4 ms·

The eternal story of “we’re going to acquire you but leave you alone” that turns out to almost never be true.

digdigdag 4y ago
Ten years in IT, I've been part of roughly 4 acquisitions across a few jobs. Each time the line delivered to the employees is more or less the same: "don't worry, we don't intend to change anything. It's business as usual". Then a few months in, the warning signs begin. New HR documents to sign. New benefit schedules. Then there's some turbulence from above -- talks of upper management getting reshuffled. New org charts. A few months after that, there's new customers to support, new SLA guidelines, new meetings for us to attend. _Then_ it's your organization that starts getting sacked. It's all just a cynical dog whistling to get people to stay complacent and continue turning the cog while they pull the rug out from under you. Thankfully I've become adept at the skill of jumping ship when I see the first leaks, if you know what I mean.
- imwithstoopid 4y ago
  why jump at the sign of a first leak? you can usually get another full year of slacking off at full pay while the parent company dithers around unless you see truly greener pastures elsewhere, getting acquired is one of the best gigs in IT
  - livelielife 4y ago
    for some people a job is just a job, and any job is potentially ok. some other suckers like myself, we need something more out of our jobs; it sucks to be like this; it makes us easier to exploit.
    - itronitron 4y ago
      I've never been more miserable than when I have been paid to show up and do nothing.
      - throwaway8689 4y ago
        Only time I'm more miserable is if I'm told to work on something I know is going to get canned.
      - malermeister 4y ago
        That's why wfh is so great: You don't show up, you do nothing and you still get paid.
        oblio 4y ago
        And you've just figured out one of the reasons return to office is being pushed now.
        malermeister 4y ago
        ...and also why workers, myself included, will fight them tooth and nail over it.
- petepete 4y ago
  In the only acquisition I've been involved in, the morning after it was officially announced we came into the office and the (brand-colour) orange walls had been painted grey.
  - throwaway8689 4y ago
    Imagine the opportunities for 'insider' trading in the painting and decorating business.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - renewiltord 4y ago
    Reminds me of Oracle's acquisition of Sun. Day One after acquisition sun.com redirects to Oracle. No "Our Wonderful Journey" post. Nothing. Bam, 301.
goodoldneon 4y ago
Cisco’s acquisition of Duo was pretty good. Cisco even lets Duo use Slack even though Cisco owns WebEx
- srhtftw 4y ago
  I've also heard the Cisco Meraki acquisition went well because Meraki was profitable enough to remain independent.

Ten years in IT, I've been part of roughly 4 acquisitions across a few jobs. Each time the line delivered to the employees is more or less the same: "don't worry, we don't intend to change anything. It's business as usual". Then a few months in, the warning signs begin. New HR documents to sign. New benefit schedules. Then there's some turbulence from above -- talks of upper management getting reshuffled. New org charts. A few months after that, there's new customers to support, new SLA guidelines, new meetings for us to attend. _Then_ it's your organization that starts getting sacked. It's all just a cynical dog whistling to get people to stay complacent and continue turning the cog while they pull the rug out from under you. Thankfully I've become adept at the skill of jumping ship when I see the first leaks, if you know what I mean.

imwithstoopid 4y ago
why jump at the sign of a first leak? you can usually get another full year of slacking off at full pay while the parent company dithers around unless you see truly greener pastures elsewhere, getting acquired is one of the best gigs in IT
- livelielife 4y ago
  for some people a job is just a job, and any job is potentially ok. some other suckers like myself, we need something more out of our jobs; it sucks to be like this; it makes us easier to exploit.
  - itronitron 4y ago
    I've never been more miserable than when I have been paid to show up and do nothing.
    - throwaway8689 4y ago
      Only time I'm more miserable is if I'm told to work on something I know is going to get canned.
    - malermeister 4y ago
      That's why wfh is so great: You don't show up, you do nothing and you still get paid.
      - oblio 4y ago
        And you've just figured out one of the reasons return to office is being pushed now.
        malermeister 4y ago
        ...and also why workers, myself included, will fight them tooth and nail over it.
petepete 4y ago
In the only acquisition I've been involved in, the morning after it was officially announced we came into the office and the (brand-colour) orange walls had been painted grey.
- throwaway8689 4y ago
  Imagine the opportunities for 'insider' trading in the painting and decorating business.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- renewiltord 4y ago
  Reminds me of Oracle's acquisition of Sun. Day One after acquisition sun.com redirects to Oracle. No "Our Wonderful Journey" post. Nothing. Bam, 301.

goodoldneon 4y ago

Cisco’s acquisition of Duo was pretty good. Cisco even lets Duo use Slack even though Cisco owns WebEx

srhtftw 4y ago
I've also heard the Cisco Meraki acquisition went well because Meraki was profitable enough to remain independent.