I have been posting updates on our countdown to retirement in a forum I am active on – and then the thought occurred to me – why don’t I write about that on my own blog? This is the fifth post in the series on how we are marching towards the finish/start line.
March 13th – what an interesting day today….
What I thought would happen: I expected to see my requested unpaid time off to be approved today (a week after the request) and planned to discuss what the next steps were in terms of coverage while I was out for several weeks.
What did happen: I was laid off! I was told that due to the org changes, and only due to that, my position was eliminated. My team has been split up: two analytics managers stayed within the current group and two technical guys (software engineer and database developer) are being restructured into a centralized data department. My separation day would be May 12th, but I would expect to have 2-3 weeks of knowledge transfer and after that not expected to show up for work at all, take it easy. And I was offered a severance package.
So, I guess the trick with asking for a long break worked! Whether it sent a signal that I may be a good candidate for the layoff or whether they (the leadership) made that decision a month ago and my request for the long break sped up the communication related to the org changes… I did get what I wanted and more!
Benefits:
- I am still on the payroll for the next 60 days even though most likely I won’t be working after the next two/three weeks
- I will be paid out my unused vacation days (about two weeks)
- I will get 16 weeks of severance pay
- I will get 20 weeks of prorated corporate bonus
- The RSUs scheduled for May and next February will be vested soon after the separation day
- I am eligible for unemployment if I want to go that route
Cons:
- It stings a little being laid off even though that was the most desirable output… What is it with us and our egos?? Even when the perfect outcome materializes, the ego is bruised by being deemed no longer necessary…
- I am worried a little about my team. I was told by one of my direct reports that me being laid off is “one big F*ing mistake”. The team being split like that poses an issue when it comes to who owns the data and has control over how the data mart is being built to the reporting needs. Plus that same person said that he came to work in this team because I as a manager was technical enough that I learned the stuff quickly and could grasp and communicate the important aspects of the technical jobs to the leadership (in essence, the effective bridge between the technical and non-technical teams). Now his new manager is far from being technical, and is not sure how well they would communicate.
So, in the end, all worked out to be great! I got all that I was hoping for and more. Now the early retirement is a little more secure because of the severance benefits I am getting! Now, the main task at hand is to transfer the knowledge over to the relevant people over the next three weeks and then stop working!