About 4 years ago, to my surprise (and delight) I realized I had sufficiently passed “my number” to even allow for the possibility that I grossly miscalculated. At that time, I arranged a heart-to-heart with my manager, at which I told him that if he is ever asked to identify people to lay off, I hoped he would include me in the list, to save someone else’s job. I worked at a megacorp, and had come to learn that whenever they laid people off, they offered them generous severance packages. Even leading up to that time, after some significant organizational and project changes, I was, to put it politely, less enthusiastic about my job than I had been earlier in my career. Things were starting to align for me, though there was no urgency - just a willingness and preparedness to retire when I received a “sign.” Then the pandemic hit, and I worked from home for about 2.5 years, occasionally reminding my manager of our discussion. Each time, he would smile and say, “I have no reason to let you go! You’re doing good work!” Finally, almost 3 years after that conversation, the company offered an early retirement package to a large number of people with sufficient years of service who had reached a certain age, and I had just met the age requirement so was included in the offer. The package was even better than previous severance packages. That was the final piece of the puzzle - the sign I was looking for, and I was extremely fortunate to receive that opportunity. In the end, the discussion with my manager was irrelevant, though it felt somewhat freeing that he understood where I was coming from. He appreciated and respected the work I did, but also didn’t put too much pressure to squeeze more out of me. We continue a friendship to this day.
Statistics: Posted by Longdog — Mon Jan 08, 2024 4:44 am — Replies 2 — Views 352