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My company is in the middle of a rather large layoff (oil industry) and gave people the opportunity to sign an 'Expression of Interest' to volunteer to be laid off. I signed up for it because I am in a job that isn't interesting and I thought the company in general is going in a completely wrong direction. Severance in this round of layoffs is 3 weeks salary per year of service (up to 60 weeks), paying out of all remaining vacation, prorated bonus for 2015 (10 out of 12 months), and the majority of our stock units having their restrictions lapse, which would have ended up at around $100k pre-tax (most of which could be deferred to 2016 by waiting on when I sign my acceptance of severance). The layoffs started yesterday and my fears about the company's direction have been confirmed big time. They are shuffling around managers that have no business running exploration/development programs and laying off the good workers that are "hard" to work with because they fight to change things for the better or had signed their EOI. After they finished the layoffs in my group, my boss came into my office and explained that they didn't accept my "volunteer" status because I am too valuable and I didn't say directly that I was going to leave no matter what (which I thought could have been interpreted as a voluntary resignation and I would get no severance). As it stands, I feel like I gambled on severance, lost, and have announced to the company that I am, at best, indifferent to working here. I definitely want out, a bunch my coworkers know it (management not so much), and lost out on a nice pay day to take a vacation while finding a new job. I plan on updating my resume and applying for jobs and talking with headhunters when I get back from my brother's wedding, but does anyone have any advice on what I should do at my current job to either try to leverage my "too valuable to lose" skills into a better job, or go into trying to make it a better place to work (unlikely, since it is a big company)?
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# ? Oct 7, 2015 00:14 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 13:47 |
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Maybe they DO know you're dead-set on leaving anyway and figured that if they "keep" you that you'll leave and they won't have to pay anything extra. Did you go around telling your coworkers how much you hate your job or something?
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# ? Oct 7, 2015 01:16 |
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EB Nulshit posted:Maybe they DO know you're dead-set on leaving anyway and figured that if they "keep" you that you'll leave and they won't have to pay anything extra. Did you go around telling your coworkers how much you hate your job or something? I don't think this happened because I only told a couple of people I worked with in the past that don't have much incentive to talk to a completely different supervisor about my plans. They also accepted several people that would be much more likely to leave (i.e. were going to be moving out of state or industry anyways). If they did know I was dead set on leaving and declined to lay me off because of that, it really has no effect on my path forward except they won't try at all to keep me when I resign to go to another job.
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# ? Oct 7, 2015 03:45 |
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Do you want to leave so much that you would do so without those benefits you described? If so, threaten to quit, and you'll find out exactly how valuable they think you are.
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# ? Oct 7, 2015 03:45 |
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Get a labor lawyer right loving now. I was in a much luckier position in oil and gas with regards to severance but there's a pressure on their end to keep you on, abuse you, and stiff you on severance. Do not stay on a sinking ship.
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# ? Oct 8, 2015 10:35 |
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Ask for a raise.
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# ? Oct 8, 2015 18:47 |
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Asking for more pay isn't a bad idea if you are really caught on the fence. If they really do want you to stick around, they'll give you more cash, which you can enjoy earning for the two more months you'll be there until you find something else to do. And if they don't cough up any more, your position is really unchanged.
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# ? Oct 8, 2015 19:51 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 13:47 |
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I have a meeting with my boss today and am going to ask about compensation, of I am indeed a "truly valuable asset to the company." I think getting my vacation paid out is unrealistic because that happens in any case of leaving, as well as the stock that hasn't lapsed since they are still mine. Promotions and pay raises are frozen right now, but I believe managers can still provide retention and one time awards.
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# ? Oct 9, 2015 13:19 |