The Dust Settles
28 December 2006The last two and a half weeks have been a very interesting chapter in my life. What could have been a complete disaster may end up being the best thing that could have happened.
I’ve been with my company for about 6 1/2 years now, most of which have been pretty good. I avoided a handful of layoffs and I stayed because it is a good company with good people. When we decided to move to Colorado I had to make a decision as to whether or not to talk to management. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and let them know of our future plans. Because of the long range schedules put into place for projects I wanted to make sure any kind of transition would be as seamless as possible. Much to my surprise everyone was above and beyond supportive. Management suggested that I could continue to work remotely for the California office after my move. It was more then I could have hoped for - to move and not only have a job, but the exact same job. There were no promises since the date was so far in the future, but for the time being everything was a go.
Then the bomb dropped, the bottom fell out…however you want to say it - the shit hit the fan. It was announced that the parent company had decided to stop development on our program and our office was closing. All I could think was “There goes Colorado”. We had just put a deposit on a new house, and we weren’t planning on putting our existing house on the market for a few months. Getting laid off would force us to put the house on the market early, and I would be sitting home for months with nothing to do but stress until it sold.
All was not lost. It was announced that there were three possible outcomes for the staff:
1. A severance package which included 10 weeks plus 1 week for every year of service
2. Transfer to another local office
3. Become part of a continuation team which would see the product through to the expected end of life
I was in a unique position since it was known that I was moving to CO. I was told that moving to another local office was not an option for me, which I understood. They wouldn’t want to take on an employee and train them knowing that person was leaving. A severance package would have given me 16 weeks of salary plus benefits, but it would prevent me from looking for another job before the move, and leave me without a job in CO.
That left the continuation team. Fortunately management thought I would be a good fit. I get to keep my job, finish out my contract in Colorado after we move, and then either transfer into the local CO office or end my employment. It’s really the best of both worlds. If the CO office is not a good fit I’ll have 4 months of severance plus a retention bonus to tide me over until I find a new job. It is a great way to end a year filled with some very unfortunate events.
on January 8th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Sigh.
End of Life. Like it’s a goldfish or something.
I guess I should buy a hamster; I’m going to need something to do.
on January 9th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Technically it is not officially an end of life product yet despite my flair for the dramatic. We’ll see where the next year takes us…