Question for those who lost their Job at Microsoft in 2008 great recession

Cisco / Eng
O-Hai-Jony

Go to company page Cisco Eng

BIO
hoe
O-Hai-Jony
Oct 5, 2019 223 Comments

Hello, I'm on the cusp of deciding which company I will work for. I am on the verge of deciding between: Military Engineering Job, A Firmware Engineering Job In France, and a Microsoft offer. I have been doing research into potentially deciding to Go back to Microsoft (I've worked there before) however I was in Highschool during the Great recession.

Can anyone give me a list of warnings and lessons learned that they wish the would have known before the Bubble burst in 2008? Should I go to Microsoft KNOWING that the Bubble is beginning to burst.

comments

Want to comment? LOG IN or SIGN UP
TOP 223 Comments
  • Oracle
    Sockets

    Go to company page Oracle

    Sockets
    If you know when the bubble is going to burst you would not need to worry since you will make a killing on shorting stocks, no?
    Oct 5, 2019 19
    • Amazon / Eng
      AMZNBucks

      Go to company page Amazon Eng

      AMZNBucks
      I was curious on the pay bands actually, especially for junior devs ~ 2 YOE. I withdrew from the onsite because I got pretty much a max offer for my level @ Amazon, and wanted to make the move to FANG, but really liked the company. (I was just burnt out from interviewing)

      Also are all the dev teams using rails?
      Oct 9, 2019
    • Upstart
      Lolmonies

      Go to company page Upstart

      Lolmonies
      Not gonna get FANG money but pretty good considering a startup. Plus fwiw, options could be worth something. Most of the devs write in rails but there's some python. Also a react shop.
      Oct 9, 2019
  • Microsoft is probably the safest bet out there.
    Oct 5, 2019 13
    • GrubHub
      grubby

      Go to company page GrubHub

      grubby
      Twitch, selling ads is not what an ad agency does 😂. And before you pull out vague theories about how demand for ads behaves during a recession, look at the revenue charts for Google for 2008 - and also how many people they laid off then.
      Oct 9, 2019
    • Twitch / Cust. Srv.
      dreamful

      Go to company page Twitch Cust. Srv.

      dreamful
      Dude.... Google in 2008 was a small company that was literally distrusting a space.

      Look at Google today with 95 percent of its revenue coming from ads as one of the largest companies in the world by market cap

      It's 2 completely different cases. You're comparing apples to oranges if you want to see how Google did in 08. A better comparison would be to see what a top investment bank like Goldman performed during 08
      Oct 10, 2019
  • Uber
    budd

    Go to company page Uber

    PRE
    Foursquare, Microsoft
    budd
    I worked at Microsoft in 2008.

    My thoughts:
    - FTEs (and CSGs) were mostly isolated from the economic downturn. Sure.... maybe base salary increases were lower... but there weren’t mass layoffs.
    - Applying for a job there was tough. I remember Waterloo students, for example, were lucky that their school had a special program that reserved internship spots for them. They were amongst the very few interns taken at that time.
    - Microsoft in 2008 isn’t Microsoft in 2019. Just because they didn’t let people go then doesn’t mean they won’t now. Perhaps they use the opportunity to clean house. Ya just don’t know.
    Oct 5, 2019 15
    • As I mentioned earlier, due to the downturn that started in 2008, Microsoft had 3 rounds of layoffs starting in May 2009, and at least the first two rounds hit engineering. I know people who were laid off in the first two rounds. The third round may have still hit engineering - I’m not sure, but AFAIK, my org was not hit in the 3rd round.
      Supposedly, we’d already cut “deep enough”.
      Oct 8, 2019
    • GitHub
      ™️gh

      Go to company page GitHub

      ™️gh
      > GitHub will definitely clean house

      Well, yeah but GitHub already aggressively fires people for no real reason so that's a given.
      Oct 8, 2019
  • Knowing the bubble is beginning to burst? How do you know this? CNN?
    Oct 5, 2019 9
    • Cisco / Eng
      DennisNdry

      Go to company page Cisco Eng

      BIO
      hoe
      DennisNdry
      All of the Bulls and Bears are showing. I like it. I'm just SPOOKED.
      Oct 10, 2019
    • Fitbit
      0x56BD

      Go to company page Fitbit

      0x56BD
      I’m neither, I just have been around long enough to know that fearmongering is just the standard now that we’ve been burned. Honestly it’s good and keeps most of us honest (except WeWork lool), but sometimes the news gets tiring. Google “tech bubble” and note a different analyst predicting a crash every year since 2009.
      Oct 10, 2019
  • New
    JxzE37

    New

    JxzE37
    I worked in Microsoft in 2009 and was able to chat with some fairly high up people and even with Bill playing a big role and wanting to not do any layoffs the board pushed for the layoffs. These days Satya and Amy have no qualms and infact there are mini layoffs every year in Microsoft nowadays that you don't hear about. I expect to see a reasonable number let go when a recession hits and as a new fairly junior hire your severance will be on the lower end.
    If you are impacted then it is better if it is sudden and quick. Otherwise the environment deteriorates if people know it is coming but takes a few months or more. In such an environment people turn on each and start fighting for the scraps. Maybe leadership even lets it fester intentionally so they can increase the 'voluntary' attrition and not pay severance. In this case even if your are spared the work environment will be very bad. If you anticipate a recession and are risk averse I would take the most stable offer like the military.
    Oct 5, 2019 12
    • New / Mgmt
      lHAU26

      New Mgmt

      lHAU26
      There’s a lot to get to 124k as a GS. You don’t get to negotiate your grade or what step you are. It gets set and it will max out are 15 and if you don’t qualify for the next grade then too bad. But on the good side it’s a lot more stable and there is a lot going for it down the road. It is too bad they no longer have their pension and you have to stick with the TSP.
      Oct 10, 2019
    • Cisco / Eng
      DennisNdry

      Go to company page Cisco Eng

      BIO
      hoe
      DennisNdry
      I'm being offered non competitive advancement which means automatic yearly pay increases until GS 13 step10. Jumping two pay bands since I'm an engineer. GS 14 and 15 are manager/director pay bands. With a wife, that's more than enough if she is working too... after that its marginal increases yearly with respect to the cost of living.
      Oct 12, 2019