless look on the person doing the firing.

Where are you that you can remain an IC into your 50s? That’s why people get promoted, to avoid being fired for ageism

What is an IC? I don't know if I am one

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you that you can remain an IC into your 50s? That’s why people get promoted, to avoid being fired for ageism

DP. I work in STEM with a PhD in my field. I am very good at finding cost-effective solutions to very hard problems. Sometimes a solution will take months of work - thinking plus mathematical analysis. I work for a VP and get paid at (with bonuses sometimes above) the Sr. Director level.

What’s the sr. director pay these days?

Anonymous wrote:Where are you that you can remain an IC into your 50s? That’s why people get promoted, to avoid being fired for ageism

DP. I work in STEM with a PhD in my field. I am very good at finding cost-effective solutions to very hard problems. Sometimes a solution will take months of work - thinking plus mathematical analysis. I work for a VP and get paid at (with bonuses sometimes above) the Sr. Director level.

Anonymous wrote:I would start looking for a job. Once a company starts doing layoffs, you don't want to sick around.

There have been layoff websites since at least the 00s. Sometimes companies who are doing reorg layoffs will actually being doing hiring a couple months later.
And as a PP mentioned, these "reorgs" are sometimes meant to bring in cheaper H1B workers.
Thing is, now in the era of remote work, it makes more sense to hire them to work from their own country.

thelayoff.com
the layoff.net
layoffstracker.com
are a few

We’re starting the process at my large financial services company. Had been signaled in advance and we let a bunch of people retire early. Some didn’t get the message so will start toward year end so the 4q financials look good. It sucks because it’s basically culling the over 55 crowd and the younger workers have zero clue what they are doing. Hope is in 5 years AI will cure the brain drain. We’ll see.

I would start looking for a job. Once a company starts doing layoffs, you don't want to sick around.

68, retiring in one month, and thank goodness am out of this rat race. Have been in the workforce for 45 years and seen every fad out there. Most of these CEOs have big egos and are really not worth the press. Only a few were great thinkers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:summary of our careers of having never "quit" a job until we retired

DH (computer career): started working in the 70s, laid off in the 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s retired 2023

me (science career): started working in the 80s, laid off in the 90s, 00s, 10s retired 2025

What’s your point?

same as OPs, just a vent

Gotcha. Sorry for all of your layoffs. I’m seeing/hearing a lot of people dismiss the feelings of recently laid off workers. It hits hard. I’ve seen it have some tragic effects on the remaining years of older employees.

Yeah, it can hit hard, and of course, people choose government work for it's stability. It's mission never changes. But big corporate life is different. There's constant mergers, buyouts, and CEOs with new visions. That leads to redundancy, relocations, and no longer needed or wanted. My 2010s lay off is because some Lockheed Pres decided they had too much rented space (and they did). And if you live/d along the 270 corridor, that's when you saw all of Lockheed disappear along there. They actually wanted me to move across the country but couldn't cuz of DH job and kids in HS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:summary of our careers of having never "quit" a job until we retired

DH (computer career): started working in the 70s, laid off in the 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s retired 2023

me (science career): started working in the 80s, laid off in the 90s, 00s, 10s retired 2025

How were you able to work into your 70s in science and computers? Did you work for Beltway bandits and gov contractors?

We only worked into our 60s (not 70s) and in private industry. We worked at big companies (GTE, Fairchild, Hughes, Lockheed, Dell etc.) that do gov work, but our work was not all gov, alot of international, telecom work too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:summary of our careers of having never "quit" a job until we retired

DH (computer career): started working in the 70s, laid off in the 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s retired 2023

me (science career): started working in the 80s, laid off in the 90s, 00s, 10s retired 2025

What’s your point?

same as OPs, just a vent

Gotcha. Sorry for all of your layoffs. I’m seeing/hearing a lot of people dismiss the feelings of recently laid off workers. It hits hard. I’ve seen it have some tragic effects on the remaining years of older employees.

My layoff was traumatic as I was head of department for 10 years. We were getting bought out my big boss at new company took me out to lunch on St. Patrick’s day. Went to Irish Pub even had a beer. He knew of me and I knew of him lots of mutual connections. Said I had a bright future and not to worry at all.

A week later shoots me an email entitled Future Career Opportunities to meet in person his office at Headquarters. I show up shakes my hand tell me I have a great future. In whats HR and he tells me it is just not at this company. Hands me my severance packet. Then tells me half my staff laid off and tells me when I get back to office lay them off.

I went to a bar ordered vodka tonic and a sandwich, called wife, sat there two hours on shock then had to deal with laying off people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same at my non profit. First time I’ve worked somewhere that is actively doing layoffs and they are letting people go who have been working here forever, some more than 15 years. They are now “redundant”. It’s very hard not to feel paranoid that my job will be next…how to people manage this?

that is not so bad.

try going thru layoffs and then having H1Bs show up the next week at the same desks asking how to connect to the printer in garbled english.

or try going thru layoffs and having to train your H1B replacements

And the entire time having the DCUM elites cheer on the process of expanding H1B and OPTs to replace US citizens, those damn deplorables you know.

Fewon DCUM cheers h1b?

Anonymous wrote:summary of our careers of having never "quit" a job until we retired

DH (computer career): started working in the 70s, laid off in the 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s retired 2023

me (science career): started working in the 80s, laid off in the 90s, 00s, 10s retired 2025

How were you able to work into your 70s in science and computers? Did you work for Beltway bandits and gov contractors?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:summary of our careers of having never "quit" a job until we retired

DH (computer career): started working in the 70s, laid off in the 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s retired 2023

me (science career): started working in the 80s, laid off in the 90s, 00s, 10s retired 2025

What’s your point?

same as OPs, just a vent

Anonymous wrote:summary of our careers of having never "quit" a job until we retired

DH (computer career): started working in the 70s, laid off in the 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s retired 2023

me (science career): started working in the 80s, laid off in the 90s, 00s, 10s retired 2025

What’s your point?