I knew the layoff was coming. What I did not know was when and what kind of severance package I would get. When I was actually laid off it was a relief.
I received a generous severance package so I was in a good spot to search for a new opportunity. I believed that I could find another opportunity within a reasonable period of time, so I wasn’t panicked.
History
I joined Sperry Univac as a computer operator in 1975 while I was still in college. After 3 years I moved into systems programming and from there into software development working on special projects. The early years at Univac were great. There was a shared loyalty between the company and the employees. We were treated fairly and worked hard.
In 1987, Sperry Univac was acquired by Burroughs. At the time of the merger the combined company had about 120,000 employees. To facilitate the acquisition the new company, called Unisys, took on a massive amount of debt. Within 3 years, the number of employees decreased to about 30,000. From that point on, the company struggled. Corporate management came and went. The company changed direction multiple times, always about a year too late.
In 1990, I moved into IT management. I managed technical support staff up until about 2007 when I became a director tasked with business operations for a large (1500+) outsourcing operation. At the same time, the company was trying to develop an outsourcing service business while at the same time trying to off shore.
The company was struggling financially, as it had since the acquisition. At the same time that we were trying to build the outsourcing service business and off shore labor, we were expected and required to cut costs. The Vice-President that I worked for was visionary but not politically adept. Being more pragmatic, I was able to help him manage the organization and achieve many of his goals. The downside of my job was that we were expected to cut costs every quarter and I was involved in and managed layoffs almost every quarter. Even when our organization hit all of our financial targets we were still expected to reduce cost.
Eventually, the Vice-President I worked for alienated his superiors and was let go. As his right hand man, I was viewed as associated with the political problems he had. To make it worse, my position was something that could be moved offshore. So, after 39.5 years of service I was laid off.
The Layoff
Prior to the actual layoff, I was reassigned to do special projects for my new vice president. He gave me a project to do an analysis of whether they should shut down a data center. While I did the analysis, I knew it was a make work project to give me something to do until the actual layoff.
Finally the day arrived. The vice -president scheduled an early morning teleconference to “discuss” the project. But instead of discussing the project I heard the layoff speech. At that point, I had been on the other side of the table so many times, I knew it by heart. After telling me, he email the paperwork and we were done.
I reviewed the paperwork paying special attention to the severance package. As I read it, I realized that it was the better than what I was expecting. I received 6 months full salary and benefits, even if I found another job. So I was in good shape.
Post Layoff
At this point in my career I was financially in good shape. I had a good emergency fund plus my severance package gave me time to find a new job.
The first step was to polish the resume that I had started when I suspected I would be laid off. I applied for a couple positions. At one point, I talked to a women that I had worked with at Unisys who had moved to Prime Therapeutics. They had an operations manager position reporting to a director that I had worked for at Unisys, who I very much respected. I applied and ended up getting the job.
I worked at Prime for just under 5 years before retiring. Those were the best and most rewarding five years of my almost 45 year career.
Lessons Learned
- In a large company there is no such thing as security. You always have to be looking out for your own career. In hindsight , I should have left Unisys long before I did.
- Having an emergency fund eliminated much of the stress. Even if I had not gotten the severance package I would have been just fine for 6 months or more.
- Do not be afraid to change jobs. It turns out that the layoff was the best thing that could have happened to me. At Unisys, no one was getting raises or bonuses. Prime hired me at my final Unisys salary plus bonus. I got a good raise and bonus every year that I worked at Prime. In fact, after working at Prime for 2 months I called the Unisys Vice-President who had laid me off and thanked him.