Waiting for the guillotine today

[Runningwolf]

Thanks for all the kind words today, everyone. Now I have advice for you: NEVER be loyal to a company. Never.

Jim, the last company I worked for in HR I spent three years having to cut many employees and watching my peers get cut and reinterviewing for my position three times. In the end there were no more interviews, they just eliminated the position of 1000 of us across the country.

I kniow exactly what you mean about loyalty but It's just something in me. Any place I have ever worked I have been very loyal, just the type of person I am. I have a feeling you are to with all those years of service.

 

[phat]

Jim, the last company I worked for in HR I spent three years having to cut many employees and watching my peers get cut and reinterviewing for my position three times. In the end there were no more interviews, they just eliminated the position of 1000 of us across the country.

I kniow exactly what you mean about loyalty but It's just something in me. Any place I have ever worked I have been very loyal, just the type of person I am. I have a feeling you are to with all those years of service.

I dunno.. I consider myself very loyal when working for a company - I'm 100% on board with what the company wants to get done.

Having said that...

I look out for number one. While Equity is a good thing, I just tossed away a bunch of it to leave while the leaving was good. The fact is while most companies will tout retention is such a big deal to them, that is exactly it "retention" - most places aren't interested in developing employees. They're interested in avoiding costly turnover. It may be (and often is) cheaper to lay you off an hire someone else for what they want for the "changed" job. Yest that's dirty. Yes it sucks. Life sucks sometimes.

The difference for you, the little guy, is do your job, do it exceptionally well, and keep your eye open for your next opportunity - most managers (including myself) do *NOT* view it as a disloyalty in this day and age when someone leaves for something better. that's called "career development". (Heck I'm *happy* a lot of people who have
worked for me have moved on to some really amazing things).

Yes, some companies are perhaps an exception - but that can change real fast on things like a buyout or reorg. Don't
bet on such things.

 

[jswordy]

Thanks! I is done! And DRUNK! See you tomorrow!

DO NOT be loyal .. it'll screw you! Bye! I have cut employees .. what goes around comes around, eventually... this is for the young folks... do not make that mistake...

 

[JohnT]

Let me tell you, You are absolutly right! Never trust a company.

Comanies will NEVER put your needs over their own. I have seen lots of stuff, and here is what I have learned the hard way....

1) When the owners of a company are offered a big pile of cash, they WILL sell the company and not care about their employees disposition.

2) When the owners of a company are loosing money, they WILL layoff employees. Only the methods of doing this vary.

3) No matter how close you are to your coworkers, when there is a raise or promotion in the works, others WILL throw you under the bus to get it.

4) When a company decides to move locations (in order to save money) they WILL move (to hell with what that might do to your family). The decision one needs to make in this case is to 1) uproot your family and move to East WARDOHEKAWEE, or 2) Stay where you consider home and do without a paycheck.

5) To save money, a company WILL fire you and send your job to someone in India.

The above might sound bitter, but it is not. It is simply fact. Money is king in a company. A company can not have loyalty to its employees and stay afloat in today's market. Any company that says it has loyalty to its employees is nothing but a bunch or liars!

Keeping above in mind, I do not ever have loyalty to a company. I only have loyalty to myself. If there is a move that I can make that either gets me a higher salary or better position, I WILL make that move without even a smidge of guilt.

johnT.

 

[jswordy]

I wouldn't say that, it depends on who owns the company. Loyalty to a company can earn you a lot of rewards like equity.

I actually started out this reply by outlining specifically how my own experience undercuts your premise. Then I realized I am gagged for the next nine months by the termination severence pay agreement. LOL.

I'll just say that it was a place that valued its employees until 2009, then new people came in and it changed in a matter of a few months. What once were primary wage jobs you could count on to raise a family are now second jobs.

All the great corporate promises can evaporate in an instant, even if the situation doesn't really call for it. Just the sense that things are generally bad can give a company incentive to chop employee benefits and numbers. In our case, 3/4 of the staff is leaving. I wish I could be more specific. It's quite the story.

I am not bitter about any of this. It's business, man! Be loyal to yourself. Don't lose 19 years like I did to figure that out, you younger folks out there. I used to swap jobs every 3 years, but got lulled by all the nice promises. They are all broken now.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

Good luck Jim with your new adventures. I was in the print industry for 20 years and left it about 10 years ago when I saw some bumps developing in the road. Took some of my savings and experience and started my own business. The pay isn't as consistent as a regular 9-5 job, but what it lacks in consistency, it gains in flexibility. And now when I put in extra effort, it goes into my pocket (or the guv'ment's) instead of my employer's. But the important thing is that my boss is smart, handsome, makes me wine, and treats me well.

 

[WineYooper]

Good luck Jim, it's a hard thing to go thru. I worked for a company in engineering for just short of ten years, 5 months short of vested retirement and was laid off. I grew up under the old belief that you do your best and work hard and you could retire from that job. Wrong!!!!!! I'm now 58 and doing HVAC work, just got hired back with a previous company, owner called me up to see if I wanted to come back. The engrg. I quit after 4 layoffs (over 25 years) from the same company, I designed industrial heat processing equipment. Got used to being laid off and not take it so hard, really helped my mental health. The one thing I learned is no matter how hard I worked, long hours at work and sometimes at home never made any difference to them. When the economy took a downturn or the orders stopped coming in people were let go because they wanted to cut their expenses and keep the owners profits the same. They don't care a lick about you. So when you hear companies talk about workers loyalty it's a bunch of B.S. they don't have any. Now I know why I saw the younger guys and girls coming in leave after a few years, wish I had learned much sooner in life. I hope now my body can withstand the riggers of this job for a few more years and I'm heading back to the U.P.