Company buy out

[Frosty]

Retention bonuses don't just go to management.

We are supposed to get a retention bonus in December if we stay.

Unfortunately, the more I hear them talk I realize they either have no idea what they are talking about or half of them are just flat out lying.

 

[KLB]

We are supposed to get a retention bonus in December if we stay.

Unfortunately, the more I hear them talk I realize they either have no idea what they are talking about or half of them are just flat out lying.

You should get a formal letter stating the terms, amount and date required to receive, if you are to get one.

 

[xwing]

We could still keep our position, if we moved to Boston, but we wouldn't be getting a raise. Considering the cost of living in Boston is 4-5 times what it is here, nobody made the move. And since leaving the company was our choice, we couldn't get severance pay, or even unemployment.

Hmm. Forced relocation is often considered constructive dismissal. IMO you'd have a strong case for unemployment.

 

[Frosty]

You should get a formal letter stating the terms, amount and date required to receive, if you are to get one.

Yeah I have yet to receive any offer letter or any communication from them as of yet. I’m not stressing about it, won’t do me any good, but some of the guys are about to lose their minds worrying about it.

 

[KLB]

Yeah I have yet to receive any offer letter or any communication from them as of yet. I’m not stressing about it, won’t do me any good, but some of the guys are about to lose their minds worrying about it.

One thing most every large corporation has in common, they do not do things quickly.

 

[Frosty]

Well two weeks in and no job offer letter, they had to make me a time card, and their online system had no record of me. I told them they weren’t doing a very good job making me feel secure in my position Not much has changed, other than going from unorganized chaos that I knew what to expect to unorganized chaos that nobody knows what to expect. Some people are super excited, others are completely against everything, and some of us are just trying to roll with the punches.

 

[HoughMade]

My son just found out his company has been sold. He's an engineer at a managed service provider that also owns its own fiberoptic network. They are being told that the buyer plans on expanding the company....but he's a little nervous.

 

[KLB]

Well two weeks in and no job offer letter, they had to make me a time card, and their online system had no record of me. I told them they weren’t doing a very good job making me feel secure in my position Not much has changed, other than going from unorganized chaos that I knew what to expect to unorganized chaos that nobody knows what to expect. Some people are super excited, others are completely against everything, and some of us are just trying to roll with the punches.

A couple of weeks is nothing in large corporate time.

 

[Frosty]

A couple of weeks is nothing in large corporate time.

True. I’m being as patient as possible while fighting the urge to walk in the office and yelling “WHAT IN THE HELL IS EVEN GOING ON HERE!?!?”

 

[Twangbanger]

True. I’m being as patient as possible while fighting the urge to walk in the office and yelling “WHAT IN THE HELL IS EVEN GOING ON HERE!?!?”

You'll still be feeling that way a year from now. Chaos is the norm in company buy-outs, because it takes a lot of time for management to figure out the new reality. How do things get funded? What are the priorities, how much can we spend and on what, what do we have to report and to whom? What are the politics and who do we need to impress, etc, etc.

Half of it will be because the new company uses different IT tools, and there will be a massive list of things that need changed over. Each computer system or tool you use will get phased out, one by one, and replaced by something nobody understands. Every business process and transaction will slow down to a crawl at some point, before slowly speeding back up as people learn the new drill. When it finally speeds back up, the backlog of work from the slowdown period will overwhelm everyone downstream of it, and their hair will be on fire for months trying to get back on top of it. People who handle things like Purchase Orders and hiring requisitions will be at high risk for burnout. Don't be surprised if you deal with 3 different HR people in the same position the next year.

Do you buy things from vendors? All new credit ratings, vendor approvals, incredibly specific and detailed forms that have to be filled out to the Nth degree, just to keep buying things from the same suppliers you were using last month. Now it's like all your vendors are from a different planet, and have to be verified again by a new corporate entity.

The first 6 months you will have no idea what the "new reality" is, so what you're describing is basically normal. People who like change and have been promised performance-based incentives for attainment of transition-related goals will be super pumped and will keep telling you "how excited" they are about the exciting new future with the exciting new company. Meanwhile, people who like conformity and familiar routines will be driven nucking futs by the ambiguity of it.

 

[Frosty]

Meanwhile, people who like conformity and familiar routines will be driven nucking futs by the ambiguity of it.

I can confirm you are correct on this point.

I’m a routine type of person, not so much that I can’t change mind you, but I leave the house at the same time, stroll through the door at work at the same time, and this is a little maddening…

 

[Frosty]

The new company has done a fine job of screwing up payroll, after working on Labor Day and the Saturday after I only got a check for 8 hours of holiday pay and that’s it none of the hours I worked were paid.