Outsourced Odyssey

A tech veteran explores the human impact of a bout with outsourcing.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Internal job postings

Today, finally, I regained access to our internal jobs web site. I've been locked out for all of May, thanks to the April 30th premature termination fiasco. But now I can once again apply for Bank jobs.

With great enthusiasm I whizzed through a number of openings and applied for two. There are still a number more job postings I need to review, and no one can say there's not plenty of openings.

However, it's upsetting that here I am facing termination in 30 days, yet the Bank has dozens and dozens of technical open positions. Does this make sense?

Also, there was a time when those facing imminent layoff had first priority on any open position they were qualified for. Those were the good old days (although not as good as when we had a "no layoff" policy!). Personnel distributed a list that hiring managers could review as part of the posting process. Unfortunately, these days you are on your own, and "welcome to apply to any open position". But you have no priority over Joe Smith that is not facing job loss, and no hiring manager knows of your availability. It's hard not to feel you're just a number.

To add insult to injury, my friend back East told me that everyone she knows that found a new position lately did it the old-fashioned way: they knew somebody. You can't put a price on having an "in" - you gain credibility from a trusted referral, and the hiring manager sees you as lower risk.

So it's good to be able to apply online again. It's better than where I've been all month. But applying blindly to new positions across the country - where they know nothing of me or my track record - it's still far from ideal.

Technorati Tags: ,

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Asok finds it cuts both ways

A couple leads

A couple internal job leads surfaced today. One area is building a new Web prototype, and contacted me because my current applications are affected. They have no employee developers - all are India contractors, mostly offshore (the brave new tech world). The manager is pulling her hair out just trying to get all the security access to enable web development from overseas. "If I just had someone like you on the team it could have been done in three weeks. Instead, we've barely started."

I gave her some other options for her project as we were discussing it. She must have liked what she heard, because she said "I would be a terrific member of the team". However, although this would be ideal (I'd still be involved with web development) there is one small difficulty: she does not yet have any real openings. They are in the process of trying to get funding approval for this new project (hopefully by mid-June). The other negative: they are in the same organization I'm in now, so Mr. Outsource, who laid me off, is the final approver.

I am finding my revised resume, courtesy of EZ Resume, is at least drawing leads. Thanks to the person whose reply gave me the lead. I've found great links to resume writing tips, sample resumes, resume templates, etc on EZ Resume - it did help.

Another new area, the "Testing Center of Excellence", may end up with a couple openings. (Hint: the more exotic the name, the more pedestrian the work.) The manager has a couple openings on the org chart, but needs to get them approved and requisitions opened. She did say she would contact me when it gets to that point. These jobs would be all-testing all-the-time; not the most exciting thing in the world. But not eating seems even less exciting...

Technorati Tags: ,

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Disposable Americans

Getting laid off brings home the full meaning of "employment at will". Your job security is totally and irrevocably in the hands of your employer. As I found out, the firing manager is your judge, jury and executioner. You can present no evidence in your defense, get no trial and have no appeal. You are on your own. How did we get this way?

As Louis Uchitelle so astutely points out in The Disposable American, until relatively recently, layoffs were avoided by corporations as
"a sign of corporate failure and a violation of acceptable business behavior. Over the years, however, the permanent separation of people from their jobs, abruptly and against their wishes, gradually became standard management practice, and in the late 1990s we finally acquiesced. Acquiescence means giving up, seeing no alternative; we bowed to layoffs as the way things have to be. Now we justify them as an unfortunate necessity."


The sad thing: today in America there is no
"loyal opposition" to unfettered layoffs. Politicians from both parties ignore the problem, while society meekly accepts current practices. Uchitelle writes: "I set out to tell the story of our acquiescence and in doing so ran into a festering national crisis. Until we recognize it, an effective opposition cannot form."


Read Uchitelle's book. We have all become "disposable Americans" - this is a "festering national crisis".

Technorati Tags: ,

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Keeping productive

I started the day downbeat after yesterday's disappointing news of the gone-then-there-now-gone-again position I was hoping for. It's looking dim at this point. The stock market and my Bank prospects have a lot in common: both are unpredictable and fluctuate wildly.

However, rather than sit around worrying, I'm developing a small web site on the side. It's part of my "Plan B", looking for ways to bring in some side income. My Web skills may not lend themselves to the high-end Java-based monolithic software so in demand, but they are perfectly suited for small-business or Internet applications. The Web is ideal for small investment "proof of concept" trials: if something looks promising you can develop and grow it; if not, just shut it down and move on to something else.

It seems better to be productive and moving forward than to become paralyzed with all that's going on. Even if it washes out, I've learned something. Ala Edison, it's not failure, but learning what doesn't work. (But hopefully it doesn't require 10,000 Edison-like "non-failures" before something works.)

Meanwhile, with luck, starting tomorrow I'll be able to access the Bank's internal career search system for the first time since April 30th.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Change for the worse

Disappointing setback today. The two Business Analyst positions that we were told had been approved for our team are mysteriously gone - put on hold, done away with, or something of that ilk. My manager advised me to look for other internal positions ASAP; she's not sure she'll get the positions back.

I just heard about this. It hasn't sunk in yet. I was confident this would work out - for a week or so I've been able to pretend it all wasn't happening, I was going to be rescued. Now it seems my lifeboat had a few holes.

A personal thirty-day extension past June 30th? It depends upon how the India people assess how the transition status. My experience with them: the status is always rosy and everything is doable whenever you want it. (Salesmen exist in all cultures.) The reality: don't count on the end product being all that great, or even serviceable, if you gave them unrealistic deadlines. The laws of the physical universe remain intact, especially at Wal-Mart prices. In any case, admit June 30th is not doable? Highly unlikely. And any problems down the line won't help me now.

My current status: not good.


Technorati Tags: ,

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

The Titanic loses another one

A friend I've worked with for the last six years gave her notice yesterday. She will be going to another large bank, working for our former boss. Although she probably could have found something here, I'm sure she was burned-out from all the recent drama. I can't blame her.

Given our current Titanic-derived "people strategy", her leaving may mean there's room in the lifeboat for one more (me?).

After all, our team has only myself and another colleague remaining from our original team of seven. Hey, I represent 50 percent of our knowledge base; surely, that's worth keeping (hint, hint).

I also heard a rumor today: maybe they would extend me another 30 days to the end of July. I would much rather secure something permanent, but I certainly wouldn't turn down an extension - beggars can't be choosers. But this didn't come from my boss, so it may be nothing. Can only wait and see.

Technorati Tags: ,

Saturday, May 20, 2006

A World without Children

Parents have rites of passage paralleling and shadowing their children's. We're going through two big ones at the same time: eighth-grade and high school graduations. Each of these is spawning some graduations of another kind for us as parents.

Our eighth-grader will graduate in a couple weeks. Thursday night he played guitar at the school's annual music recital, where all the kids attending school-related music lessons play for the parents. Forty-three children, ranging from first to eighth graders, gave short performances on their instrument. He did great, playing "Time of Your Life" by Green Day; his teacher called the next day admiring the "passion" he played with.

We had fun, but it was quickly over - maybe too quickly. Significantly, this was our final elementary school program. As we walked through the doors, we were leaving behind the World of Children.

Our son of course left it behind a while ago, but since his school is K-8, we still had some vestige little kid exposure from time to time. At school programs watching the little ones, we could remember our years with young kids: hard work but immensely fulfilling. They are so cute, so innocent, so into the moment; and you have lots of time: it will be years until they grow up.

But bit-by-bit they grow, and as parents we're continually shedding the mini-worlds they leave behind: baby stuff; preschool things; Scouts; Little League. Recently I was home on a weekday and was surprised to see "Sesame Street" early in the morning on TV: it's still around! The preschool world still exists, something I forget since we have long since moved on. Like Star Trek we all operate in parallel universes: coexisting but not really aware of life over there.

At least with two kids you get a second chance with the youngest child. When the door closes for the older child, it opens for the younger one: you can be consoled that you are not totally through, there's a little more left. So with our youngest we can savor everything one last time before moving on, this time for good. This adds a certain poignancy to his activities for us: each time he's done, we're done as well.

Perhaps one day future grandchildren will again open this realm to us. But until then, after 18 years, it's farewell to the world of children. Ours have moved on...and we must follow.

Technorati Tags: ,

Friday, May 19, 2006

Limbo Land

Getting un-outsourced by my outsourcers - I should have guessed this would not be easy. But my manager had said on Monday she should know if I had a spot by Tuesday or Wednesday. No word still, so I called her today.

Sounds like everything is up in the air. Approval ultimately has to come from the guy that laid me off, which is not a good sign: he's convinced our Data Warehouse Service Center does easy stuff. Neither my current manager, or her immediate predecessor, has had much luck explaining the complexity of the work. And she first has to get the "transition manager" on her side, who will then get approval from Mr. Layoff. She hasn't passed square one yet.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and I still cannot apply for other internal positions. My access to our "career search tool" is still screwed up from my premature April 30th "termination" (the tool doesn't know I'm an employee). It was supposed to be fixed Wednesday, but it still doesn't work. The Personnel Center put in another "change" when I called, but it won't take effect until next Friday.

Apply for outside positions? A little risky at the moment. If my current area decides to offer me a job any potential severance vanishes. So if I found another job, accepted it, and then the Bank finally offers me something, I could no longer leave with a severance package. If I'm going to leave the bank at this point, I want to take something with me - I don't want them to get off scot-free!

For now...I'm in limbo.

Technorati Tags: ,

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

One Last Morning

For over 10 years our family has had a very pleasant morning ritual: we are all together in the same car to begin our day. My wife and I are in the front, our two sons in the back, and that 25 minutes of togetherness as we drop the kids off to school is special. Now granted our cognitive abilities vary greatly from morning to morning; but even half awake it's a comforting feeling to be surrounded by those you love.

We would talk with the kids about the upcoming day: any tests, anything unusual going on, or just get clued in to today's classes. When they were younger we'd help quiz them on their spelling words or science tests. Bad traffic, horrible weather, straining to be on-time - all was made better by tackling it together.

We would arrive at the grammar school first and drop him off, next the high schooler, whose school starts 15 minutes later, then myself at the Bank. My wife would keep the car with her, so she could pick the boys up mid-afternoon from school. Fortunately we were all within 15 minutes of each other, making this carpool arrangement feasible.

But I was reminded today that even the longest and most pleasant journeys reach a destination and their natural end. Our eldest graduates from high school Sunday; today he had his last final. A small matter in the scheme of things - but significant to Mom and Dad - he has graduated from our morning ritual. College and beyond beckons, and that can't happen from the family back seat!

We had been told by others that this four years of high school zooms by at lightspeed: before you know it he's graduating. Four years seems like a long time when it's in front of you; and I've been doing my best to keep my head planted in the sand so as to ignore the days rushing by. But fending off change is inevitably doomed to failure, and of course I am grateful for these last four years. Still...this isn't easy.

September will be here before we know it, and with it a new school year. This time a new high school student will be front and center. But with our eldest doing his college thing, and me perhaps in a job located farther away, our family morning ritual will be no more. And dear God, I miss it already.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

California salaries

No news yet - hoping a permanent position might be offered. My main concern: my "California salary" might prove too high for the Charlotte decision makers.

The North Carolina and Florida managers must blanch whenever looking at California salaries. From their vantage point we must be in hog heaven pulling in this kind of money. I wish.

A good part of the salary differential simply goes to taxes. You need to lop off 20% from just about any California salary to account for state and sales taxes. To get a rough idea of the cost of living factor, a San Francisco resident needs to earn $90,000 to match the $40,000 of the Charlotte employee.

Unfortunately for us, the accounting practice is cost-of-living-blind. On a company's books salary dollars are salary dollars; naturally you then hire from where the salaries are the lowest - so sorry, California and the Northeast. (Of course, with outsourcing, it's so sorry America).

So I'm still waiting. But I already know who to blame if I don't get the job - the "Golden" State.

After all, who wouldn't want me?


Technorati Tags: , ,

Monday, May 15, 2006

Another Possibility

Had a one-on-one with my manager this morning. Among other things, I wanted to learn more from her about the post-outsourced status of the Service Center. It's definitely true, she said; there will be a "core team" of Bank associates running the Service Center, supplemented by offshore resources. Although they discussed my Web applications, the decision was still to outsource all that work (arg!). However, the core team will include herself, a team lead (also an existing staff member) and two business analysts. She heard this was approved by senior management Friday.

The current state of the team was a concern for her. She was hoping I could help out with HelpDesk work today; they were so short staffed she sounded pretty desperate. With outgoing transfers, anyone that takes a day off leaves them totally swamped.

Sensing opportunity, I told her I'd be interested in one of the two business analyst positions. She had not approached me about them, because she assumed I'd be looking for a technical opening. However, it would be ideal for her since I'm one of the few experienced team members left, and they would still have someone to cover the after-East Coast hours. Possibly I could be their interface to the offshore technical support as well. She's going to run it by her boss and get back to me in the next couple days.

So we'll see. Since most of the work would be handling HelpDesk problems, this would not be ideal. But I would stay in the Bank, keep my current salary and benefits, and still be able to move on to something else eventually. Stay tuned.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

First Interview

Amazingly enough, I had an interview today, and I'm probably a strong candidate. I had heard about the position through a friend, and have even worked with one of the people on the project, which gives me an edge. Only one problem: I would hate the job.

For one thing it's back to the large-scale bank applications world. This application, part of Corporate Treasury, disseminates deposit and loan rates to all the banking centers in the country, so it's very important. Typical of large applications, it has a web of interfaces to various deposit and loan systems. No change is small: coordinating testing with all the other systems is an immense task. It certainly would be swimming in a bigger pond. I'm more a small pond kind of guy, though. I'd rather have more direct control over my work, and be able to accomplish things without UN treaties.

The work environment sounds like I'd be walking into a hornet's nest. "Highly demanding" was the universal description for Marilyn, the main business partner. She is never satisfied, needs everything ASAP (they had to waive a five-day DBA delay rule because it was too much time), and verbally berates programmers for any mistake. The woman that interviewed me worked 70 hours last week and looked stressed out. On long conference calls with Marilyn she has to use a speakerphone; the user acts up if she tries to use a headset.

Their boss's boss is new as of March, is highly into metrics, and sounds like on top of all the staff. Only certain people are allowed to work remotely, since in the short time he's been there he already feels the productivity is not the same for some. My former colleague knows he needs to stay on top of things when he's remote "or it will be taken away".

MBNA merger initiatives will fill the next few months. They have a delivery deadline of August, even though they don't yet know what changes are needed, because their work is a prerequisite for all the other systems. In the midst of big changes they continue to be bombarded with ASAP smaller projects needed yesterday that prove highly disruptive.

A new environment requires a learning curve while getting up to speed. I question, in this environment, whether you would be judged prematurely and found wanting. Then of course you could be dismissed for "cause" without a lick of severance.

Ironically, they described the work itself as "tedious", manually poring through hairy code to insert a particular comment, or change a certain font. Just because it's technical work, that doesn't mean it's analytical; and it's the problem solving part I enjoy. Ideally I like scope in my work, a mix of the technical and business sides of the equation; this, on the other hand, is all technical, all the time.

Finally, as this is the Corporate Treasury area, there are disclosure rules regarding your financial holdings. You must declare all stocks you own. Any stock trades must be approved before you can go ahead. Your holdings must be even with certain "preferred brokers" (probably those they can monitor). I don't day trade, but the loss of privacy in this area seems like the last straw.

I hate to turn down a position that would let me stay with the Bank. But I would be miserable here. I'm not asking for a lot, but I am asking for more than this.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

A termination in time costs nine

I'm discovering more ramifications from my April 30th "termination".

I had thought everything was cleared up and I was only waiting for the premature April 30th "accrued but unused" vacation pay to be reversed. But late yesterday I received an e-mail from Fidelity: "Your online confirmation is available". Fidelity runs our pension, 401(k) and stock option plans. Odd. I had not performed any transactions.

Turns out I was 1/3 vested in some stock options. The rules are if you are terminated, an extra 1/3 will vest. You lose anything remaining (in my case, the last 1/3 of the options). When I was "terminated" April 30th, Fidelity dutifully cashed out 1/3 of the remaining options and the rest vanished. If I actually end up being laid off Jun. 30th, all I will lose is the stock appreciation in those 60 days. But if I find another position in the bank and don't leave, they should not have taken that extra 1/3 (worth about $3000).

And there's more. I noticed my online timesheet was no longer working. When I go to enter time, it says: "No employees found" (nothing good can come of error messages like this). So I called the help desk. They told me that it takes eight business days for the "changes" (that I really am an employee) to reach Fidelity. "The problem is", he went on, "I'm not sure what will happen to your May 15th pay with no timesheet entries". In other words: no timesheet, no pay. That's just great.

The only saving grace in all this: the HR guy that could have prevented all this - and didn't - is going to have a lot of work to do.

Technorati Tags: ,

Monday, May 08, 2006

Oops

The outsourcing of our data warehouse service center has hit some bumps in the road. As I mentioned a few posts ago, our staffing levels are way down through transfers and job changes, while help desk volume has continued or increased. This is why I was extended 30 more days.

It gets better. After meetings last week, Charlotte management has reversed course; instead of everything being outsourced, most functions will be kept in-house and offshore resources will be used as a supplement.

In other words: "Oops. Never mind."

Everyone should end up OK. Those that transferred or found new jobs are fine; those that didn't probably will be able to continue working in the service center. Never mind that their lives were turned upside down and inside out.

Everyone is OK except one person - me. My Web applications are still being outsourced; it's too late to change directions. I really didn't need another "if only" to ponder, but had they fixed on this direction from the beginning, I doubt I would be facing unemployment now.

For the paranoid this has all the earmarks of an elaborate corporate conspiracy - aimed squarely at me. Hmmm, wonder where I can find a good thriller writer...

Technorati Tags: ,

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Priorities

My wife and I were leaving the grocery store recently, just in time to see a mom she knows drive off in her sparkling new BMW. "They also have a huge SUV", she commented. Sitting in our 100,000 mile Camry, there was a bit of a contrast. "Good thing we've renounced materialism", I replied. She laughed: "What's to renounce?"

She does have a point. We've lived in the same house since 1984, my car is 20+ years old, and it's a special occasion when the family dines out. You could say we're "thrifty"; alright, cheap; but actually that's not true. We have had a couple of ambitious priorities for our family - priorities hard to achieve these days - and these required a few sacrifices.

Our first priority was for her to be home with the kids; full-time initially and at the end of the school day for the last few years by working part-time. A quality education was our second priority. This was difficult because priority #1 put a home in a good school district out of reach. Private school was the only solution, and an expensive solution it is. But it's really been worth it for the kids.

The timing of this layoff is not great but it could have been a lot worse had it come when the kids were younger. We managed to get my older son through high school and my younger son through eighth grade. All under the care of their Mom. That's an achievement we're really proud of.

Our accomplishments aren't in our driveway, gleaming in the sun; in fact, few can see them. But look carefully at our kids. They shine.

Technorati Tags: ,

Friday, May 05, 2006

The New Assembly Line

Data warehouse IT experts abound at the Bay Area office of the Bank I work in. Traditionally they have been organized in teams of several people supporting a business application. Many have deep knowledge of the complex application programs in their area; often they are Bank systems veterans of 10+ years. The work is challenging and interesting as they shepherd technical projects from initial problem statements through design, coding, testing, and finally, implementation.

A major reorganization hit our office this week (excluding me, I report to another department). The whole group was moved to the Consumer Bank, which is heavy into outsourcing. This was no simple reorg - it was also a functional reorganization. The programmers were given functional assignments: initiative work (new projects); production support; or testing.

Gone is the challenge of having project responsibility from start to finish. Instead, production support people will only do break/fix support; testing people will only write testing scripts for the offshore testers; initiative people will take projects through the initial stages, but not do any testing. It's the Henry Ford assembly line model for the computer field.

It's also a recipe for taking the joy out of work. I know another programmer that was reorganized into the production support model a couple months ago. Although a Java expert and someone that knows his application backwards and forwards, he's not allowed to make any new enhancements. His job is restricted to fixing anything that breaks. Well, Web applications can be fairly well behaved, so he mostly sits around trying to figure out things to do.

I suspect though this won't last long. Production support and testing - these roles will not support California salaries. India will soon be here to put them out of their misery. Realigning by functional role merely prepares the calves for the slaughter.

Technorati Tags: ,

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

A Bit of Luck

Monday started the month of May, and with it my final month at the Bank. I suddenly realized that at this time next month I would not be here anymore. As the saying goes: "When a man is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates the mind wonderfully".

But then a small miracle - I received a 30 day stay of execution: my severance date has been extended to June 30th. Not a full pardon, but hey, I'll take it.

Although I mostly do Web development, I'm part of the Warehouse Service Center team that provides helpdesk functions to the data warehouse user community. All of the team is on the East Coast, so after their day completes I help out with urgent questions, since I'm in California. With the announcement that the Service Center was being outsourced in toto, several people have transferred out, and one has already been let go. Meanwhile the day-to-day problem ticket volume has kept strong; the result has been a big mess. Lots of tickets and no one to work them!

Since I'm one of the few people with Service Center experience, I've been asked to hang around and help. It's not my favorite thing in the world, but every bit helps.

So now my final day will be June 30th...my birthday.

Monday, May 01, 2006

The Twilight Zone

I came in bright and early this morning. I signed in to one of our application systems: "ERROR - ID REVOKED. CONTACT YOUR SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR." Great. Just what I need on a Monday morning. So I called support. Odd: they couldn't find my ID in the system to create a help ticket. I immediately knew the real problem - the Bank had terminated me 30 days early.

Sure enough, I called the Personnel Center and I had been "separated" as of April 30th. More checking showed my April 30th automatic payroll deposit was over twice normal size: final separation pay with unused vacation. I could not view my online pay receipt: I no longer had human resource access.

After a flurry of e-mails and phone calls, management is working to fix the situation.

In a nice gesture, my boss's boss called from Charlotte to assure me I had not been terminated (not yet, at least). However, it turns out they knew about this problem, both him and the human resources guy, last week and possibly earlier. But nothing was done to fix it in time.

So for now I'm in the twilight zone. I'm here but I'm not here. But there's some good news: I can't do any help desk work from the twilight zone.

Subscribe to this site

free web counters
Fashion Bug Promo Code