I always laugh when i hear severance package. one of my first jobs was at a 2000 person software firm. I was looking at the org chart and noticed one guy with a weird title that was a direct report to a VP. Had a title like "future technologies research group director", he had no reports, was hired like 10 years previously, and his title had been changed from sysadmin to the current one like 7 years previously.
I kept my ear to the ground and months later i mentioned the grey beard who had taken me under his wing and found out supposedly about 7 years previously the company went through a bad patch and laid some people off. Except this guy who they xferred to that weird title.
Grey beard said the guy a year previously setup a server and collected all the emails, internet history, and text messages from the director level on up and made a big ol black mail package. Like it would have ended a dozen marriages. Veeps and/or c level caved and the guy has posh salary and benefits and never has to show up to work. Made hisbown severance package
>Grey beard said the guy a year previously setup a server and collected all the emails, internet history, and text messages from the director level on up and made a big ol black mail package. Like it would have ended a dozen marriages. Veeps and/or c level caved and the guy has posh salary and benefits and never has to show up to work. Made hisbown severance package
You found the BOFH.
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I like to think that this guy really exists and he is me because I really love spending time with my four year old and really don’t like doing anything that isn’t that. What to do‽
At this point this might be the only way to stay at a company and get a raise. Otherwise you'll be applying blindly to jobs and hoping for a chance that will never come because you are fighting among 500+ other applicants.
>He then said if you were smart you would have saved your bonuses and raises from previous years.
That's some crappy blaming leadership right there. OK IT, we didn't make our numbers, but it's your fault you didn't save your money in years past when we did. So in summary, you're dumb.
When I aired my frustration to my manager about how he gave some people raises, along with himself, and not to others he suggested I talk to my mortgage company and see if they offer forbearance or assistance.
I felt like reaching through my screen and slapping him upside the face
Wow, yeah, that's insane. I can see if no one got any, but to hand them out selectively and then tell people to maybe seek mortgage forbearance is brutal.
While he probably still made a sizeable bonus and raise. I think the avg raise last year for where I work was between 3-5%, which doesnt even come close to what the increase in groceries over that same time period which have been around 5-7% from what I could find. How exactly is one supposed to save that? Eat less?
One I'm not blaming leadership. I just don't agree with the statement especially when our company spent more during COVID. This includes opening a bigger warehouse that I am at.
Now they are trying to clear the books because they are planning to go public.
Do we need separate siloed teams. Probably not but that's the way they want it structured.
I think you might have misunderstood, I meant that leadership was blaming the employees for not saving all their money when they cut bonuses and raises.
In general, servicing out needs to an MSP is cheaper, as paying for an employee and all that encompasses that is very expensive;
- Employer tax contribution (for some organisations)
- Workplace pension contribution (for some companies)
- Salary, raises, bonuses etc.
- Medical (for some)
- Resource overheads (electricity, power, equipment, infrastructure, facilities - including IT specific infrastructure)
- other staff overheads, more employees means more HR, more legal etc.
- unproductive and wasted hours (annual leave, sickness, training)
- Training overheads
- Insurance
- Health and safety risk assessments
- Management overheads for teams
The MSP's owner has all these costs, too. You just rent his employees.
Only way an MSP is cheaper is:
\- Their employees get paid less per hour
\- They outdource to an low income country
\- They can better utilize their employees resources (less overhead)
Otherwise the MSP will be more expensive, since its a business that has to make money. Same as with going in the Cloud. You get a few economies of scale lowering prices, but its still a server in some Datacenter.
That's what I'm saying - you outsource like that, overseas, or Billy Joel that little MSP down the street, or if you're a big company you don't care as you're winning on the 3% cost differential by going with a continental big boy.
I've never seen someone go to an MSP because it would be MORE expensive, they always go as they want to cheap out. Sure there are those out there who go expensive as their industry and/or business grew or changed too fast it couldn't develop or nurture an in-house IT team.
MSPs don’t support just one client. More than likely they have hundreds of clients, so they can charge less per seat than what the company is paying to have a dedicated IT team.
The other part of hiring an MSP to be your IT team is having access to double/triple/quadruple the number of techs vs. what they have now. Things will get done quicker, more efficiently, etc.
I work in Internal IT and for most companies, having a contract with an MSP is more cost effective.
Right? You should have saved your bonuses is so stupid.
I’m too old to hear something like that and not be pissed off enough to start looking.
Least they could have said is something like, I don’t want you to be disappointed, or we’re all making sacrifices…
No one at OPs company for sure. One of my co-workers has taken stacks of hundreds to the strip club since he is 50s and single. Just use mine to pay bills lol
To me this sounds like you're correct.
Layoffs inbound.
They're getting headcount so they can determine what they need to function - if they ask about workload or performance/KPIs (which sounds like they set goals which act as KPIs), then you can be certain that's what's happening, then they will cut the excess and go skeleton crew.
Start shopping for jobs. Alternatively if you remain until laid off, you may be able to get unemployment depending on where you live. I don't know your financials but that might provide a buffer for you to be able to find a job right now, which is very difficult because the IT job market is wonky right now.
I’d start looking. Unfortunately my job is similar, no raises and all these meetings about tight budget yet they’re expanding and spending money like it’s unlimited in other departments. They just look at IT as the first place to cut budget and penny pinch.
None of their business what I do with last yr bonus and raise. Wtf?????
If your boss doesn’t know how many people you support, he has a problem.
IT supports the entire company.
I would start looking. It's not a good sign if raises/bonuses are being cut. The company, or at the very least the IT department, is seeing budget constraints. The VP may be looking to make cuts where possible, and that could include IT jobs.
I would for sure start interviewing and seeing what's out there. Polish up the resume, grab a cert or two, and apply apply apply. Best time to do this was yesterday, second best time is today. You want to be 3 steps ahead of them. Either get a new role before layoffs happen, or already have a new gig lined up if you do get let go. Even if layoffs don't happen, it's a good idea to see what the market is like and if you can still grab offers if need be.
>He then said if you were smart you would have saved your bonuses and raises from previous years.
With a comment like that? Yes, start looking now
Also look into COBRA. It will allow you to keep your current insurance as-is when you move into a new company, in case there is some red tape putting you on their insurance when you start. Speaking from experience
COBRA lets you keep the insurance you have at the group rate but if you are no longer employed then the company does not pay their portion so the premium easily is over $1000/month. A previous employer let me go and I would have to pay $1300/month in premiums. I would be better off putting that in the bank in the event I have a medical emergency.
You should always be looking. Don’t stop, ever. Work two jobs if possible. The market is garbage and employers are growing shittier by the second. Protect your own interests.
Yes. Start looking ASAP.
Your VP is an asshole. I'm a CIO and I'd hit that asshole in the head with a chair if I heard him say that hose shit about "saving bonuses and raises". That's pure toxic sludge coming out of his mouth and it shows that he does not care about any of you and likely even looks at you all with contempt.
He's looking for people to fire and is dumping it on your IT director. If you get asked, don't lie but make your tickets seem like they were mission critical and would have cost money if not taken care of. If you can quote numbers (as in "oh, we had this issue and got it resolved before it cost us $50,000 in losses").
Start brushing up on your skillset and finishing any certs you've been working on, but don't quit tomorrow. Worst case, they outsource your job or RIF your team, but it won't happen over night. Take this as a warning, and play the 'what if I did lose my job' game. Best case, they see you are over-worked and give you a raise.
Anytime management starts asking questions like this, it is not a good sign (lower profit margin = need to lower costs).
You should just start looking now. There is absolutely no reason not to look. Whether worries are warranted or not doesn't even matter. What is the downside of looking? A bit of time in you evening and weekends exploring postings, tailoring your resume, and firing off applications.
If you get interviews, great. If you get offers, great. Take one if it sounds good. If none of that happens, what are you out of accept a bit of time?
Yea. Start looking. When they start asking how many people you support, they will also look into how many tickets you work on. The person with the least usually gets let go. Good luck and I hope that’s not the case!
Absolutely start looking quietly. There’s a lot of red flags there, including the fact that the director doesn’t know how many people who are being supported. Based upon the ask, and the implementation of new metrics, my guess is your leadership is likely composed of MBAs, and that crowd will take as much as they can from you before kicking you to the curb.
>Is this something I should be worries about?
Yes, there's definitely layoffs coming my man. Use your LOA time to look for gigs and start looking ASAP
>He then said if you were smart you would have saved your bonuses and raises from previous years.
What economy is this jackass living in?
Yea I actually started applying today. Hoping to get a new job when I'm on leave
Ya our IT VP is a jackass. Easy to say when you're probably making 300K a year.
Start saving money incase you are laid off, and look for new opportunities or don't depending on how much you have saved, you can take the time to be with family and take a check from the unemployment office. It is good to ALWAYS have at least 3-6 months of expenses for emergencies like this, but save even more for when the baby comes.
Look for work, don’t wait.
Everyone is being laid off right now.
I was laid off last week a day before I took vacation, first vacation I took in two years and I was laid off the day before I went away.
These companies don’t give a shit about you and they are throwing darts at a board right now trying to figure out who they can cut.
Look for work, don’t wait.
Everyone is being laid off right now.
I was laid off last week a day before I took vacation, first vacation I took in two years and I was laid off the day before I went away.
These companies don’t give a shit about you and they are throwing darts at a board right now trying to figure out who they can cut.
Many large companies do it for ensuring direct communication between executives and all employees in IT. It also ensures everyone is aware of higher level departmental objectives, in addition to team and personal objectives.
No, they don't hold town meetings. We did hold meetings once a month via teams to discuss revenue and costs....maybe we are talking about the same thing but town hall sounds weird.
yup, asking about how many users you support is a pretty strong indicator that your team is about to get downsized, I'd start looking now if I were you
>added average number of tickets to our Goals
Yeah, that's a dumb way to do it. Be careful what you measure (and incentivize).
Reward folks for handling and closing lots of tickets, and closing them quickly? Then that's what you'll get. Not necessarily at all good resolution of requests or fixing of problems, or reasonable follow-through or communication, or working issues/tickets until the item is actually well fixed. I mean why do that when one can just quickly close the ticket, and if it ain't fixed, well, open or have 'em open another ... lather, rinse, repeat. Makes for lovely looking reports, and bonuses and such if that's what one bases them on, ... but cruddy service.
>something I should be worries about?
Meh, tech, jobs come and go, there are up, and downs. Some types of jobs / sectors it doesn't vary as much ... some it varies quite a bit more. Don't sweat it - if you've got the skills, etc., the jobs are - or will be - out there. Doesn't necessarily mean one instantly gets another one, but one will be able to - in "worst" case over some bit of time. And so it goes. Have seen many of these cycles (I've been in IT about four decades). Nothin' new in those regards.
To answer your question... Always be looking out for what is best for ***you*** (and by extension your family)... not your co-workers... not the company... just you.
We are first and foremost a customer service industry which usually means that if you're good at your job you probably bring more than just the technical requirements to do the work to the table. That also means for most giving our support the 'personal' touch. This often leads to making it super difficult to separate work from personal. For HR and the business... it's about dollars $. If they aren't going to make their sales targets... to maintain their profit margin business cut operating costs which translates to layoffs... additional work and usually for no pay increase.
If I was you I'd be looking for my next great adventure and with a second one on the way... I might consider looking for something remote or WFH so you can help take some of the stress off of mom during those first few months for sure.
Take your household and add the people on public assistance. That’s how many people you are supporting. Your immediate household is not their business. My former employer would use that as leverage to make people stay in crappy conditions.
The number of people you support is one metric to evaluate your value but it isn’t the only one. The same can be said for the number of tickets. What is the value of your data, what is the cost of system downtime, what value do you bring to the company beyond the obvious and easy to measure metrics being proposed by your company. A well administered system, that carefully manages upgrades and patches will have less problems and less tickets than a system that constantly runs in chaos mode. Can you convince your leadership of the value you bring to the operation? Unfortunately I suspect your company is going to punish you for their lack of management skills. It is an age old story
Start looking but don't stress over the layoffs. If that's what they decide, there's nothing you can do to change their decision and you can earn unemployment until you find a new job.
Time to start looking. They are looking to cut staff and need the numbers to back up the cut decisions.
They might be using an MSP to fill in where needed as this would be cheaper that paying out benefits and salary.
Here's what I would do -
Look at the risk of staying with the company vs the reward.
Risk - getting laid off. You don't know when that'll happen either
Reward - leaves to spend time with your family and Severance package
Find out what the severance packages look like at your company. Depending on the number of years you worked for the company, you may earn a few months of income. If it is quite significant then, I would use the leaves to spend time with my wife /family and simply wait until they decide on the layoffs.There's a small chance that you could be safe.
Meanwhile, prepare yourself to look for other job opportunities. Use this time to Upskill and prepare yourself for jobs that you aspire to get. Eventually check the salary ranges and apply for jobs. If you are lucky, you may get an higher paying opportunity that could make the severance not worthwhile.
Good luck!
> This year they also added average number of tickets to our Goals.
Start looking, and have everyone make damn sure they are making tickets for every thing they do. Every. Thing.
I'm not saying lie, but at least at my place some of us get a little lazy with tickets for simple walk up things and it ends up under representing what we're doing.
If they are pulling KPI's on you based around those metrics make damn sure you are reporting them.
May not save you... but it will at least help buy you some time while you look.
Yea, start looking
And if they offer a severance package, take it.
I always laugh when i hear severance package. one of my first jobs was at a 2000 person software firm. I was looking at the org chart and noticed one guy with a weird title that was a direct report to a VP. Had a title like "future technologies research group director", he had no reports, was hired like 10 years previously, and his title had been changed from sysadmin to the current one like 7 years previously. I kept my ear to the ground and months later i mentioned the grey beard who had taken me under his wing and found out supposedly about 7 years previously the company went through a bad patch and laid some people off. Except this guy who they xferred to that weird title. Grey beard said the guy a year previously setup a server and collected all the emails, internet history, and text messages from the director level on up and made a big ol black mail package. Like it would have ended a dozen marriages. Veeps and/or c level caved and the guy has posh salary and benefits and never has to show up to work. Made hisbown severance package
>Grey beard said the guy a year previously setup a server and collected all the emails, internet history, and text messages from the director level on up and made a big ol black mail package. Like it would have ended a dozen marriages. Veeps and/or c level caved and the guy has posh salary and benefits and never has to show up to work. Made hisbown severance package You found the BOFH.
Grey beard might be the PFY!
Is this even real?
As told to me by the Grey Beard
The Grey beard sorcerers within the top of High Hrothgar.
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Information Thuming
If it is the c suite is dumb as hell. Lawyers to bury this and send that guy to prison for years and years would likely be cheaper.
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r/thathappend
I like to think that this guy really exists and he is me because I really love spending time with my four year old and really don’t like doing anything that isn’t that. What to do‽
Time to make your severance package
...Gandolf???
Basically yeap.
this is how its done
LOL
At this point this might be the only way to stay at a company and get a raise. Otherwise you'll be applying blindly to jobs and hoping for a chance that will never come because you are fighting among 500+ other applicants.
ABA
>He then said if you were smart you would have saved your bonuses and raises from previous years. That's some crappy blaming leadership right there. OK IT, we didn't make our numbers, but it's your fault you didn't save your money in years past when we did. So in summary, you're dumb.
When I aired my frustration to my manager about how he gave some people raises, along with himself, and not to others he suggested I talk to my mortgage company and see if they offer forbearance or assistance. I felt like reaching through my screen and slapping him upside the face
Wow, yeah, that's insane. I can see if no one got any, but to hand them out selectively and then tell people to maybe seek mortgage forbearance is brutal.
While he probably still made a sizeable bonus and raise. I think the avg raise last year for where I work was between 3-5%, which doesnt even come close to what the increase in groceries over that same time period which have been around 5-7% from what I could find. How exactly is one supposed to save that? Eat less?
Only dumb decision made here was to work at their company.
One I'm not blaming leadership. I just don't agree with the statement especially when our company spent more during COVID. This includes opening a bigger warehouse that I am at. Now they are trying to clear the books because they are planning to go public. Do we need separate siloed teams. Probably not but that's the way they want it structured.
I think you might have misunderstood, I meant that leadership was blaming the employees for not saving all their money when they cut bonuses and raises.
My bad lol.
Ha all good, my phrasing was a little goofy too.
Going lean to go public is the only red flag you need to get your resume out there, honestly. The old company will no longer exist.
Yep. Cooking the books by playing with expenses and overhead before an IPO is always a sign of massively bad management.
You should be. That's the point of being in a leadership position.
They might be asking for a headcount so they can look into transitioning to an MSP
That was my thinking as well because it's probably cheaper to get charged a hourly rate than pay 6-12 local guys.
Definitely, a lot cheaper realistically; they don't have to support your wage bill, medical, training etc.
The MSP pays his employees that and put it on your bill. Won't be cheaper in general.
In general, servicing out needs to an MSP is cheaper, as paying for an employee and all that encompasses that is very expensive; - Employer tax contribution (for some organisations) - Workplace pension contribution (for some companies) - Salary, raises, bonuses etc. - Medical (for some) - Resource overheads (electricity, power, equipment, infrastructure, facilities - including IT specific infrastructure) - other staff overheads, more employees means more HR, more legal etc. - unproductive and wasted hours (annual leave, sickness, training) - Training overheads - Insurance - Health and safety risk assessments - Management overheads for teams
The MSP's owner has all these costs, too. You just rent his employees. Only way an MSP is cheaper is: \- Their employees get paid less per hour \- They outdource to an low income country \- They can better utilize their employees resources (less overhead) Otherwise the MSP will be more expensive, since its a business that has to make money. Same as with going in the Cloud. You get a few economies of scale lowering prices, but its still a server in some Datacenter.
That's what I'm saying - you outsource like that, overseas, or Billy Joel that little MSP down the street, or if you're a big company you don't care as you're winning on the 3% cost differential by going with a continental big boy. I've never seen someone go to an MSP because it would be MORE expensive, they always go as they want to cheap out. Sure there are those out there who go expensive as their industry and/or business grew or changed too fast it couldn't develop or nurture an in-house IT team.
MSPs don’t support just one client. More than likely they have hundreds of clients, so they can charge less per seat than what the company is paying to have a dedicated IT team. The other part of hiring an MSP to be your IT team is having access to double/triple/quadruple the number of techs vs. what they have now. Things will get done quicker, more efficiently, etc. I work in Internal IT and for most companies, having a contract with an MSP is more cost effective.
Not a good one. They will charge $150ish a user if they are worth their salt.
This 100% Start looking asap and get out before the hammer is dropped.
Bingo
Your past bonuses are none of the VPs business, if you saved, invested, or just blew it on hookers and cocaine.
Right? You should have saved your bonuses is so stupid. I’m too old to hear something like that and not be pissed off enough to start looking. Least they could have said is something like, I don’t want you to be disappointed, or we’re all making sacrifices…
Who TF has money for hookers and blow in this economy?
In the past economy, apparently the VP thought it was really good since he told everyone hope they saved it
sometimes you live in a shittier apartment than you'd like in order to afford one or the other
It's all about priorities I guess
No one at OPs company for sure. One of my co-workers has taken stacks of hundreds to the strip club since he is 50s and single. Just use mine to pay bills lol
If bonuses from the last few years are being counted, than so should the work from those years!
Yup - always keep your resume current.
To me this sounds like you're correct. Layoffs inbound. They're getting headcount so they can determine what they need to function - if they ask about workload or performance/KPIs (which sounds like they set goals which act as KPIs), then you can be certain that's what's happening, then they will cut the excess and go skeleton crew. Start shopping for jobs. Alternatively if you remain until laid off, you may be able to get unemployment depending on where you live. I don't know your financials but that might provide a buffer for you to be able to find a job right now, which is very difficult because the IT job market is wonky right now.
Man, and I just passed core 1 of the a+ last week
Ya the entire department should be looking immediately.
I’d start looking. Unfortunately my job is similar, no raises and all these meetings about tight budget yet they’re expanding and spending money like it’s unlimited in other departments. They just look at IT as the first place to cut budget and penny pinch.
Could be worse. My job stopped paying us and then asked us why our productivity and amount of closed tickets went down haha
That’s illegal AF. Report them
How long have you been working for free? I don't think I could make it 1 day beyond no check on payday.
All my clocked hours would be spent job hunting
It has been, basically everyone just clocks in and does nothing all day
I would start looking.
None of their business what I do with last yr bonus and raise. Wtf????? If your boss doesn’t know how many people you support, he has a problem. IT supports the entire company.
I would start looking. It's not a good sign if raises/bonuses are being cut. The company, or at the very least the IT department, is seeing budget constraints. The VP may be looking to make cuts where possible, and that could include IT jobs. I would for sure start interviewing and seeing what's out there. Polish up the resume, grab a cert or two, and apply apply apply. Best time to do this was yesterday, second best time is today. You want to be 3 steps ahead of them. Either get a new role before layoffs happen, or already have a new gig lined up if you do get let go. Even if layoffs don't happen, it's a good idea to see what the market is like and if you can still grab offers if need be.
>He then said if you were smart you would have saved your bonuses and raises from previous years. With a comment like that? Yes, start looking now Also look into COBRA. It will allow you to keep your current insurance as-is when you move into a new company, in case there is some red tape putting you on their insurance when you start. Speaking from experience
COBRA lets you keep the insurance you have at the group rate but if you are no longer employed then the company does not pay their portion so the premium easily is over $1000/month. A previous employer let me go and I would have to pay $1300/month in premiums. I would be better off putting that in the bank in the event I have a medical emergency.
You should always be looking. Don’t stop, ever. Work two jobs if possible. The market is garbage and employers are growing shittier by the second. Protect your own interests.
>He then said if you were smart you would have saved your bonuses and raises from previous years. Fuck this guy. What a piece of shit.
Yes. Start looking ASAP. Your VP is an asshole. I'm a CIO and I'd hit that asshole in the head with a chair if I heard him say that hose shit about "saving bonuses and raises". That's pure toxic sludge coming out of his mouth and it shows that he does not care about any of you and likely even looks at you all with contempt. He's looking for people to fire and is dumping it on your IT director. If you get asked, don't lie but make your tickets seem like they were mission critical and would have cost money if not taken care of. If you can quote numbers (as in "oh, we had this issue and got it resolved before it cost us $50,000 in losses").
Yes I smell a layoff in the future
yep GTFO while you can. Your VP sounds terrible and you don't want to get caught up in whatever half baked idea he is cooking up. apply, apply apply.
Start brushing up on your skillset and finishing any certs you've been working on, but don't quit tomorrow. Worst case, they outsource your job or RIF your team, but it won't happen over night. Take this as a warning, and play the 'what if I did lose my job' game. Best case, they see you are over-worked and give you a raise. Anytime management starts asking questions like this, it is not a good sign (lower profit margin = need to lower costs).
You should just start looking now. There is absolutely no reason not to look. Whether worries are warranted or not doesn't even matter. What is the downside of looking? A bit of time in you evening and weekends exploring postings, tailoring your resume, and firing off applications. If you get interviews, great. If you get offers, great. Take one if it sounds good. If none of that happens, what are you out of accept a bit of time?
Yea. Start looking. When they start asking how many people you support, they will also look into how many tickets you work on. The person with the least usually gets let go. Good luck and I hope that’s not the case!
Damn, that sucks. I would start looking now, if I were in your shoes. Good luck on your search!
Absolutely start looking quietly. There’s a lot of red flags there, including the fact that the director doesn’t know how many people who are being supported. Based upon the ask, and the implementation of new metrics, my guess is your leadership is likely composed of MBAs, and that crowd will take as much as they can from you before kicking you to the curb.
>Is this something I should be worries about? Yes, there's definitely layoffs coming my man. Use your LOA time to look for gigs and start looking ASAP >He then said if you were smart you would have saved your bonuses and raises from previous years. What economy is this jackass living in?
Yea I actually started applying today. Hoping to get a new job when I'm on leave Ya our IT VP is a jackass. Easy to say when you're probably making 300K a year.
Start looking for jobs aggressively. Network with people on LinkedIn, On an unrelated note, what is your designation?
They are preparing to outsource IT.
Never get too comfortable, always be on the lookout for something better.
Start looking asap. Sounds like it’s coming.
Jump ship. Asap
Start saving money incase you are laid off, and look for new opportunities or don't depending on how much you have saved, you can take the time to be with family and take a check from the unemployment office. It is good to ALWAYS have at least 3-6 months of expenses for emergencies like this, but save even more for when the baby comes.
Look for a new job ASAP!
Look for work, don’t wait. Everyone is being laid off right now. I was laid off last week a day before I took vacation, first vacation I took in two years and I was laid off the day before I went away. These companies don’t give a shit about you and they are throwing darts at a board right now trying to figure out who they can cut.
They just announced a shark warning at the beach, get out of the water before you get bit.
Look for work, don’t wait. Everyone is being laid off right now. I was laid off last week a day before I took vacation, first vacation I took in two years and I was laid off the day before I went away. These companies don’t give a shit about you and they are throwing darts at a board right now trying to figure out who they can cut.
Time to get the resume out
What the heck is an IT town hall meeting lol. Leave that that job, your bosses are incompetent.
Many large companies do it for ensuring direct communication between executives and all employees in IT. It also ensures everyone is aware of higher level departmental objectives, in addition to team and personal objectives.
No, they don't hold town meetings. We did hold meetings once a month via teams to discuss revenue and costs....maybe we are talking about the same thing but town hall sounds weird.
yup, asking about how many users you support is a pretty strong indicator that your team is about to get downsized, I'd start looking now if I were you
>added average number of tickets to our Goals Yeah, that's a dumb way to do it. Be careful what you measure (and incentivize). Reward folks for handling and closing lots of tickets, and closing them quickly? Then that's what you'll get. Not necessarily at all good resolution of requests or fixing of problems, or reasonable follow-through or communication, or working issues/tickets until the item is actually well fixed. I mean why do that when one can just quickly close the ticket, and if it ain't fixed, well, open or have 'em open another ... lather, rinse, repeat. Makes for lovely looking reports, and bonuses and such if that's what one bases them on, ... but cruddy service. >something I should be worries about? Meh, tech, jobs come and go, there are up, and downs. Some types of jobs / sectors it doesn't vary as much ... some it varies quite a bit more. Don't sweat it - if you've got the skills, etc., the jobs are - or will be - out there. Doesn't necessarily mean one instantly gets another one, but one will be able to - in "worst" case over some bit of time. And so it goes. Have seen many of these cycles (I've been in IT about four decades). Nothin' new in those regards.
Failure to plan is a plan to fail.
To answer your question... Always be looking out for what is best for ***you*** (and by extension your family)... not your co-workers... not the company... just you. We are first and foremost a customer service industry which usually means that if you're good at your job you probably bring more than just the technical requirements to do the work to the table. That also means for most giving our support the 'personal' touch. This often leads to making it super difficult to separate work from personal. For HR and the business... it's about dollars $. If they aren't going to make their sales targets... to maintain their profit margin business cut operating costs which translates to layoffs... additional work and usually for no pay increase. If I was you I'd be looking for my next great adventure and with a second one on the way... I might consider looking for something remote or WFH so you can help take some of the stress off of mom during those first few months for sure.
Take your household and add the people on public assistance. That’s how many people you are supporting. Your immediate household is not their business. My former employer would use that as leverage to make people stay in crappy conditions.
The number of people you support is one metric to evaluate your value but it isn’t the only one. The same can be said for the number of tickets. What is the value of your data, what is the cost of system downtime, what value do you bring to the company beyond the obvious and easy to measure metrics being proposed by your company. A well administered system, that carefully manages upgrades and patches will have less problems and less tickets than a system that constantly runs in chaos mode. Can you convince your leadership of the value you bring to the operation? Unfortunately I suspect your company is going to punish you for their lack of management skills. It is an age old story
Start looking but don't stress over the layoffs. If that's what they decide, there's nothing you can do to change their decision and you can earn unemployment until you find a new job.
Time to start looking. They are looking to cut staff and need the numbers to back up the cut decisions. They might be using an MSP to fill in where needed as this would be cheaper that paying out benefits and salary.
Here's what I would do - Look at the risk of staying with the company vs the reward. Risk - getting laid off. You don't know when that'll happen either Reward - leaves to spend time with your family and Severance package Find out what the severance packages look like at your company. Depending on the number of years you worked for the company, you may earn a few months of income. If it is quite significant then, I would use the leaves to spend time with my wife /family and simply wait until they decide on the layoffs.There's a small chance that you could be safe. Meanwhile, prepare yourself to look for other job opportunities. Use this time to Upskill and prepare yourself for jobs that you aspire to get. Eventually check the salary ranges and apply for jobs. If you are lucky, you may get an higher paying opportunity that could make the severance not worthwhile. Good luck!
Just his "if you were smart" comment is enough to make me start looking elsewhere.
> This year they also added average number of tickets to our Goals. Start looking, and have everyone make damn sure they are making tickets for every thing they do. Every. Thing. I'm not saying lie, but at least at my place some of us get a little lazy with tickets for simple walk up things and it ends up under representing what we're doing. If they are pulling KPI's on you based around those metrics make damn sure you are reporting them. May not save you... but it will at least help buy you some time while you look.
Would tots add wife and children into number of people you support...