3 ms·

Well all the FAANG are doing it right now, so not the best example, but if your company is cutting salary and other companies that offer the same TC are not, th

Well all the FAANG are doing it right now, so not the best example, but if your company is cutting salary and other companies that offer the same TC are not, then there's no reason to be loyal to a company anymore (companies aren't loyal to you), you might as well jump ship to the company that will give you more money for pretty much the same work. Usually people only get raises when they job hop anyway. I've been at a company that cut benefits because of hard times. I stupidly stuck around longer than I should have. Those benefits never came back, after multiple years. Meanwhile those that were laid off got all those benefits and more back with their next company. I eventually left and got all of it back plus a large salary bump.

twelve40 4y ago
I don't get this "instantly jump ship logic". Finding the next big thing takes time, even for the best people. A bunch of other companies are laying off too right now, so that makes the search harder, not a great time to rage quit. One company may steal the benefits forever, another one may actually bring them back at some point. Rage quitting immediately after a 10% pay cut doesn't seem very logical, wouldn't you want to stick around for a bit to see if the company recovers (and the job market improves)? and only then move.
- cableshaft 4y ago
  I have personally been the guy that 'stuck around to see if the company recovers'. I stayed for three years with just more of my benefits cut, salary freezes, promised "we'll maybe promote you in six months or so even though you've already been doing your previous bosses job for a year and we refer to you as the SME in the department" multiple times without it happening, etc. When I finally jumped ship, I got a 60% raise and better benefits than I ever had at that company. Meanwhile everyone else who left or were laid off were getting their raises and salary bumps and 401k matches etc that entire time so the opportunity cost of all that lost salary for me was very high. I should have been looking immediately and left as soon as I found something better. As a hint of how they're currently doing, their stock has gone down 71% since I joined seven years ago, and down about 30% since I've left a year and a half ago. I sat and listened to each of their quarterly earnings reports and I think every quarter their year-over-year revenue went down the entire time I was there. I'd still be waiting for things to get better if I was still there. I'm not saying turn in your notice today, I'm saying the company can always hire someone to replace you if they're desperate enough, don't worry about being loyal to it, at the expense of your own livelihood, out of hopes that maybe it'll get better someday. If it does, rejoin the company after it gets better. As long as you didn't burn the bridge on the way out, they'll probably be happy to rehire you. And you might get a better salary that way than if you stayed the entire time. That's not the only time I stuck around, btw. I've been one of the guys that survived an initial layoff just to be laid off in a later round three other times. They were in the video game industry, so I wanted to stick it out until the game was released at least, and thought 'well maybe things will get better by then'. It didn't. I was just unemployed and not making any money while looking for a new job, (severance isn't much of a thing in the game industry, at least not for smaller companies), which also made me a bit desperate to take the first job that gave me an offer, instead of being employed while looking and able to be more discerning.
  - twblalock 4y ago
    I also tried to stick it out in a bad situation, and leaving was the best career decision I ever made. This business requires a mercenary attitude sometimes. I'm not saying that's the way the world should be, but that's definitely the way the world is. One of the nice things about that is knowing a lot of good people at other companies, who would be helpful to me if I was hunting for another job, because they are also mercenaries and have done some job hopping since we first met while working together.

twelve40 4y ago

I don't get this "instantly jump ship logic". Finding the next big thing takes time, even for the best people. A bunch of other companies are laying off too right now, so that makes the search harder, not a great time to rage quit. One company may steal the benefits forever, another one may actually bring them back at some point. Rage quitting immediately after a 10% pay cut doesn't seem very logical, wouldn't you want to stick around for a bit to see if the company recovers (and the job market improves)? and only then move.

cableshaft 4y ago
I have personally been the guy that 'stuck around to see if the company recovers'. I stayed for three years with just more of my benefits cut, salary freezes, promised "we'll maybe promote you in six months or so even though you've already been doing your previous bosses job for a year and we refer to you as the SME in the department" multiple times without it happening, etc. When I finally jumped ship, I got a 60% raise and better benefits than I ever had at that company. Meanwhile everyone else who left or were laid off were getting their raises and salary bumps and 401k matches etc that entire time so the opportunity cost of all that lost salary for me was very high. I should have been looking immediately and left as soon as I found something better. As a hint of how they're currently doing, their stock has gone down 71% since I joined seven years ago, and down about 30% since I've left a year and a half ago. I sat and listened to each of their quarterly earnings reports and I think every quarter their year-over-year revenue went down the entire time I was there. I'd still be waiting for things to get better if I was still there. I'm not saying turn in your notice today, I'm saying the company can always hire someone to replace you if they're desperate enough, don't worry about being loyal to it, at the expense of your own livelihood, out of hopes that maybe it'll get better someday. If it does, rejoin the company after it gets better. As long as you didn't burn the bridge on the way out, they'll probably be happy to rehire you. And you might get a better salary that way than if you stayed the entire time. That's not the only time I stuck around, btw. I've been one of the guys that survived an initial layoff just to be laid off in a later round three other times. They were in the video game industry, so I wanted to stick it out until the game was released at least, and thought 'well maybe things will get better by then'. It didn't. I was just unemployed and not making any money while looking for a new job, (severance isn't much of a thing in the game industry, at least not for smaller companies), which also made me a bit desperate to take the first job that gave me an offer, instead of being employed while looking and able to be more discerning.
- twblalock 4y ago
  I also tried to stick it out in a bad situation, and leaving was the best career decision I ever made. This business requires a mercenary attitude sometimes. I'm not saying that's the way the world should be, but that's definitely the way the world is. One of the nice things about that is knowing a lot of good people at other companies, who would be helpful to me if I was hunting for another job, because they are also mercenaries and have done some job hopping since we first met while working together.