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Started By
Message
Employer acquired, want to be let go
Posted on 5/20/26 at 8:47 pm
Posted on 5/20/26 at 8:47 pm
Not for me but for a close acquaintance to whom I was able to provide no advice.
Employer was acquired by a wing of a very large corporation. Acquaintance is high performing VP/director level in the finance space but loyal and happy with the previous situation. Lots of redundancies post-acquisition. Multiple top notch superiors from original employer have already left.
Acquaintance hates the new situation, people but they have too much unvested stock to leave proactively. If he’s RIF’d or dismissed as a redundancy (any reason not for-cause) the stock is his. If the new company keeps him, he has to wait years for the stock.
Acquaintance wants out bad but can’t walk away from the stock. Being let go would be the best thing for his family. Most of his original peers are being let go, but he fears he’s been too obvious about the value he provides. Any tactful ways to approach this?
Employer was acquired by a wing of a very large corporation. Acquaintance is high performing VP/director level in the finance space but loyal and happy with the previous situation. Lots of redundancies post-acquisition. Multiple top notch superiors from original employer have already left.
Acquaintance hates the new situation, people but they have too much unvested stock to leave proactively. If he’s RIF’d or dismissed as a redundancy (any reason not for-cause) the stock is his. If the new company keeps him, he has to wait years for the stock.
Acquaintance wants out bad but can’t walk away from the stock. Being let go would be the best thing for his family. Most of his original peers are being let go, but he fears he’s been too obvious about the value he provides. Any tactful ways to approach this?
8
Posted on 5/20/26 at 9:12 pm to turkish
If he thinks the stock is going up, stay with it and look for another job while getting paid. Acquisitions suck but keep your options open.
Posted on 5/20/26 at 9:32 pm to turkish
Start sucking at your job for a little bit.
"He" doesn't have to be negligent or malicious. Just be lazy and be checked out. If they are still in the RIF phase, they'll be happy to fire someone who dgaf and is highly compensated.
"He" doesn't have to be negligent or malicious. Just be lazy and be checked out. If they are still in the RIF phase, they'll be happy to fire someone who dgaf and is highly compensated.
Posted on 5/20/26 at 10:00 pm to turkish
tell him to stop bathing
Posted on 5/20/26 at 10:05 pm to turkish
quote:
VP/director level in the finance space
Automatic at-risk position. The acquirer typically replaces acquiree’s HR and Finance (and Legal) Directors and related top brass as matter of controls. Have them express desired outcome with leader of acquisition or transition.
Have led more than a few acquisitions and integrations as acquirer.
Posted on 5/20/26 at 10:16 pm to turkish
This seems simpler than it probably is.
He needs to start plowing the fields for potential opportunities. Don’t make a move until you know where you’re going to land or have a good idea of the options. Plus, he may be on the block already. Anyone in a highly compensated corporate position should always know the first 3 people they’d reach out to if they get a sudden invite in their inbox from their manager or HR.
Then once he has a potential home, become disgruntled and speak your opinions on the company calls. Jump the chain of command with complaints. Be vocal. Point out problems you’d normally not bring up. Be the guy on the all company call that asks the question that nobody else will ask.
That will take care of it. Knowing how our CEO works I could get terminated in a month if I wanted to. Being termed for speaking truth to power is a better conversation than getting fired for half assing your job.
Funny story: a buddy of mine and his friend both were sales for a relatively new IT company back around 2005..we were all a round 35. They got into some pretty big opportunities but every deal they brought in was rejected because their manager was scared money and thought it was “too big” for a the company. They worked remote and lost their motivation.
Then, the company was bought and then resold rapidly and they just quit working. They didn’t know their manager and the new owner was distant. The whole management team left. The local office was closed. They were on an island and nobody ever reached out.
Those dumbasses got paid good money for a year doing absolutely nothing before somebody figured it out.
He needs to start plowing the fields for potential opportunities. Don’t make a move until you know where you’re going to land or have a good idea of the options. Plus, he may be on the block already. Anyone in a highly compensated corporate position should always know the first 3 people they’d reach out to if they get a sudden invite in their inbox from their manager or HR.
Then once he has a potential home, become disgruntled and speak your opinions on the company calls. Jump the chain of command with complaints. Be vocal. Point out problems you’d normally not bring up. Be the guy on the all company call that asks the question that nobody else will ask.
That will take care of it. Knowing how our CEO works I could get terminated in a month if I wanted to. Being termed for speaking truth to power is a better conversation than getting fired for half assing your job.
Funny story: a buddy of mine and his friend both were sales for a relatively new IT company back around 2005..we were all a round 35. They got into some pretty big opportunities but every deal they brought in was rejected because their manager was scared money and thought it was “too big” for a the company. They worked remote and lost their motivation.
Then, the company was bought and then resold rapidly and they just quit working. They didn’t know their manager and the new owner was distant. The whole management team left. The local office was closed. They were on an island and nobody ever reached out.
Those dumbasses got paid good money for a year doing absolutely nothing before somebody figured it out.
This post was edited on 5/20/26 at 10:42 pm
Posted on 5/20/26 at 10:32 pm to SquatchDawg
Thanks. He actually has some opportunities that seem attractive. That plus the severance has him certain he wants to be shown the door.
Posted on 5/20/26 at 10:38 pm to turkish
I promise you the last thing new owners want is a legacy employee pointing out all of the flaws and problems and shite that needs to be fixed. It may be hard to do…but might also be liberating.
Posted on 5/21/26 at 4:44 am to turkish
If he’s Director level he’s going to walk away with a great package if there is a separation. Sounds like he’s in the cat bird seat. Just keep showing up until they let him go.
Posted on 5/21/26 at 7:01 am to turkish
Had to help implement "RIFs" (Reductions In Work Force). "Early Retired" twice indirectly to avoid them coming up (but got hired back twice eventually!). Now fully retired. Big Fortune 500 Company, but it always did the "acquiring". Usually sucks. You think you're doing great. Got a good lifestyle trajectory, then BAM! It all gets fricked up.
My $.02:
There's money involved. "Drink the Kool Aid. For Now".
Acquirers don’t RIF the people who are driving things forward; they RIF the people who are competent, steady, not toxic, but no longer strategic drivers of the new agenda. To fit that profile, he should shift into a lower-visibility, compliance-oriented posture—asking for clarification instead of proposing solutions, following new processes exactly as written, avoiding opinions on integration strategy, stopping the push for improvements, no longer challenging assumptions, and stepping back from being the cultural bridge. Taken together, this positions him as a solid but non-critical legacy leader
In a 1:1 with his new boss:
“I know the company is still figuring out the long-term org design. I’m committed to supporting the transition in whatever way is most helpful, even if that means changes to my role down the line.”
Plan For The Next Phase Of Your Life
"RIFers" liked to be viewed as "hard charging". "Change agents". "Shaking things up". Easiest way to do that is to cut costs and staff reductions. The easy way out. Not long lasting, but appears like "change is happening".
No negativity, no conflict, nothing that could be construed as “cause.” Stay professional, and quietly prepare for the next role. Refresh résumé, reconnect with recruiters, and be ready the moment a package arrives. It will come. Want proof? Watch Animal Planet and see what happens to young or older males in a lion pride when the new "Lion King" comes in to take over.
Tell your friend he's not alone and it sucks. Be there for him. It's really stressful. And the future looks so uncertain. But he'll survive. Maybe even thrive later on!
Good luck!
My $.02:
There's money involved. "Drink the Kool Aid. For Now".
Acquirers don’t RIF the people who are driving things forward; they RIF the people who are competent, steady, not toxic, but no longer strategic drivers of the new agenda. To fit that profile, he should shift into a lower-visibility, compliance-oriented posture—asking for clarification instead of proposing solutions, following new processes exactly as written, avoiding opinions on integration strategy, stopping the push for improvements, no longer challenging assumptions, and stepping back from being the cultural bridge. Taken together, this positions him as a solid but non-critical legacy leader
In a 1:1 with his new boss:
“I know the company is still figuring out the long-term org design. I’m committed to supporting the transition in whatever way is most helpful, even if that means changes to my role down the line.”
Plan For The Next Phase Of Your Life
"RIFers" liked to be viewed as "hard charging". "Change agents". "Shaking things up". Easiest way to do that is to cut costs and staff reductions. The easy way out. Not long lasting, but appears like "change is happening".
No negativity, no conflict, nothing that could be construed as “cause.” Stay professional, and quietly prepare for the next role. Refresh résumé, reconnect with recruiters, and be ready the moment a package arrives. It will come. Want proof? Watch Animal Planet and see what happens to young or older males in a lion pride when the new "Lion King" comes in to take over.
Tell your friend he's not alone and it sucks. Be there for him. It's really stressful. And the future looks so uncertain. But he'll survive. Maybe even thrive later on!
Good luck!
Posted on 5/21/26 at 7:02 am to ronricks
The vibes are increasingly feeling like he will be retained. That’s what has him concerned.
Posted on 5/21/26 at 7:19 am to turkish
quote:
The vibes are increasingly feeling like he will be retained. That’s what has him concerned.
Retention vibes don’t mean he’s safe — they mean he’s still useful. And usefulness is temporary in post-acquisition integrations.
Maybe leadership changes. I had over 20 bosses in my 23 years there. So maybe someone comes in they like and the situation improves after the shock wears off.
If not? He should shift into steady, compliant execution mode and stop signaling that he’s part of the future-state leadership—no pushing improvements, no rescuing projects, no strategic opinions. That positions him as a solid but non-critical legacy leader, which is exactly the profile most likely to be selected for a not-for-cause redundancy.
They don't "hate you" but they "don't like you" for the long haul.
Posted on 5/21/26 at 8:30 am to turkish
quote:
The vibes are increasingly feeling like he will be retained. That’s what has him concerned.
If he just keeps showing up to work doing the bare minimum eventually they will separate from him. I'm not saying for him to blatantly try to get fired. Again, seems like this person has lots of leverage as he can hang on and also try to find something else to move on.
Posted on 5/21/26 at 8:50 am to turkish
The only answer is that he can't have his cake and eat it.
He should
1) either stick around for the stock vesting (oh and this never ends btw, the pile keeps getting bigger and bigger) making it more difficult each year
2) look for a new job. It's not uncommon to work a deal with the new company for unvested shares. Obv won't be a 1-1
He should
1) either stick around for the stock vesting (oh and this never ends btw, the pile keeps getting bigger and bigger) making it more difficult each year
2) look for a new job. It's not uncommon to work a deal with the new company for unvested shares. Obv won't be a 1-1
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