Hello all,
I am a 55 year old former IBM employee. Last December, after 26 years of service, I was told that my services were no longer needed and was given the boot. The good news is that I qualified for IBM's 'traditional' retirement (monthly check) by 17 days. The traditional retirement has been abolished for new employees, but there are a dwindling number of us 'old-timers' as it were, that could qualify with the right combination of age and years of service.
Strangely, rather than being upset, I am happy to be gone. I was working 6-day weeks, and forgoing vacation, just to keep up. Now I feel liberated, but somewhat adrift.
Anyone have a similar experience, or any advice on moving forward?
Yes, my experience is very similar. Just insert "HP" where you had "IBM" and it's practically identical. I'm 55 and worked for HP for 26 years. My department's function was offshored to India. We were notified and two weeks later our work transitioned to the India team. That was mid-October, but my official termination date was in December. So, it's been a few months now since I've actually done any work.
Like you, I also qualified for a lot of benefits that were only still available to old timers. So, that was fortunate.
Once I got over the initial shock, I wasn't upset, but rather gleeful. I had worked crazy long hours with zero vacation and a lot of stress, so it was really nice to finally get some rest. It took a little while for it to sink in and to internalize that I was really retiring.
Now that it's been a few months, I'm happy to have gotten away from the corporation sucking the life out of me, but I do feel odd and a bit off. Don't know why exactly. At first I got busy organizing and decluttering my house. Then I went on a cooking and baking spree. These are things that I never had time for, but had wanted to do for ages. After that initial flurry of activity, I hit sort of a plateau. I'm not sure what the next phase will be. I'm trying to figure that out now.
I think it just takes time to get used to a new lifestyle. Having spent so many years in an intense, high-stress environment, it's strange to have so little that I have to do. I've gone from round the clock emailing and meetings as early as 4:00 am and as late as midnight, chasing deadlines, and an impossible workload to "gee, what shall I do today?". It's a sharp contrast.
Nonetheless, every day I am thankful to finally be released from that stressful job. I'm very happy to have been laid off. I would have preferred picking my time to retire, but I realize I would have hung in there too long, so this was all for the best.
So, I can relate to your liberated, but adrift feeling. It may be because we didn't have time to prepare for retirement like you normally would when you pick the date and then do a count down like so many people on this forum. Instead, you are suddenly retired and trying to adjust to an extremely different daily life. Nice on one hand and hard to get used to on the other. I guess it will just take time. I wish I had some advice, but I'm still trying to figure it out myself. : )
