And then the new La-La-Land CEO will jump ship to a different company in a couple years, after ruining that one.
It’s what they do.
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… unless your job is in construction working on the US interstate highway system. Then, three generations of your family can work there and retire from that job. 
(Looking at you, I-95 in Florida)
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I seem to recall that you live in that general area. Their headquarters is in Gardena, but it’s not that far from much nicer places to live. The old CEO retired, and he was a down to earth guy that I met 4-5 times over the years. The new guy is from Illinois, I believe, and he let the millionaire lifestyle go to his head. As they do, apparently.
Last year I moved to work for the aforementioned Senior Management that he let go. I’m back home again, metaphorically speaking. I also like the mountains far more than the central plains.
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Yeah I’m in coastal Los Angeles.
Was pretty aggravated when we had that cold snap a couple weeks ago. “Why am I paying Los Angeles prices for Wisconsin weather?”
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Hey now there is no rational thought and critical thinking allowed here.
About a week ago we spent 4-5 days hovering around zero.
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Another post, another person who didn’t actually read the OP, blah blah blah.
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Reminds me of the worst day of my career. I get a call from a manager of a different I.T. group at 8:50 AM telling me that there is going to be an announcement in 10 minutes but it does not apply to me and one other guy. Oh, and try to help the others. I didn’t realize it but this guy was about to become my manager. In one fell swoop, 75% of all I.T. staff were let go ahead of a merger.
There had been rumors but nothing preparing us for this magnitude of a first strike. Essentially, at 9 AM, peoples’ logons stopped working as well as their building access. No meetings other than announcements that the layoff packets had been mailed to people’s homes. Folks were in a state of shock at the magnitude of the event. One woman timorously asked if she still had a job as her laptop was working. I’m like, “You are logged on to the laptop but not the network. I’m sorry.”
Entire areas that had peers working in them 10 minutes earlier were now empty. There were private security guards had, by now, shown up at each way out of the building looking at brief cases, purses and other stuff to be certain no company data was being taken.
All the coding for the security cut offs were done by a select crew stationed in a hotel to minimize leaks and were set off by a timer to give management time to slip in even those people’s names.
Nearly 20 years later and it is all still so vivid.
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Problem is, other companies are going through the same thing. You might jump “out of the frying pan and into the fire”.
In my company I went through a decade of layoffs without getting tossed. When they decided to outsource the project I was working on to another company our group went along with it. Only when a bigger fish bought that company did I get layed off along with our entire group.
So you never know. Also they tend to give people severence packages and then there is unemployment insurance to help you pay the bills until you get your next job.
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And that is how people realize you have no idea what you are talking about. The subject of the lay off are rarely, if ever, told before the act. Some of the more scummy corps will let them work the entire day and tell them as they are leaving at 5pm.
Especially for high profile companies that have spend the last year under a microscope. MS wants to control the narrative, not let some rightfully pissed off developer that just realized the last few years of his life were wasted leak it.
And I can almost guarantee you that there was a few extra contract security on hand.
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never seen so little said in so many words
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If your company is being bought out, do not wait to look for a new job. Even if they say they’re not laying anyone off, they are laying people off, a lot of people, and the decision was made before the deal was signed. It’s easier to find a new job while you’re employed and it’s usually the best way to get better pay too.
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Yeah OP, part of why I am glad to a boss of my own little bunch of people now, is because time and time again I was used to so many bosses just laying me off in this company or that company, I’ll be more than happy to work again though, but I am not going to be loyal to a workplace or people that are not loyal to me, it simply isn’t going to happen,
It’s a shame though as my career path almost led to me IT, for a while I had a particular interest in cybersecurity, but given the rise in AI and advancing technology, I am becoming glad this year that my life didn’t go in that direction; I picked up a lot of good skills from my IT courses nonetheless.
I always feel sad when people lose their jobs though, as it’s never easy when your career has to take a turn in another direction,
I actually think now is a good time to be alive though for people seeking work, because the kind of careers that are on the rise are things like substance abuse controllers, nurses nurse practitioners, medical assistance, family therapists, massage therapists, early childhood teachers and much more.
Yes there will always be demand for simpler jobs like plumbers and electricians (though none of that is simple to me!), but many of the jobs on the rise at the moment are in my opinion very good honorable professions where you can have an opportunity to make a very positive difference for your community.
There is definitely a bright future ahead for the workforce of Gen Z and the following generation.
Also, if someone heart is really set in IT, I have heard one area that is still growing is software development; which is awesome in my opinion, as game development itself is a software process.
So there are many exciting opportunities out there, some people may just need to retrain a bit get new qualifications, but I think that’s quite normal for our generation to have colorful careers, never sticking to the same thing.
blizzard was told this would not happen, and then were lied to by microsoft. it isnt the first time microsoft has done this to another company that it aquired, they are a garbage company.
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And Blizzard believed them?
Seriously.
Uh gdp, unemployment and the stock market dont seem to think this. What are you even talking about?
Most of us adults have. The people who don’t understand this are either teenagers or adults who’ve never held a position other than an entry level position somewhere.
“I hope Microsoft shakes up the wow team and finally give us some quality stuff.”
Microsoft fires the people they think are weak or unnecessary, and puts up job listings for other roles
“Oh my God how could they shake up the wow team?”
And then some employees are saying they were blindsided and like… No? Unless you thought THAT highly of yourself, you should have at least STARTED the process of at least looking into other work, because the takeover date was known for months and the takeover was known for almost 2 years.
And the fact I have to defend a billion dollar company laying off workers is ridiculous. Literally everyone saw this coming. It always happens with takeovers.
The OTHER layoffs that happened (riot, Xbox, Bethesda, etc" were unexcuseable though.
OP is wrong. At a company there are only a few people with material knowledge. Information is material if public dissemination would affect market value or trading price. Cancelled projects and layoffs are prime examples.
Normal folks are told during an acquisition to hang in, there will be some redundancies but we don’t know who will be affected.
Anyone can guess that the layoffs are coming, but only a few know and they will not share this. Sure, it was still inevitable if you’re on the outside looking in, but the affected people were not told in advance, for obvious reasons.
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By and large large game companies are laying off 8-10% of their workforce. Riot and others laid off 10%. This layoff was in the cards for a long time.
Bobby Kotick got out with his golden parachute and stock options worth a few hundred million. The rest got what every the minimum is for a legally required severance package. And thats that.
However. No matter how you slice it, a lot of people are out of a job. And with pretty short notice from what the reports are saying. Some getting nice severance packages. Others not.
Greed and the Game industry are responsible. They over hired during the covid boom at inflated salaries and wages. They then made record profits. The shareholders, investors, board members, and executives got their nice bonuses and stock options.
Then due to their poor management decisions and hiring practices, they are laying off 10% of the people who made them their money. They are canceling games, downsizing, to maintain maximum profitability and short term quarterly gains. Another example of how unregulated capitalism ruins the economy.
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