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Ask HN: Company is restructuring. Should I look for new job?

5 points by crackerphews ↗ HN
Company I work for is doing a restructuring. They say my team is pretty "essential" so we won't be affected. Should I trust that? My gut feel is that I should start looking for a new job and if I get an offer tell my manager and see how he responds. What do you think? I work in a devops type role. Been at company for 2 years now.

17 comments

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MrDresden
I have gone through a restructuring at an established old money financial company where most of the management tier above me (up 2 levels) was let go, as well as many in the IT department along with a few from the product team I was in.

I decided to stay and see what would happen, and would advice the same.

The reasoning I used was that the change in structure might bring with it new opportunities and actually cause internal grievances to get addressed. In case of being laid off I would still hold skills in high demand and would not have any issue finding another job. And in case I would not like the changes made, I would always be able to leave anyway.

I ended up staying, not being fired, receive two raises and be able to learn new skills. Its been 2 years since this happened.

Your personal situations can differ of course, but unless you would be in dire financial straights or feeling that you would have a hard time finding a new position, I'd recommend staying and seeing how things go.

pettycashstash2
Definitely. I was faced with this exact situation and regret not doing so. I survived several restructuring events but was eventually cut. Pay attention to why they are restructuring as well.
crackerphews
You regret not jumping ship?
pettycashstash2
yes, very much regret it in hindsight. restructuring can and many times is a two edged sword. if one can identify clear opportunities its worth to stay. After multiple restructuring events morale tends to go down and it becomes a death spiral for many organizations. Not all, but many.

In addition current employment environment is extremely friendly to moves. It wont be this way always.

taubek
My logic is that is always better to look for new opportunities when you can than when you have to. Note: I was never in your situation.
throwawayvibes
>Should I trust that?

No. They tell this to everyone except the managers who will do the firing. Start interviewing before your colleagues grab the offers.

treis
The job market has gone wild. You're likely looking at a ~30% raise and perhaps much more if you can jump a level. No reason not to look.
ydhddhtchgvbdc
Leave. Seriously. If you're contemplating it, and it's something you can do fairly easily, a lateral move, do it.

Restructurings always suck, especially those resulting from sales. They have every incentive to keep you on the line like a trout hooked, "a potential resource". Nothing they say will be binding. If they need you, they might keep you. If they don't, you went through all that trouble for a big fat goodbye.

There's nothing saying you can't come back. If you're a good employee and you leave respectfully, you can always come back. They might even need you to, and if they do, you'll get a significant salary bump.

Yeah, man, restructurings suck. You're the total fuckbag all the way through and nobody tells you anything that's true. You know this is true because HR is always a central cog to the clown show. Bleh. Shiver. Makes me itch. Went through a Koch Brothers "restructuring" once and boy was that aplenty fun to never want do that again.

JSONderulo
Went through something similar a year ago w/ a restructuring. My team was considered essential and part of a high performing part of the biz. A bunch of people left and eventually so did I. Almost felt like it was contagious when coworkers were announcing they were leaving each week.

Probably won't hurt to look elsewhere and at least have an option. You can probably secure a nice pay bump too or negotiate for other things. My new company is fully remote and I moved to a new state. The old company was pretty set that we'd all return.

crackerphews
Thanks this makes sense what you said about the salary bump. I guess it won't hurt to start looking around. Thanks for the advice.
rdtwo
Yes. Unless you would be happy to switch companies for the same pay you might as well switch for more pay.

Also everyone is essential until they aren’t. Nobody is going to tell you that you v are redundant until they are ready to cut you