When the rumors start at your company, there are two instincts people have—put their head in the ground or head for the hills.
Heading for the hills may be a good choice but staying may also be a good one.
Here are several reasons to wait until you are offered a package:
- You expect a large severance package Many organizations have standard practices for how much they will pay someone in case of layoff. In the olden days, many banks would pay an officer of the bank four weeks salary for every year of service. Someone with 10 years of service would be getting a minimum of 40 weeks of pay. For someone earning $100,000 per year in salary that’s more than $75,000. Add accrued sick time, vacation time, and personal time and you could easily be receiving more than $80000 to wait to be laid off
- Your job history isn’t the best Your job history was, at best, mediocre when you joined this company and if you wait 6 months, you will have two years of service with them. Even if you are laid off, you will have a severance package and the ability to say that you understood your previous history was somewhat spotty and was trying to clean it up.
Leonid was someone I knew like this. He had been a consultant for many years and his employer was in trouble. He held on and made two years of service, effectively eliminating the “job hopper question” from his interviews. He was able to say to potential employers, “I had been a consultant on a series of six to nine-month assignments for several years. I joined Magna Corp because I wanted to put down roots and stay with a company for many years. Unfortunately, business conditions changed at Magna. Even when they started to become a source of speculation, I stayed because I wanted to contribute to a turnaround and because I didn’t want to jump ship so fast.”
- You receive additional pension benefits by remaining If you are fortunate enough to work for a company with a pension plan, look at your benefits plan to see whether there is any additional benefit you receive from your pension for remaining longer. If you have already vested sufficiently for maximum benefit and won’t receive any more vesting by remaining with your company any longer, don’t use this as a reason to remain with them.
- Tuition reimbursement Stay long enough to complete your course and be reimbursed for tuition
- You can receive paid-for-training that will enhance your skills in the job market If your boss will approve a course that will help you in the job market, take the class.
- You will vest in some benefit if you remain a little longer Providing the company you work for doesn’t become the next famous business failure, you may benefit from vesting in your stock options or stock grants. Find out now, rather than wait.
- You would need to repay a loan If you borrowed against your 401K or received some preferred loan that you would need to repay immediately upon your departure, don’t leave yet.
I don’t know your circumstances. I do know that you need to make conscious choices given all the variables you are presented with.
Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2008, 2010, 2016, 2020
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves career coaching, all as well as executive job search coaching, job coaching, and interview coaching. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with more than 2000 episodes, and is a member of The Forbes Coaches Council.
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