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My company was recently acquired by a multinational corporation. Knowing that all IT was managed from corporate headquarters. I was concerned that my job was on the line. After inquiring directly with corporate I was assured my existing position was secure and I would not need to move, but 6 months later reality sets in and the rumor mill indicates I will soon be asked to move to HQ or look for greener pastures. So I ask SN, should I consider a move to an area with a higher cost of living (and under what conditions) or should I start the job search?
The twist: my significant other works in a different division of the some company, so it has been made clear that both of our salaries are affected by this decision.
There has to be oodles of experience in the community with what typically happens to staff subsequent to a buyout / merger / acquisition - any gems of wisdom?
Original Submission
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Saturday July 18 2015, @04:14PM
Which is better, 2 partners employed by different, totally unrelated employers, or both working for the same employer? Those aren't the only options, there's only one partner being employed, or running their own business., etc.
Deciding on that is less important than socking away as much savings as you can while times are good. And if you're both employed, at reasonable pay (not Walmart pay), times _are_ good. You never want to be in a position where your life blows up and you lose your home and car if your job is terminated, no matter how much employers would like you to "show commitment" by buying those big ticket items on the installment plan. Lot of employers prefer indentured servants to employees. You want to have the option to walk out, and a savings account gives you that flexibility. I've heard employers call employees with such options "flight risks", as if you're prisoners who can escape. There's also the sadistic pusher slave driver types who enjoy grinding the independent down, breaking their pride and self sufficiency, and turning them into fearful, quivering, stressed supplicants utterly dependent upon the next paycheck.
If engineers can't or won't form unions, we need some other way to level the field, stop the relationship from devolving into slavery. Savings is one. Gives you the support you need to risk your job by calling bad management on their bull. You don't have to walk out, but you do have to call them on their threats to fire you, their questioning of your competence or honesty, or their attempts to set you up for failure, or them leaning on you to be a "team player" and put in those unpaid extra hours, or whatever other dirty trick they're trying to pull. Make them fire you or back down. You hope they won't fire you, hope they will see that it's stupid to fire you, but they may fire you anyway, and you have to be mentally ready for that. Being fired used to be a black mark on your record, but now it's not the end of your career, your former employer has to be very careful what they say to potential future employers about the circumstances of your departure. And if they do fire you, good, you didn't want to continue working for such idiots. If they back down, you can still walk out later if you wish. But from then on you will be in a much stronger position. They will know they can't bully and scare you, and the workplace may not be too bad after that. Often they will respect you. I find that the weirdest part of dealing with bullies, having them switch from whip cracking asshole making unreasonable demands to friendly person who believes at the gut level in your maturity and competence in office politics, and respects you for that. You aren't just doing yourself a favor, you're helping all your fellow employees, including the managers, even the bad ones. But it can be a tough call to make, figuring out how much pushing is too much, and you may get it wrong. One of my biggest regrets about sticking around in a bad job months after it was clear I should get out was that my mere presence empowered these dysfunctional managers who should never have been handed such honor, weren't up to the job. Among the many stupid things they did, they resorted to blaming their troubles on the peons, calling us lazy and incompetent. If you defend yourself, that's being disloyal, they really expect the peons to shut up and take the fall. Some management is so bad that you call bluff after bluff, and they still try to crap on you. Best thing to do with management that unreasonable is run away, get off that train before the wreck happens, and it will. Again, savings is key to being able to take that option.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 18 2015, @05:23PM
Different employers, of course. The key word is "diversification". If both are working for the same employer, that means that if the employer goes bankrupt or just fires most of its staff, both partners are out of a job at the same time.
In fact, we still don't know that that isn't going to happen here. There are infamous cases where companies have asked people to move, and fired them shortly after the move, leaving the person with no job, no connections in an unfamiliar area, and out by the costs of the move. Think of being asked to move as being asked to pay the company a lot of money (moving costs + risk of being in new area) just to keep your job, with no guarantee that they won't fire you a month later anyway. You may have to do that if you have good reason to want to keep your job, but it's generally bad for you.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by AnonymousCowardNoMore on Saturday July 18 2015, @07:16PM
There are infamous cases where companies have asked people to move, and fired them shortly after the move, leaving the person with no job, no connections in an unfamiliar area, and out by the costs of the move. Think of being asked to move as being asked to pay the company a lot of money (moving costs + risk of being in new area) just to keep your job, with no guarantee that they won't fire you a month later anyway.
If my employer asks me to move to another location, I fully expect to get paid a reasonable relocation fee. Doubly so in a country where labour laws let them just fire you afterwards (promissory estoppel quietly forgotten). Why would anyone fall for that—low expectations in the US, perhaps?