Amen. If your company has any sort of education benefit, definitely take advantage. I picked up a few AWS certifications before I got hit with a round of layoffs, made job hopping much easier.
When you give your all, you often end up feeling like a pawn in someone else's game. The harder you work, the more they mock you, only to show you the door eventually. That's precisely why we should explore avenues to make money independently, even if it means venturing into the realm of RU-vid. I'm planning to start my own channel, where I'll share anecdotes about the quaint canal behind my house and, well, spiders, of all things! Can't say for sure if the channel will soar, but let's embark on this adventure together and find out! 😄
Yup. Asked for a raise after i found a new hire was getting 18% more than me. Got told they dont have the budget. Got a call a few weeks later telling me that was my last week. Make 30% more now.
Lesson learned from this is: NEVER listen to a manager/ job when it comes to your livelihood (and decline better opportunities), especially if the job can't even afford to keep you as a good loyal employee! And that goes for any career! I've done that tomfoolery, and loyalty is NOT worth it! This is a business on both ends, my time is my money!🤦♀️😭
the important and enduring thing is that you acted with a lot of integrity. when i was laid off as a software engineer 9 years ago in my early 20s, it was traumatic and i processed it in an unhealthy way. but how you're conducting yourself here with such grace is something so commendable. a job will always be temporal, but how you handled it and the path you follow is what matters.
As someone who is going through a similar situation, all I can say is that I learned one crucial lesson: You are never 100% an indispensable asset, to any company. If you think to yourself that you are a superb developer (perhaps you are) and you are too good to get fired, then think again. The upside in my case is that I finally had some free time to focus on some languages and frameworks that I always wanted to learn.
100% correct. I am being laid off next week and I'm the core developer on a highly profitable application. My entire team is being eliminated and the application will be supported by developers offshore in India
Yup, absolutely true. I worked for a company that did a layoff and I was one of the many people to get hit. It was 100% about getting costs under control because they let other people go with years and years of experience compared to me. I would have NEVER let those experienced people go! Oh well. I didn't take the layoff personally, I just moved on.
It's a bit of a curse for people who are passionate about computer science and/or software development. Employees know that and take advantage. They get you way too comfortable in taking on this job as a way of life. Once I stopped doing that, I was much happier having my relationships and hobbies do that for me. It's a healthier source of gratitude. Plus, my hobbies can't lay me off 😊
Unless you die homeless, hungry in the cold somewhere. Yes, your hobbies can lay you off, to an early grave. You are stable only because you exist between to states, otherwise oblivion. So please save (no hoard) cash and assets, then chase your hobbies, with money/assets to back you up.
You learned your lesson, DO NOT STAY. Once you have your offer from another place and you tell your manager that you want to leave, you're going to be overlooked on many opportunities, you're marking yourself for deletion. Especially at a big org where the management changes often and you do not have a real relationship with your manager.
For those that want to stay, self-reflect, ask yourself why do YOU want to stay? After you've convinced yourself that it's a great work environment, interesting work, blah blah blah, and there is room to further your career, then talk to your manager about the things you like and see what they can do to get you an out of cycle promo or raise.
I remembered getting my first job right after you got a job a bolt after teaching myself coding for two years while working as cabin cleaner. it is pretty amazing. i'm excited for this next chapter of yours!
Just wanted to say your videos inspired me to learn to code and eventually land a job. Wishing you all the best, this video gave me a lot of inspiration.
Tech goes thought these cycles of boom and bust. I am now retirement age and I have been through at least 5, but never laid off, but saw the company just sort of start dying so went on to something else. You will get a new job soon, hopefully doing something even more challenging, creative. and rewarding. Best of luck in the future!
I feel u…. Been in a similar situation before and now that I have more life experiences (I’m 41) my advice is: If you decide to go then leave! Don’t let your manager/boss convince you… If you made a choice then continue going thru that path and never look back! Companies are formless entities, companies don’t have feelings and they don’t love/hate u… you are just a disposable piece, a number without name and easily replaceable!
I believe you 100% made the right call. Although it's great you managed to convince management not to get rid of you, the fact that you came within a hair's length of losing your job very shortly after your manager talked you into abandoning external offers sets a very bad precedent in my opinion, and if I was in your shoes this would have planted seeds of doubt and distrust going forward and I would have immediately started looking for another job.
Also they will keep you for this round, but you are likely to be a goner soon anyway. Ubisoft recently laid off the majority of their US based staff including myself and replaced us with people from South East Asia who likely got paid half of what we did. They decided to keep like 5-10 people and essentially exploit them by having them train all the new hires. Can you guess what they did to all the remainder of the employees after they trained the new hires? Gotta love corporate America and how greed AKA uncontrolled capitalism is destroying our country slowly. Remote work is honestly great, but the downside is you are even more replaceable now that they can get someone to do the same job for like half the salary.
I think for most of us is not really leaving a company that causes anxiety. Its rather the fact that we know that we have to go through a bunch of unpleasant and often humiliating job interviews to get our paychecks again.
I resonate with this so much. Was laid off 2 weeks ago from my first SWE job, the 3rd round was also the one that got me, and it was just pure confusion and anxiousness all around. Stay strong and enjoy the break!
Exactly. He's another in a long line of RU-vid Losers who must make up shit and pretend they're more than just a dude in front of a mic ordered off Amazon.
I think the title is very misleading. You basically "begged" for your job back. They were considerate enough give you another shot because obviously the best developers in their "opinion" stayed. You took a moment to self reflect and realized if you didn't get your skill level back up they would be in the same situation again. Right now the tech market is terrible and people who didn't beg with dignity are suffering "STOP WITH THE CLICKBAITS AND STOP RECORDING EVERYTHING is nothing private anymore"
Well done dude, leaving on your own terms is hard. I've been through similar. I wish you well in your future choices and look forward to sharing them with you via the channel.
wow hold on, did I get it right, so: 1 He gets some good offers from another companies, and tells his manager he quits. 2 Manager asks him to stay 3 He: okay 4 Three weeks later he gets fired, argues with manager he should stay. Manager is like: uuhm, no. 5 Later he convinces manager that he is worthy to stay. 6 Next day manager is like: okay. And he is like: I quit. Ummm, okay.., who am I to judge. Interesting story though. All the best!
Got laid off from my IT job yesterday while in a bathroom at McDonald's. I've never been laid off or fired in my early career, this was the most I've ever made, felt like I'd stay here for many years, and now I feel more lost than ever. Update: it gets better!
Dude, many years later you'll look at this as just a moment in your life.. Usually people grow the most in hard times, just don't doubt yourself much in life, and you'll be well!
to be truly great, you must experience the true highs in life and also the absolute lows. it builds character. the true greats are the ones who rise from the ashes and become top dogs again.
That must have been a crazy couple of days for the managers. The engineer showed passion, they fight for the Engineer, company agrees to their proposal, Engineer accepts, then the very next day the Engineer decides to take the voluntary firing? I get the sense that in the future those managers are not gonna have the same heart to fight to keep a passionate Engineer as they did this time. In the best case scenario they'll watch this video and learn ways to organically inspire that Pros-Cons of staying before they go to bat for the Engineer.
A manager that asked someone to stay that could have left on their OWN terms, and then 3 weeks, has to tell that person they're getting the boot, is a "manager" with ZERO insight. Don't kid yourself too much either as far as managers "going to bat" for someone. We're wired for self preservation, I guarantee that manager, like any person, was saying "thank God it's not me.."
Imagine someone begging you stay and turning down great offers to let them Go… within a month. & they knew about firing more months in advance. Managers “fuck around” & they found out 😭
@@ChristhianGT "begging" is interpretive, and as I said, a manager that asked him to stay, most likely had zero insight as to what was coming. Logically speaking, that simply wouldn't make sense. His leaving voluntarily would have done the manager's job for him. The only motive a manager would have for stringing someone along that I can see, is the completion of a particular project they were working on.
Who would ever thought software engineers would be losing their jobs today? When I was in high school, all I heard was study computer science in college you will always have a steady job.
Thank you, I’m currently struggling rn as a new grad trying to find a job and this video has given me a lot of the passion that I lost when it came to software. You’ve earned a subscriber and a like!
It did the opposite for me. I've been struggling to find a job for nearly 2 years. I don't think it's worth worrying if I get to keep my job, especially after having to endure such a gruelling job search process.
Good choice. Some words of advice, this won't be the last as well. The key here is to know when to start looking and finding a Job while you still have one so that you can bargain with the new company. Always look for signs and the moment you start seeing any type of layoff is time to move on and land a better job with higher pay while you still have leverage. Good Luck.
Those "survivor meetings" right after a layoff. They are saying how sorry they are to have to layoff employees, while you are sitting thinking about how to rewrite your resume and send it out. Its like two people who don't like each other but agreed to do lunch anyways.
ive been in tech for almost 30 years , through layoffs , recessions , restructuring , career changes , career re-changes . still here , still needed . when you have been around the economic loop a few times of its not a big deal . dont take things personally , its just business and there will always be business out there , dont look back .
Farming is thankless, unprofitable back breaking work and your farm and family can fold after one unexpected weather event. Working for a company or in an office is multiple times easier, more profitable, and less strenuous physically.
Damn dude sorry to hear that but it sounds like you made the right choice. I’m also a SWE in NYC at a FAANG (you could probably guess which one), happy to help you out if you choose to come back to this side of things but I’m really rooting for your channel to take off so you don’t have to!
Man more power to you man. It's kind of crazy how your livelihood is discussed behind closed doors without your input and you work at a supposedly great and awesome company in probably the best field in the world.
Excellent video, I can relate to a lot here, I too chose the voluntary layoff with severance although I was not ready to leave a job I totally loved. Took a few months and I found a new job. New job was deep hell the first year, but then it got really good and I've been there 7 years. Wishing you all the best my friend, cheers!
bro nice, I did something similar in essence, but like 30% of it. I decided to take a career break, right before layoffs started. I wasn't sure if I could afford it, as I had some savings but a lot of it was cut in half in the market. And I just moved to NYC too. But I did it anyways. I've done several interviews and failed with the competition and still am preparing for other opportunities. At times it's hard, but I'm glad I had some savings, and really was important that I took a personal break for myself. We tend to limit ourselves. At worst, i can do many other jobs, even service related, or move back in with my parents lol. It's not the end of the world. Also your youtube is fire man, keep doing it, and you may not need to program again!
I felt the anxiety in this video. Great job. Made a similar decision recently to go back to school and i am so scared of the decrease in incomes. When youre young and flexible with little major responsibilities, what i am finding helps is to take time to create goals for 6 months from now and one year from now. I know by next summer i want to change my career and make as much money as i am now at my last job 6 months later i wanna 50% more of that . If those are not working, reasses things
I have never committed to any company as a software engineer. I am committed to my work as a software engineer, and for some reason, I developed the idea that companies are just tools for achieving my primary goal of buying a house and car and saving money. I was able to become debt-free in about seven years. Now, I choose when to work and who to work. That is one of software engineers' biggest perks if you are smart. A lot of people buy the corporate hype, slaving themself into embracing a culture that does not really care about you. Please do not fall for it is a trap.
I literally stumbled across this post while battling insomnia. This really hits home for me - as my employer is planning to layoff 40 cloud engineers. I don’t know if I will indeed be laid off. Kinda hard to justify keeping our team with no endusers. This post gives me hope - as either way it goes, I will survive. Kudos for leaving on your own terms!! I wish you all the best.
I support a major application that isn't making any money. Just got word that my entire team is getting laid off and the application will move to offshore India. Start interviewing for new roles now before you get laid off, because if your product or service isn't making money, a layoff is inevitable.
It takes a lot of courage to admit the state of comfortability and even more courage to actually do something about it!!! I applaud you and wish you the best!!! Im excited to see where life takes you next!
Man I’m hearing this guy say he never wants to be comfortable. Wow that is not me. I want to be comfortable. I don’t work well with a gun to my head. I’m retired now and loving my best life frankly. In fact I’m rested for the software industry. I still like coding so I do it for a hobby and a non profit. I never liked the deadlines in the software industry and the time and stress spent unemployed ,as have taken years off of my life. May God bless all of you young folk trying to make a living especially you in the USA where they don’t care about the workers at all!!!!!
When you told your boss that you got an job offer, you wanted to leave and they convinced you to stay. You never believe that you really want you to stay. They will lay off you once they do not need you. I learned my lesson. If you have an offer, just leave.
I feel for you so much. I shared many of your emotions, but my storyline was different. I didn’t get laid off this year, but wish I did. They just cut my pay instead and acted like it due to my performance, when in reality, it wasn’t. Honestly, I would have felt much better if it was my fault, but instead I felt betrayed. My immediate reaction was to quit on the spot, but they convinced me to stay and think some more. Two months later though, I made the right call, and after a stock vest, I put in my two weeks. I didn’t worry about another job, I just left. I even posted on LinkedIn: I’m retiring, my career is done. Burn the ships, as they say. Kudos to you for doing the right thing for yourself and also for standing up for yourself the way you did. You have my respect and I will be cheering for you!
The advice that I'm not hearing in any of these stories is this: YOU MAKE MORE MONEY THAT PRACTICALLY ANY OTHER PROFESSION IN THE WORLD. Even doctors and lawyers are pretty envious of tech pay! The minute you start working that 200k job, you should live on only HALF and save the rest for the impending disaster that will ALWAYS come. If you don't get laid off, you will begin to amass investments that will eventually give you the freedom to choose what you want to do and take risks. Good luck.
Having worked oil/gas for years, the layoffs are the norms. I took the 1st round because the severance was awesome, I was able to take the year off. My coworker held out till they laid him off & he got a crap package. Ended up a moving from upstream to midstream & had better opportunities. Moving from Finance over to programming.. but I'll always have my finance to fall back on in the event of another lay off.
Great sharing all this info! Super generous! I was also laid off from a tech company a few months ago. For me personally, it's been one of the best things to ever happen to me. It was the push I was probably needing, but not brave enough to take myself.
Hmmm … I qualified as a lawyer , and specialised in lucrative Corporate Law . And then , the Financial Crisis in 2008 made a lot of Corporate lawyers redundant … I had , prior to 2008, NEVER been unemployed in my life, so my redundancy in 2008 was a massive shock to me ! After six months of desperate job-searching ( to no avail ) in Corporate Law, I ( fortunately) remembered the old adage “ in this world, nothing can be said to be certain … except death , and taxes.” I had ZERO experience in Tax Law , but I had completed an ( incredibly boring ) accounting course in Law School years ago , and so, imaginatively, I “ repurposed “ my CV to include a magical aptitude for untangling knotty Tax conundrums - and then , lo and behold - my phone did not stop ringing the next day , and I was interviewed and offered a position as a Tax attorney within 48 hours! I have since practised successfully, specialising in Tax Law , for the last 15 years ! 😀
In my situation, the economy had taken a downturn and there were rumors of layoffs coming. Sure enough, layoffs came and hald of my department was laid off. I had survived! I was so relieved. Then 6 months later, the other half was laid off. Everyone that got laid off in the first round had found jobs, it took me 10 months to finally find a job. Moral of the story? When layoffs are coming, get out. You don't want to be the last person standing.
man that's messed up... people leaving a company to start a family. Like think about that. This company was so deep into their lives/time/energy that they couldn't start a family. This is why I never worked startups, I just don't see the appeal. When I was young I wanted to have fun and explore time I could never get back. And I say this as someone who is a deep-core software engineering nerd who started in their teens and still at it in their 40s with no signs of slowing down. Never let these companies own you, you are not their property.
I got laid off while I was in college and it was a shocker. After graduation, I learned to be independent and make sure I am marketable. It is great that we meet like minded people at work but it is just work. So far, this market is nothing like 2008. In 2008, people lost homes and had to move in with families... There was a case where 100s of people applied to be a janitor at a school. It was terrible. I hope we don't return to 2008 but I am not holding my breath..... If you don't believe me, read the papers and watch 60 minutes from the 2008. The joke was 401k was known as 201k as the value dropped by half...
This is why LinkedIn is so cringe, praising corporations that see you as a number. Of course, a lot of it depends on the employer and the company culture they have created. I almost think it's done on purpose to keep people on edge that you are never safe so people would not speak out, especially lower-skill positions. As far as companies with responsible leadership, they are rare in North America, perhaps you'll find more decentralized, concerned for the well-being of employees companies in Europe, excluding the UK. I think folks who experienced the wrath of corporate America and know firsthand how toxic it can be, would make better leaders, the solution is to start your own company and business so you can approach things differently and treat employees with respect and a reasonable level of care.
It's good you got a break. In my state you can't get unemployment, which isn't very much if you voluntarily quit. I'm glad you got a good severance pay. The moral is not the same after layoffs. It just isn't. Unfortunately, that's the situation. I was recently laid off last week. My friend and former coworker was laid off last July in 2023.
really positive to see what happened here & how u reacted, you stood for what you beleived would "help you" through out the courese of that uncertain period! hope you enjoy your time off!! wishing u more happiness and power :))
I knew that field was flooded when I dropped fortran for Architecture in the 80's. 47 in my first class and a waiting list of over 100 people. 12 in Architecture. Five years into the job, I started clearing $300,000 a year.
I'm proud of you and I am inspired by you. You have so much going for you. You're going to look back at this and chuckle at some point. There may be challenges but you are up to them 100%. You got this!!
I was deemed essential enough to survive an 80% reduction. Unfortunately, I got a much better offer a week after the final list was announced, and I begged my boss to include me in it, but nothing could be done. I lost out on a 10-month salary severance there :D
The next time they ask you to stay, ask for a retention bonus. Tell them you already have other jobs lined up and will need to turn them down. Make sure it pays out if they let you go before the retention period. And then make sure you will still get the severance. If they ask you to stay after the retention period negotiate again and have other options prepared. Always negotiate from a position of power. People will respect you more for it. What you did, didn't really net you anything. You only got what you already had and you burned some bridges to do it.
They wanted me to sign a confidentiality agreement when i got canned in order to receive 1 year of severance pay. I was not to solicit customers or recruit current employees. I was highly skilled labor. I threw the paper at them and told them FY. Monday morning i was on the plane and hired the same day. It took 6 weeks but i recruited 5 people from my old job. There very best. Needless to say they are no longer in business. Revenge is sweet. BE careful who you decide to fire. It may cost you your own job. I enjoyed every minute of what i did. The people i recruited saw what they did to me and realized it could happen to them. It all worked out very well for all of us. Have fun.
Great video! This has been one of the craziest years for the job market! I interviewed at gusto earlier this year, then layoffs happened. Glad it didn't work out. Sometimes the thing we want isn't the best for us.
This was a great video of the back and forth that a lot of people have when they are deciding on what to do in their lives. Life is not as linear as we would all like to think that it is. There are a lot of ups and downs that we go through and indecisiveness that we struggle with. I wish the best for you Namanh and I hope to see more from you in the future.
"You own me....."😂😂😂😂 Dude that's a corporation, not a trustworthy friend. You never mix up, women, friends, and money, never!!!! In a career, if a better opportunity arrives, you hop in and don't look back. When the ship goes down you better be ready.
Good for you for representing yourself and making what looks to be a great decision. Do not take it personal, but move forward with enthusiasm and show them that your skills will be valued by another organization. Remember if they do not want to pay you for your skills, someone else will.
Even I was into anxiety when I lived alone but in that lonliness i realised something, I stared getting into meditation which literally blessed me out and i realised that both sadness and happiness come from within me and never from external situation, wether I have job or not it doesn't affect my mental state I'm blissful by nature
Work does not define you. There is no loyalty in business. They even make decisions that don't make business sense, cutting people who make them more profitable, because they want to capture short term gains by temporarily inflating stock value for quick selloffs by individuals and shareholders. After I got no promotion despite blowing away all goals by 2-3x, I half-assed and dragged my feet on everything, still exceeded expectations, and then got laid off. I would have been laid off regardless. I dodged a bullet. With my spare time from slacking at this job, I picked up consulting work, and continued to have this consulting income after my layoff.
AI will replace all coding jobs in 5 years imo. I'd go independent ASAP. The major companies are going with automation. I'm a sys admin and I doubt I will have a job in the industry before retirement.
Been through this dear past 15 years in IT industry it is a cycle, take rest and start a new job hunt, aim bigger. Start a family brtoher, early the better :) these layoffs and stuff is common.
Lol my most recent software engineering position, this mf made me move across the country, he ended up being a piece of shit and when I stood up for myself he let me go. So I’m going back to school for dentistry, tech is cool but being told what to do by complete morons and losing your job overnight isn’t the way I’m trying to live life
Best wishes for your health, I have been in a similar situation and been "on pause" in most life aspects for 10 months so far since health issues began right as I was going to put in my 2 weeks notice so I just stayed while figuring things out. Survived 2 layoffs so far. At the very least, I've had a lot of time to plan for worst case scenarios.
Fighting to be off the chopping block is just a bad idea to begin with. The company was struggling and looking to downsize and even your manager told you to take the severance. He owed you because it was only 3 weeks earlier that he asked you to stay, so what you should have fought for--what he owed you--was a good severance package. I hope you at least got a better severance than whatever was outlined in the general VSP docs.
I also have a similar experience thank you for sharing that. The feeling of anxiety is bad but now I realize that I am free again to look for new opportunities. I feel like I need this I was too comfortable.
Hi Namanh, I’ve also watched your video about how to start in computer science, and just started my journey studying Python. Not much to say but thank you for all the tips very well explained. Hope you are able to continue this new chapter in your life -pour out the old tea, and make a new one. Cheers,
Man, sorry to hear about how it played out at the end. Definitely think you made the right choice though and leave on your own terms! Sucks we don't work together anymore and I cant brag about you to my friends but best of luck on your future man, any company would be lucky to have you. PS. really impressed with your editing/story-telling recently. A huge level-up in every way. Keep it up! (but take care of your health and rest too)
It happened to me, too. It's very emotional, but you did the right thing by taking a few weeks to get your stuff together and look into starting new things. A former mentor once told me that no matter what the economy is doing there are always good jobs out there for good people. You just have to stay sharp and always be the best at what you do. Getting comfortable in a job is a career killer.
