Tech layoffs (Austin, Atlanta, Point: 2015, rent, health insurance)

[ParaguaneroSwag]

How’s Austin fairing with the recent rounds of mass layoffs in tech? Can’t imagine it’s doing worse than the Silicon Valley

[Need4Camaro]

Its a mixed bag between layoffs and hirings. Myself and my neighbor were laid off by Dell in December. I was able to find something very quickly, he on the other hand has enough in reserve to carry him for a year so he's being more selective.

Before fall of last year it seemed like it was more layoffs than hirings yet at an odd time of the year, hirings seemed to pick up.

Right now, it seems like security and government are in high demand, security has been in high demand ever since Russia / Ukraine started and didn't seem to take much of hit from the layoffs, but I don't know if that qualifies as local.

[Brown Darby]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Its a mixed bag between layoffs and hirings. Myself and my neighbor were laid off by Dell in December. I was able to find something very quickly, he on the other hand has enough in reserve to carry him for a year so he's being more selective.

Before fall of last year it seemed like it was more layoffs than hirings yet at an odd time of the year, hirings seemed to pick up.

Right now, it seems like security and government are in high demand, security has been in high demand ever since Russia / Ukraine started and didn't seem to take much of hit from the layoffs, but I don't know if that qualifies as local.

Glad you were able to find something quickly. Was that your first time being laid off?

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by Brown Darby

Glad you were able to find something quickly. Was that your first time being laid off?

No. I got laid off by IBM during Covid-19 - It took about a year before I was able to find something to replace it, I was doing Uber/Doordash intermittently during that period.

I also got laid off by Hewlett Packard Enterprise back in Atlanta when they offshored our entire team to India back in 2015ish I think it was.

I had another occurrence where the company I worked for was bought out and the scope of everything changed but that wasn't really a layoff but a lack of interest in the new scope...especially after their very first move was to dock our paychecks for a month while they sorted everything out.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

No. I got laid off by IBM during Covid-19 - It took about a year before I was able to find something to replace it, I was doing Uber/Doordash intermittently during that period.

I also got laid off by Hewlett Packard Enterprise back in Atlanta when they offshored our entire team to India back in 2015ish I think it was.

I had another occurrence where the company I worked for was bought out and the scope of everything changed but that wasn't really a layoff but a lack of interest in the new scope...especially after their very first move was to dock our paychecks for a month while they sorted everything out.

What division did Hewlett Packard Enterprise run in Atlanta?

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Its a mixed bag between layoffs and hirings. Myself and my neighbor were laid off by Dell in December. I was able to find something very quickly, he on the other hand has enough in reserve to carry him for a year so he's being more selective.

This is why I have not committed to a mortgage. I invest my money in other ways and pay rent with it instead.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

What division did Hewlett Packard Enterprise run in Atlanta?

That particular center was in Alpharetta off of Windward Pkwy. They were primarily focused on servers but they also had a networking division but the networking aspect of things always seemed flaky as far as retention and progression was concerned and I had a hard time becoming glued to the company because I always knew that when they could find someone to do the job cheaper, they were going to do just that.. ..and they eventually proved me right.

I was on the networking side. At the time they were working with their Comware switches, as well as ProCurve Routers and Switches. I was doing contract and warranty support for the ProCurve Router and Switch platform. They had contracts with government entities, schools, businesses of all sorts of varieties and eventually AT&T (which they still have a contract with.) .. On the AT&T side of things, they provided and supported network infrastructure for Home Depot stores, McDonalds, Bank of America and several other entities, but their primary focus was Home Depot.

They acquired Aruba while I was still working there and eventually re-branded their ProCurve switches under the Aruba platform although I believe the general OS is still the same. We were also responsible for Aruba deployments and configurations in Aruba Central, Airwave and APC.

After we initiated the project and built firm guidelines as to how it should operate, the potential issues, how to stack switches and perform change management.. ..they figured out how they could do it cheaper and slashed the team, offshoring most of the support related roles and keeping half of the change management team.

Those commutes to Alpharetta were brutal. I typically tried to leave at about 5am to avoid this:







I stayed around North Point Mall until about 7pm before I even thought about trying to venture home.

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

This is why I have not committed to a mortgage. I invest my money in other ways and pay rent with it instead.

I guess its to each their own. I bought earlier than I was ready to because I was afraid of getting priced out. I don't regret my choice. I did have to put in some extra work though to pay my Mortgage in advance incase the sky fell, which I was fortunate in doing as the sky has fallen twice so far.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

I guess its to each their own. I bought earlier than I was ready to because I was afraid of getting priced out. I don't regret my choice. I did have to put in some extra work though to pay my Mortgage in advance incase the sky fell, which I was fortunate in doing as the sky has fallen twice so far.

To be clearer, I invest my money in other ways and use the money from the investments to pay rent and living expenses. I’ve moved for work 3 times in the last couple of years so it works better for my kind of situation anyway. The reason I said “this is why I haven’t commuted to mortgage” is because let’s say I’m in a certain city where I have a house. And then get laid off and find a job in another city, I would have to take care of the house situation along with the move.

I’ve only been in a “sky is falling” situation once but thankfully I was able to live with my other income. And as fate would have it I found a job elsewhere and I was sure glad I didn’t have a house situation to take care of.

[CarnivalGal]

I work for the technology sector for a large, federal government agency. The government has a bunch of openings, but until Congress actually passes a budget, they're holding off on filling them. Government contractors are always hiring for tech roles. I'm actually a contractor. It's way more secure than private sector. I recently switched roles (same agency, still Office of IT, just different contracting company), and I didn't even consider going private sector when I was looking because of the fear of being laid off. People hear contractor and think 1099, temporary positions, but that's not how it works at all. Most contractors (like me) are W2 employees with all the benefits that come with it. And because the government stipulates that contract companies provide a certain level of benefits, they're pretty good. We have to get at least 3 weeks PTO a year, all the federal holidays off, health insurance, etc. There are contractors I work with who have been there for 20 years.

And a lot of the jobs are 100% remote. Because we have a location here in Austin, I do go in every now and then, but it's rare. But a lot of agencies don't have locations here, so no way to go in.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

To be clearer, I invest my money in other ways and use the money from the investments to pay rent and living expenses. I’ve moved for work 3 times in the last couple of years so it works better for my kind of situation anyway. The reason I said “this is why I haven’t commuted to mortgage” is because let’s say I’m in a certain city where I have a house. And then get laid off and find a job in another city, I would have to take care of the house situation along with the move.

I’ve only been in a “sky is falling” situation once but thankfully I was able to live with my other income. And as fate would have it I found a job elsewhere and I was sure glad I didn’t have a house situation to take care of.

Yeah that makes sense and that is sound. For me though I just pay in advance by a year or greater so if I ever lose my job I don't have to move immediately.