I am now unemployed

[giza]

Yesterday afternoon, I was called into a meeting with my boss and someone from Human Resources. It was explained to me that it was my last day at Symantec and that I was being laid off because my position had been "eliminated".

So anyway, I am back in the job market, and looking for Software Engineering work in the Philadelphia area. I'll be posting my resume in a few days.

Eh, at least I have lots of spare time now.

Comments

[delphi-of-clf.livejournal.com]

Woah...that sucks. I hope you find something soon at least :/. Knowing you, it shouldn't be very hard to find work though.

[wally-wabbit.livejournal.com]

That sucks man. Maybe it will be for the better. BTW if you ever care to visit this holiday season you hav ean open invitation.

I hope they gave you a package.

[was1.livejournal.com]

Oh crap that really sucks. I've been there before and may be there again in the near future, so my heart goes out to you.

That sucks about no notice like that. I hope they gave you some severance pay at least.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they gave me some severance, which helps.

[was1.livejournal.com]

That's good to hear. Be sure and sign up for unemployment as soon as you can too as it can be a big help. Hopefully PA has a decent unemployment system. I miss the Mass unemployment, which was much better than NH's, but that's what you get for living tax-free 8/

[zenwolph.livejournal.com]

Oh man. I'm sorry Giza! That's horrible news.

Good luck on the job search. I hope you find something that suits you soon.

*snugs ya!*

[firedhusky.livejournal.com]

That blows cat. Good luck in your search.

FDH

[linnaeus.livejournal.com]

Well, crap. Good luck in the impending search. May it be short and end with you someplace better than the place you just left.

[drleo.livejournal.com]

And companies wonder why employees have no loyalty to them.

[unclekage.livejournal.com]

At least they were semi-nice about it.

I prescribe lots of sake and late-sleeping.

[tchall.livejournal.com]

Oh, damn. As has been said already, that sucks, bigtime.

All the best and I hope you find something soon and better than the last job. If I can help, let me know.

Warmest snugs.

[kellic.livejournal.com]

*sighs* Part of me wishes they would lay me off. Instead Monday morning I slip further down the toilet that is known as IT support. I went from the main company to an outsourcer that is known as Computer Sciences Corp last year and now the outsourcer is outsourcing us to BancTec that is some cheap ass third rate POS company. *sighs* Personally I'm thinking of getting out of IT altogether...

Good luck on the job hunt.

[tgeller.livejournal.com]

My condolences. I'm sure you'll find something quickly -- you're really, really employable. I wonder what that feels like... :-P

[ex-tjcoyote516.livejournal.com]

eeep! After that kind of layoff, I sure hope you got decent severence. That's awful!

I am now doubly glad I switched from Symantec to Trend Micro. (screw you, Symantec, for pulling that!)

But who knows, it may work out better in the long run; here's hoping that you get a better job with at a better company!

*hugs 'ya*

[ex-purpleca.livejournal.com]

Oh, suck. Times like this, I really hate the damned tech industry. Good luck in finding something as soon as you're ready, and hopefully truckloads better.

that stinks but here is some hope

[ketrava.livejournal.com]

Holler at me my cell is 239 4106706 and I will get you in contact with my mom. She used to be a big wig in at&t and is now doing something with cell phone implementation. She might have some people you can talk to as she used to live in philly or rather outside of it in white house station. I just dont feel cool listing her phone # on lj so call me and ill give it to her and let her know your calling.

Ketrava

Re: that stinks but here is some hope

[giza.livejournal.com]

Whoa, that's cool, thanks! Since I don't have my resume done yet, how about I email it to you when I finish it up? What is your current email address?

Re: that stinks but here is some hope

[ketrava.livejournal.com]

nealm@cyberstreet.com

holler at me
ketrava

Re: that stinks but here is some hope

[giza.livejournal.com]

I just sent my resume to you in Word format.

[thesmileetiger.livejournal.com]

Are you interesting in moving? If so you might want to take a look at the Seattle area as Google, Amazon and Microsoft are hiring pretty aggressively these days.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Thanks, but that's a little further than I'm looking to move.

Getting relocated to Pittsburgh (http://www.anthrocon.org/) would be kinda cool, however.

[rexxwolfe.livejournal.com]

i got laid off this winter too normally i go do snow removal but i had enough of that BS so im part of the club with your skills you'll easily find a postion. That I have no doubt of.

[lionman.livejournal.com]

Aww, sorry to hear about your "elimination" at your current company. I find it odd that they didn't let you go on a Friday, as that's typically when that sort of thing happens in planned events. That way everyone magically forgets about things that have happened to others over the weekend, and you have the chance to get over it on the weekend, etc..

But, I'd also like to get a copy of your resume and I'll see if I can't get it to the programming segment of our company, if you're so interested. I know we have a branch in Harrisburg, but our programming group can probably work out of anywhere.

[giza.livejournal.com]

I think getting let go on a Monday was okay, because I have the rest of the week to start contacting businesses, instead of angsting over a weekend.

Where should I email my resume once I've updated it? Harrisburg is about to hours away from me, and I wouldn't mind moving there.

[danruk.livejournal.com]

come on a roadtrip north of the border and visit Canada! A roo who is also on the verge of unemployment (again!) would only be too happy to host you!

throw me an email if you want!

[balinares.livejournal.com]

... The FUCK? Just like that? No notice? Is that legal? >O.o<
If there's anything I can do, be it only being an attentive ear to what bitching you may need to do, please feel free to come and tug on my tail. *HUGS*

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

Typically workers are employed "at-will" in the US, which means that either party can decide to discontinue the arrangement at any time. Only certain jobs have contracts, often union-organized. It's a somewhat different work environment, but on the plus side, it means it's generally easier to get hired (as if a company gets a bad apple they can just fire them again).

[balinares.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree with the 'easier to fire => easier to hire' line, actually; or at least in the case of bad apples, i.e. professional faults. There is such a thing as going too far into the opposite direction and overprotecting even the real bad ones, and it's not one bit better -- in fact, in some ways I'd say it's worse.

Still... Wow. It's not like Giza is the sort that would do anything but a great job, and it's not like it would have cost them much to give him, what, a one week notice? It's the blatant disregard that gets to me, not as much the legislative framework as the cultural mindset where they wipe their arses with the 'human' part of 'human ressources' on account that they can.

There's a lot to say about that topic -- I've got a rant brewing about the culture of fire-at-will fostering psychological pressure in order to keep people cowed -- but that'd be opening a whole other can of worms for which I have neither the time nor energy.

Let's hope Giza finds to get hired fast. That's what really matters here.

It's not so much blatent disregard as covering their asses

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

I do actually have quite a good idea why they might have sent him walking with no notice. Bear in mind that I don't know exactly what Giza (hi there! :-) did at Symantec, but it's generally applicable to any large software company, and particularly one in the security business . . .

Simply put, a software developer is a highly dangerous tool with a large degree of free will. Nobody can look at their work and immediately spot a problem (which is why we have so many bugs in the world). Often, they are the only person who truly understands the portions of the system they have written.

This is usually a good thing - developers are meant to have such latitude, because they're typically paid to make significant changes to software. Unfortunately, it becomes a great liability when you have someone of a certain mindset who does not wish the company well . . . perhaps because they have been, in their eyes, unjustly terminated. You know how much damage computer programs can do by accident - imagine the problems that could occur if they were modified maliciously! There are any number of things that could be done, many of which could lie hidden until triggered some time in the future.

In a company such as Symantec, I am sure that they have policies to cover this, which are likely to be followed regardless of the person concerned. It's quite possible that Giza returned to his desk only to find that his logon no longer worked. Indeed, I would not be surprised if I heard that they were going over his last check-ins with a fine-toothed comb, just in case. There have been several well-publicised cases where employees found their data or programs were being held to ransom by disgruntled ex-employees. While I doubt they think Giza's that sort of person, it's hard to justify not taking precautions when you have literally millions of dollars in data (or public goodwill) on the line.

As for the hiring, I agree. :-)

Re: It's not so much blatent disregard as covering their asses

[balinares.livejournal.com]

You do have a point, there too. :) That point does come with its own cultural mindset attached, though, did you notice?
My own point, which is not incompatible, you'll note, just different, is that there are other ways to deal with firing people. For reasons that do actually go further than simple karma, if I end up having to fire one of my men (God I hope not!), it'll be hard enough for them, so no need to treat them like potential criminals on top of that, when locking down unsupervised access to the code repository suffices. Not to mention that it's generally profitable to keep good business relationships with former partners. :)

[giza.livejournal.com]

Yep, like greenreaper said, Pennsylvania is in "at-will" state.

They did give me some severance though, so I'll still be paid for a little while.

What a lovely fucking Christmas present...

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

Yeesh! It's crap like this that makes me wanna stay OUT of the IT market. *HUGS* Sorry to hear the bad news, hon.

Do me a favor, will ya? Go here and gimme your address so I can send you a card!

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear that, Giza. I hope you can find a good (preferably better!) job soon, and manage to use the time you have before starting at it to prepare for it. And as unclekage suggests, at least now you get to sleep in late for a bit. :-)

[unciaa.livejournal.com]

Ouch... that was sudden. *pets ears* :/

Hiring

[colugino.livejournal.com]

I know someone who is hiring :-P And just think, your old spot is still available. Hasn't been used since you left. AND we even insulated the area.... :-)

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Oh carp! That royally stinks! Sorry to hear that Giza, and wow, the way they did it really bites.

[just-the-ash.livejournal.com]

Damn. I'm sorry. :/

[p-pardus.livejournal.com]

Sucks to hear you got laid off. :/

Although this could be a good thing too, you may be heading up in the world with your next job. I generally find that people who seem to change their jobs quite a bit tend to get better positions faster then someone who stays at one company.

Either way best of luck to you in the job hunt!

[darthgeek.livejournal.com]

Suck. Layoffs are no fun at all. Best of luck finding something else soon. The Mid-Atlantic Jobs list is fairly active and might net you something.

Also, check out the Pennsylvania area job listings for my employer, Computer Science Corporation

[wendingo.livejournal.com]

Yikes.. they really does suck...:(
Best of luck to you and hope things go well!

[taral.livejournal.com]

Ooh, sucky. I presume your state has some form of unemployment benefit to carry you until you find a new job?

[frankiethirteen.livejournal.com]

Damn, that's a shitty turn. I know you'll find something better before long though.

[skippyfox.livejournal.com]

cbw.mp3

[unclekage.livejournal.com]

Not the most accurate, but the words just somehow feel good to sing at times like these.

A happy tune

[furahi.livejournal.com]

So sorry to hear :'(

[furahi.livejournal.com]

Bound to happen soone r or later when big company buys small company
Happened to winamp too