RE: You will be assimilated...now what?

["Jane Carnall" <jane -dot- carnall -at- digitalbridges -dot- com>]

<<The most obvious issue for me is to find out exactly who my boss is (or
bosses), but I'm sure there are a number of less obvious issues that will
arise. I'd appreciate any input from anybody who has watched uneasily as the
Borg cube loomed closer to their company. Thanks!>>

I worked for Compaq for a couple of years, between June 1999 and April
2001 - thus managing to arrive after Compaq ate Digital, and depart (one of
Compaq's thirty thousand redundancies) before Hewlett-Packard ate Compaq.

All I can say is, if you've avoided being made redundant prior to
assimilation, it may not be that bad. True, I heard a lot of complaints and
grumbling from Digital employees - but honestly, they were the kind of
people who tend to complain and grumble anyway. (Mind you, I had a good
manager. He abolished the dress code in our department some months before
Compaq did, and he collected Dilbert cartoons. The kind of manager you can
relax with....) And from all I've heard from co-workers still working where
they were (now HP, when last year they were Compaq, and three years ago they
were Digital) says that things are still pretty much okay. The main risk is
redundancy, no escaping that (but I can be relieved it happened when it did
and not six months later when the software industry in Scotland had
flatlined and NOBODY was hiring...) but IME not-extensive experience, the
main change for the plebs is learning to salute a new flag.

Oh yeah, one change that nobody liked: at the south of France Digital site,
you used be able to buy a glass of wine at lunchtime in the staff canteen.
When Compaq assimilated Digital, that practice was stopped. (Lunch without
WINE? said the French employees. Inconcevable! Incroyable! Wait a minute...
who's signing our paycheques?) In fact, I also heard that Compaq also tried
to ban serving wine at software launch parties... but had to change their
minds on that because the French invitees wouldn't attend if they were going
to have to drink coke. <g>

Jane Carnall
Apologies for the long additional sig: it is added automatically and outwith
my control.
Home: hj -dot- carnall -at- virgin -dot- net


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