I'm surprised at this bitterness. I was a long time employee at NetApp and part of a realignment in 2015. NetApp was fair to me during and after my employment ended. Please wake up NetApp provides a source of employment for you not a lifetime commitment. If the numbers don't add up people have to be let go. It's always been like that in the valley
9 replies (most recent on top)
When aren't layoffs "realignments"?
I was let go as part of the support center realignment last July (or October, depending on how you look at it). The severance was absolutely more than fair, but then again, it was a realignment for support centers. I'm pretty sure Kurian said this time it was money-related, so it seems the severance packages were a little lackluster this latest time. I also believe Kurian said (maybe just internal?) that this was an 18-month plan, so yeah, that will translate to more layoffs.
Some of us are bitter because we were only given two weeks of severance and when we asked "why?" we were told that NetApp is not legally required to give us anything, so be happy with something. This, after 5 years at NetApp. I get that it's business, but how about a little respect and preservation of dignity.
@Ghqf9wT-2twm: I got told the same thing, it wasn't performance-related. Personally, I like to imagine that the firing decisions were made by the Chief Transformation Officer and his buddies from McKinsey after a night of drunken debauchery.
I was canned last Tuesday during a solid sales year in a new territory and was told it was not performance related. I had been employed at NetApp for 13 months and let go after developing new business with a Fortune 125 company. Still not sure about the rhyme or reason to my firing along with a newer SE other than a spreadsheet exercise.
I'm bitter that the company professed that cloud is a priority and then canned all the key people in building 8 and 9 who were helpful to my team. There is zero go to market strategy now for cloud -- Altavault, Cloud ONTAP, and NetApp Private Storage have all been effectively neutered, if not trashed.
I'm also bitter that management made these decisions in a non transparent manner. Had they done it above board, then we could have help them separate the wheat from the chaff. At the very least, we could have saved 10% of the people who would have made a real difference and kept the cloud strategy intact.
I'm bitter because my group, which had a track record of delivering great work, got continually ignored by management in SVL for years and only noticed when we made mistakes. Several rounds of upper-management musical chairs later, I'm out of a job. NetApp is a great place to work if you're in Sunnyvale and work on ONTAP, but that's about it. The company doesn't "owe" me a job, but it would have been nice to be appreciated instead of having to listen to GK and others at the top ramble on about how what I do for a living doesn't matter.
Sure - no reason to be bitter in a company with $5B in the basement and letting go good people while keeping the dry tomatoes...
I'm surprised that you're surprised that there is bitterness.