Most people dread a layoff. One Qualcomm engineer, however, says losing his job was the best thing that could have happened to him. In a Reddit post, the IIT graduate said he had asked his bosses to let him go, and that his exit payouts will cover him for roughly 15 months.
Around six months ago, he moved to another team within the company. Taking the new role meant relocating, and he had hoped it would bring him closer to home. Things soon went downhill. Though he had performed well in his earlier team, he said the new one gave him little support and plenty of criticism, which shook his confidence.
"A few months in and I realised I had dug myself a grave. The work culture is the absolute worst," he wrote. Long hours did not bother him, he said, since he liked the work. What did hurt were remarks he saw as personal. He said even his own interviewer had called his interview horrible, and his Python skills were also described as horrible.
He suspected that tight deadlines and pressure might explain how the team behaved. But as the months went by, he lost interest, and quitting was on his mind almost daily, NDTV reported.
'A Sign From God'
Then came news that Qualcomm was planning job cuts, which CEO Cristiano Amon reportedly shared with staff. "As soon as I saw CA's email, I was extremely overjoyed and felt like it was a sign from God for me to escape from this hellhole," the engineer wrote.
The very same day, he asked his manager and director to include him in the layoffs. They said they would make a note of it, and within a few days, his exit was confirmed.
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Breaking Down The Payout
His package, as he described it, starts with three months of regular severance pay. Finishing the exit paperwork within three days earned him one more month, while his years at the company added another five months. He also gets to keep a relocation bonus worth two months' pay.
Pay for unused leave and his normal salary until the end of January will come on top of this. By his own count, it all comes to roughly 15 months of income.
Finding a new job is not his priority right now. He plans to spend time with family and close friends first, before getting back to studying and job hunting. "The timing of these layoffs couldn't be any better for my situation," he wrote.
According to reports, Qualcomm is restructuring and could cut about 7% of its global staff of around 52,000, which works out to nearly 3,600 jobs. As many as 1,000 of these may be in India.
READ | Qualcomm Layoffs: What Will Employees Losing Their Jobs Receive? Severance And Benefits Explained
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