I was one of the many who had “that” 15 minute meeting pop up on my calendar one year ago this month. So happy with all the changes since I left. Some stress initially, but all around better now. The grass is greener away from Cisco. How are others doing who departed in October/November?
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AWS. A challenge to onboard and to adapt to a new way of working. The LP's are really just part of the interviewing obstacle course. But NO REGRETS. Lots of growth, new technology, it's like Sun was back in the 1990's. Like others have said, life is too short to waste at cisco.
Took the ER last year with the end of October option even though I got paid through the end of November. Whole team was let go. Started looking once I was notified, and also started to upgrade my skill set with some certs that I was interested in obtaining anyways. At the end of Nov accepted a role at a new place and started working in Jan. Pay is the same, but much better managed company. As with most tech companies during the Pandemic revenue was down, but instead of doing a bonus and then LR (like Cisco did) they opted to not do a bonus in order to keep valuable people around and survive the storm. I was basically out of work for 1 month, but that was fine since I spent lots of time with family during the holiday season.
Yes I also got the LR last October and felt so lucky as Cisco was a terrible fit with high stress, phony leaders and no manager accountability. I got offered a better job in less than a month and I love my job again.
Took the ER and got hired at AWS in 2 weeks. Thank you Cisco.
I planned for many years so that I could leave on my own terms. I fired Cisco when my portfolio hit the number needed to retire early at 59 yo. Sold our overpriced home, added that to the portfolio and left skid marks on crazy California. Very happy in our new life. Don't wait for ER or LR. Plan your own life, plan your own exit or somebody else will do it for you.
I took the ER last year, sold everything, and moved into a street tent in downtown San Francisco. Will never work again, will never use indoor plumbing again. If I need anything, I just walk in and take it from a downtown Walgreens since we can't get arrested for anything under $1,000. I love the New America.
Are the people who opted for the 4 day work week allowed to continue or is it over?
I hoped there would be an lr this year. Unfortunately not happening. I have a job with 50pc plus raise and was hoping to get the Cisco benefits before moving out. With the rate people are jumping ship and everyone with 50pc plus offers in hand, Cisco isn't bothering to layoff any
Took the ER last year. Great decision.
Getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened to me. The package I received was the biggest windfall of my life and I was able to start a new job with a much higher salary fairly quickly.
I also availed myself of Randstad's services and found it to be helpful. My coach hooked me up with some key contacts.
All in all life is good!
Now that you mention it, things are quite different at my new company. I am participating in noticeably far fewer struggle sessions.
@zqw, it's good to hear that Randstat was a good outplacement firm. I wasn't that impressed with LHH that Cisco used in earlier LR's.
When I left in '16 due to an LR, I found a decent job in a town 3 hrs away from where I was with Cisco, and I'd planned to relocate at the end of the school year. While working there, I realized that this small-ish company had no idea what they were doing, and then they were bought out by a much larger company that was "global" in that they were in a lot of non-US markets and wanted to expand into the US. This larger company started implementing new, much stricter security policies, but they were so strict that it made it impossible to get anything done. And, if they had project managers to mange the implementation of these new policies, they were id--ts or blind, because nothing went off without a lot of issues, delays and rollbacks.
It got so bad, I was willing to quit a job w/ benefits to come back to Cisco as a contractor and I'm actually much happier at Cisco. Then again, as a contractor, I don't have to use Teamspace and create a V2MOM for MM.
I don't doubt that there are much better jobs outside of Cisco, but I didn't find it in the brief time I looked before my severance pay ran out. I figured it's easier to find work while employed and if I didn't like the new job, I could keep looking.
Now, my question is, if Cisco tries to covert me back to an employee and make me deal w/ all that BS, do I consider it? And, how much has the salary band for that pay grade increased since when it was offered to me? It's been, what, 5 yrs and a few months since that Aug '16 LR? Plus, the wages that I was making in '16 were the same wages I'd hired in a few years prior, so I'd not yet had any promotions and/or cost-of-living-adjustments. If an offer were to be at the same wages I was let go at, I'd be stupid to accept it. Something tells me that I won't get a 14% increase since that's what the change from 2016 is. I'm not taking into account the cost of living increase since the initial Cisco offer, but instead only calculating the COLI from the time of LR.
Took the ER last year expecting to remain retired figuring a 57 year old would have difficulty finding a job. After two months of doing projects around the house got bored and started looking work of some type. Spoke to recruiters and had two offers immediately. Both outside of network hardware. Accepted one not far from my house, better pay and benefits. This company values experience, no layoffs year after year. Flexible work schedule based on 40 hours a week. Enjoyed my time at Cisco but working with many people that had many jobs over the years, I realize that diversity in approach to situations is much better than it was at Cisco. I will say that working with the outplacement service, Randstat was very valuable. Should you be affected by an lr/er, take advantage of that service. Loved Cisco but there are better companies out there.
As an unemployed applicant, I got low balled by many companies. Don't wait for the axe you'll lose all ability to negotiate as an unemployed applicant.
I've departed years ago due to a LR. Stayed many months without work - I was being picky on my next job choice. My career took off in such a way after I got my next gigs that it's actually impressive. Current work is great, company culture is very good and I'm very happy.
We sometimes accommodate - Cisco is a great company still. And looking for another job takes time. People are scared of the unknown. But the market is so good now, that if you aren't getting what you want, it's the time to look. Good luck.