How do I make the best of a difficult work situation?

June 22, 2017 7:10 AM

I need some help determining the best course of action after the recent shakeups at my company. I'd like to do what's best for me and my career, but I also care about the people I work with and respect the core mission so I'd like to do right by them.

I'm a Senior Software Engineer at a moderately well-known, medium-sized tech company. Recently we've had multiple rounds of layoffs and there is a lot of uncertainty about the future. I've been working towards both a promotion and a raise that I was hoping to get within the next 6 months, but now it seems like I'm in a much better negotiating position and I'm trying to determine if I should make use of that.

Some relevant details:

• I've been at the company awhile, but not so long that the promotion/raise is grievously overdue
• The promotion past the senior level is quite challenging and I feel I've earned it
• I'm part of a small team that performs a critical function, so I am unlikely to be laid off
• I may not stay at the company much longer, but it seems like the right play career-wise to leave with the best title/salary that I can
• I joined the company because it was a good mix of a positive mission, interesting work and fair compensation; I feel that the first two have been diminished by recent changes and so asking for more of the third may be appropriate

So, should I use the situation to my advantage, and if so what's the best way to handle that?

Follow up questions or clarifications: [e-mail]

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (3 answers total)

Usually when people ask questions, they kind of lay out the pros and cons, but I'm just not seeing a downside - why would you NOT approach your manager about a raise/promotion? There's no clear reason why asking to be promoted would be somehow not "doing right by them".

So yes, go ask!
posted by aimedwander at 8:20 AM on June 22, 2017

multiple rounds of layoffs means doing more than cutting the deadweight from the org tree.

Is the company prepping for being bought out/acquired ? (That's one reason they tend to cut a lot -- and Oracle has been on one hell of a buying spree recently.. ) If so, they might not be interested in increasing their costs via the promotion.

What's been presented to you as why the multiple layoffs ? Both the official line, and whatever you can get out from your network at the company.

Is the step up more managerial or architecture/strategic thinking/big-picture tech ? Or are you looking at C-level/corner office ?
posted by k5.user at 9:03 AM on June 22, 2017

You don't really present any reason you shouldn't go for this, other than the fact that your company is going through a period of uncertainty. I think it really depends on what exactly they are changing about their vision that is leading to layoffs and how valuable you are. The old adage is that you don't get what you don't ask for, so sure, you should ask if there's no reason you think it'd backfire.

But have a good, compelling reason when you ask. Have you absorbed more duties due to layoffs? Have you added value in some other way? Are you better-suited for the direction the company is moving? I don't know what your relationship is like with your higher-ups (obviously), but it might be worth sitting down and asking what direction the company is moving in or what is going on. If you think you have a compelling argument that you can help lead your company where it wants to go, then state your case and ask for what you want.

"Doing right by your company" really sounds irrelevant here and, let's be honest, they'd cut your job in a heartbeat if it benefited them. Do what's best for you.
posted by AppleTurnover at 1:34 PM on June 22, 2017