MAMEWorld Forums - The Loony Bin - Re: Anyone ever go thru a voluntary separation?

> They're looking to separate ~6K people globally in my company and are offering one
> year's pay w/benefits to lots of people. General consensus is that if I can land a
> similar job reasonably quickly that's close to what I'm making I should take the
> money and run. Trouble is I'm not confident I'd make even 1/2 of my current salary.
> Been there almost 29 years. And I'm not even close to early retirement so that's not
> an option.
>
> Can anyone that's gone through this offer advice? Checking monster dot com to see if
> I can get a sense of salaries in the IT field these days. I've done database
> programming in the past but last few years focusing on Microsoft Excel and VBA and
> starting to learn Access and SharePoint.

My father took a buyout from one of the major airlines and things didn't turn out as expected, so be careful. A few things to watch out for:

1. Know the exact amount they are paying you, and and the exact amount that you'll be pocketing. They do funny things with taxes post employment. Also, if you get another job there may be clauses that reduce your benefits if you have other means of obtaining them.

2. Have the specific on healthcare figured into your plan. It's expensive as hell, and you may not have the same benefits you were getting before

3. Know the rules about what happens to your checks if the company files for bankruptcy protection shortly after you accept. Contrary to anything you might hear, they CAN modify or eliminate your pension/buyout if the courts allow it.

4. Contract work is abundant in the field right now, especially for DB and VBA work. It's good money and an easy hire, but the working conditions often suck and there is little-to-no job security before or after the contract expires.

5. Start looking for other employment NOW, even if you don't end up accepting the buyout. Look locally if at all possible. Sites like monster and dice can get hundreds of applicants for one listing. That is especially true if you are applying for non-specialized IT skill-set positions.

Speaking from personal experience, the job market is brutal right now. Before I left my last job, we had applicants coming in with masters degrees for level I & II positions, and willing to accept level I pay. Decent jobs are still out there, but concessions will have to be made, no doubt.

just my $0.02