The bad: came into work this morning thinking it would be another day in the office. Boy was I ever so wrong. It started off with a coworker walking by my cube with an HR person, while my lead and I were discussing an issue, and briefly saying "It was nice working for/with you. I just got laid off." Then the carnage was unleashed... we kept hearing news of multiple people in my group getting the axe. It was as if the entire team I'm on was dissolving before my very eyes. My manager who originally hired me when I used to work at the same division a long time ago also got the axe, and I felt compelled to help him pack up and walk him out. After saying my goodbyes, I teared up briefly walking back into the office. Considering that this is one of the worst things that can happen barring violence, they had to also do it at the worst possible time of day - starting in the morning. I guess they figured they needed the whole day because the HR people are all from out of town, so they probably wanted to swoop in and not extend the visit to more than one day. By lunch time, virtually all the leads except for a few were axed from my immediate group. And several others in other groups suffered the same fate. As if that weren't enough, they held a short 10 minute meeting at lunch, telling us about how they're "transitioning" our product to be supported and developed between China and Canada. Sounds like keeping our office in SoCal was too expensive. But good luck supporting a product that brings in over a billion dollars of revenue.
The bittersweet: I got called in to meet with one of the directors and an HR person. They basically gave me advanced notice that my "target termination date" is next June (2016). So while there's some reprieve that I'm "safe" for that time being, it still sucks, and I still resent that a ton of coworkers on my team were let go. It's the worst feeling ever and I feel checked out already... just another great reminder that the company is loyal to nobody. Anyway, they offered a $35k bonus *if* I stay through to the end of my termination date (it feels so weird having to reference that as a date) in addition to 20 weeks of severance (though I have no idea what the severance pay would be). Sounds pretty good out of the gates, but I really don't know if I can (or would be willing) to stick it through given everything that happened today and also in anticipation of some crazy-low morale and coworkers leaving in droves...
The company as a whole had layoffs like this in the past and at a couple different locations in the US. We only *heard* of how crappy it was but now we're in the middle of one ourselves so we can totally empathize. And I hate how PC management has to be about it all, referring to this time as a "transition" period... just call it for what it freaking is: a major round of layoffs and eventual closure of this branch. People aren't stupid, and everyone is going to talk about it whether or not you want them to... I guess they're hoping to get the best of both worlds: squeezing every ounce of knowledge out of the key people before dumping them for cheap labor.
As I mentioned, I felt checked out the moment they let go of my manager. I don't know if a $35k bonus + 20 weeks of severance (after a 9 month commitment of working through low-morale and a crappy work environment to-come) will be enough to convince me otherwise to stay. My lead was trying to give me the glass half full perspective in that I could "prove" my value and possibly retain my job or move into a different role blah blah blah. At this point, I'd rather prove my value to someone who actually wants to hire me... rather than to prove myself again to some company that is ready and willing to dump me by X date.
I don't know, what are your guys' thoughts? Time to move on? Prior to this, I was content with the company but also not crazy-happy about them. But I never really resented my job until today...