Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

I would not leave any money on the table. also your experience with aT&t will go along way once you are surplused. why would you leave without any severance package or rights as a laid off person? if you leave before the lay off will you get any references from aT&t? There are a lot of benefits to being laid off. versus quitting your job.

Take control of your own future and destiny. Don’t let them do it. It may not be worth the severance and possibly a few months or more of unemployment. If you go to a place that seems better it will be worth it more than any severance check.

Leave now and start living. This place is dead and no future. I bet you will 1000x happier.

Six months salary isn't worth living the way you have to live working at At&t.

@1tww, I don't think it'sa good choice to plan on coasting u til you are surplus. Self-fulfilling prophecy. As other posters have mentioned, the OP should start applying other places now, and take any offer if it is good enough. How competitive will you be in a job search if your mentality is that you are coasting in your current position?

My last day is 3/29 and I wish I was proactive, I applied for a lot of jobs internally, i even volunteered to Move out of state, but had no calls even to say no, again I wish I was proactive and got the hell out before given the boot, as long as you working you search and choose, say no to offers...but when like me you hit the wall you’ll get to the point where you’ll have to take anything to pay bills even a big pay cut, 3 or 6 months of severance is not a lot if you have to pay COBRA on your own. Unless like the other guy squeeze he has something lined up, one more thing as long as you employed make T pay for your nano-degrees it’s not that hard.

Posts like this prove that people want to continue receiving those paychecks until they are forced to make this decision.

Posts like this, stating that severance pay is the only thing keeping people from jumping ship, proves the company has nothing to lose by not offering severance at all. It would flush out the weaker employees and inspire the rest to step up their game.

I am in a similar situation. I expect to hear more lay-off announcements in late April. In the meantime, you say the jobs you could start are lower salary- perhaps use this time to seriously look for skill gaps you could work on so that you can find something with better pay if you get hit next round. If you end up safe, realize this could happen every quarter - how long do you want to live that way? Maybe stick with it long enough to find a job where you could be happy even without the severance, and make the jump at that point. Also- another commenter said something about reduced severance, I don’t think that will apply to management, ours is 6 months tops (12 years +) and I expect it to stay the same.

I am in same boat but o won’t leave the 6 months on the table. I have 2 other companies I could start at right away (admittedly at a lower salary). I want my severance.

I'm waiting for the check.....just because I have a soft landing spot waiting and I want a nice little egg to out towards home payoff, etc.

There won't be a "package" again most likely. The problem with waiting, if you truly want to leave, is that severance will almost certainly be reduced in the future. It went from 12 to 6 months (max) already. I'm not all that plugged into the rumor mill, but I've heard from several different directions that it's going to be reduced to 3 months max.

Of course if you leave of your own accord, you won't even get that. Sorry I don't have advice on your OP, other than just do what you think is best for you personally and professionally, because there's no way to predict how T is going to behave in the future. Other than, of course, that it will be as bad as or worse than today.

Here are the questions you need to ask yourself. Do you enjoy the work? If you lost the job today how long can you hold out until you have to start using your savings to live? How long do you think it will take to find another job? What will the economy be like if you stay and hold out for severance? What financial obligations do you have over the next 1, 3, 5, and 10 years? Do you need an income or steady employment of both to meet those obligations? Answer these questions and you will have a good idea of what you need to do.

Do your due diligence on your financial situation plus your job skills. Check with your local unemployment office to see what you are entitled to. (If you are pension eligible and you start taking it immediately it will probably disqualify you). Figure in the medical costs. Even if you are pension eligible the costs will go way up including company discounts on their services. Personally I would start looking to see what is out there if you feel your job is in jeopardy. The quality of job hits you get could determine your decision. Get a hit that meets your criteria take it. At the very least try and figure out your cushion using the time you feel you have left on the payroll, severance, plus the minimal unemployment benefits. As the poster said the taxes on the severance are pretty high so check on that as you figure out what is essentially a emergency fund.

Finding a new job is the priority, it is much beyter interviewing while employed, and looking to leave on your own, I do believe you have more leverage in salary negotiations....more power to you

vs. The alternative, receive a heavy taxed 6 month severance, few weeks low wage unemoyment, and interviewing as an unwanted worker.

to me 1st option makes more sense

@wtn he means leave now and go outside the company. We all know that the only jobs available on the inside are for those named PATEL. #Indiarocks!!!!

Haha, what jobs? Impacted people without good connections have not opportunity. they have an army of Indians ready to take over your jobs.

Hold out for a package. Don’t leave 6 months of severance on the table.