What happens when the company you work is sold? Experiences/advice

[redsfanmia]

The company I worked for and loved working for sold off my division/brand to a rival larger company roughly 4 years ago. At first we were romanced and told how much the new company liked the way we did business and that they would keep the status quo, that lasted a year. The new company then started making changes including slashing pay by 30% and they have been driving sales down seemingly on purpose but I think through ignorance. Over 50% of the local employees have moved on and the others are actively looking. I know many people have gone through the same thing and wondered how they dealt with it?

[Raisor]

The company I work for was sold on January 1st of this year. Benefits have gotten better but there hasn't been much else of a difference so far

[George Anderson]

The company I work for was sold on January 1st of this year. Benefits have gotten better but there hasn't been much else of a difference so far

Amway downsized?

[dougdirt]

If you aren't happy, look for other work. It isn't worth it to stay there if you don't like it, assuming you can find another job of course. You don't sound happy. Start looking.

[SunDeck]

Wow, that's got to be stressful. I agree with Doug, it is time to think about your next place of employment. Best wishes!

[RedTeamGo!]

What industry are you in?

[Kingspoint]

Pay attention to the rumors before it happens and make sure you get all of your sicktime/vacation time in before it has a chance of changing.

[Yachtzee]

I was hired by a big consulting firm back 1999, during the whole IT boom that went along with Y2K and the dot.com bubble. Then our division got sold to another consulting firm. We went from 900 employees to 0 in less than 2 years. First thing we noticed was upper management taking extensive trips to India and bringing back groups of new employees on H1 visas. They said not to worry, they just needed more programmers and couldn't find enough experienced ones here. Then one of the managing partners was sent over to "train new employees before bringing them to America. " At that point, many of us saw the writing on the wall and left.

[dougdirt]

I was hired by a big consulting firm back 1999, during the whole IT boom that went along with Y2K and the dot.com bubble. Then our division got sold to another consulting firm. We went from 900 employees to 0 in less than 2 years. First thing we noticed was upper management taking extensive trips to India and bringing back groups of new employees on H1 visas. They said not to worry, they just needed more programmers and couldn't find enough experienced ones here. Then one of the managing partners was sent over to "train new employees before bringing them to America. " At that point, many of us saw the writing on the wall and left.

And a few years later they made an awesome movie about it.

[Roy Tucker]

Try to make change your ally. With companies getting assimilated into the mother ship there comes opportunities. Don't pine away for how things used to be. Change is inevitable. Look around for something closer to what you want. And if it's not there, talk to your bosses and see if you can invent a slot. I did that twice, once when Control Data got bought by Syntegra and when Legato got bought by EMC. Found corporate groups doing closer to what I wanted and made some calls. My management helped me to make these moves (to their credit).

[westofyou]

My company got bought in 1999, I happened to have a stake in it so it was a good deal, 2 years they killed the product I supported, a month later I was layed off. I had to reinvent myself and my work "wants" I ended up doing a lot of freelance stuff and eventually found what floated my boat as a worker.

Moral of the story?

Stuff will change, and you probably are best to change some too, how that takes you will be your choice.

[OldRightHander]

The last time I got downsized I started my own company. When I went on the road it was under my own authority and I built the thing from scratch.

[RedTeamGo!]

The last time I got downsized I started my own company. When I went on the road it was under my own authority and I built the thing from scratch.

Here is an image of OldRightHander on the road selling his product.

[Raisor]

Amway downsized?

Not so far