Megacorp and Stockholm Syndrome

[JoeWras]

Here I am, hours into ER and free!

I decided to go pretty public at Megacorp. I've maybe been a little frustrated by all the colleagues just waiting for "something to happen to them." It has become a way of life at MC. Perhaps Stockholm Syndrome is the wrong description, but maybe not! I wanted to be that rogue leader, even though I tend towards introversion.

So, I went pretty public, even discussing retirement on some fairly broad internal forums at w*rk. Broad enough for me to regret it when some worker on the other side of the country who does FA part time started bugging me. How rude!

Here's the interesting thing: I got a surprisingly large amount of replies from people calling me an "inspiration." Many said they just didn't realize you could leave unless MC lets you go, or you hit 65. What the heck, these are smart people! Some called me a pioneer.

The system is broken.

Over the last 15 years, Big Tech has undergone a transformation that has lead to problems in the way the workforce relates with their employer. Transformation #1 was offshoring. Transformation #2 was the crash of 08-09.

In my opinion, MC used this as a fear tactic. Oh, the high and mighty may say that wasn't their intent. Well, let me tell you, in the trenches, it was fear.

I had two private replies saying they've been working to FI and are now going to pull the plug next bonus cycle. I had a whole bunch of other replies about "how do I do this?" I pointed them to early-retirement.org, of course!

I'm hoping this evangelism pays off. I think it will. Although I like to be private, I decided this one time to let out a little about myself to hopefully change lives so that they don't ask the question: Did I Retire Too Late?

 

[JoeWras]

One last thing. I am not talking about "Golden Handcuffs." At tech Megacorps, those are mostly gone, except for the few. I'm talking about just plain holding on to your job once you reach a certain age.

 

[MRG]

Nice.

I totally agree with you on what tech did wrong. The Megacorp I was at spent years doing RIFs. The last one was recent and they really did a disservice to the shareholders.

Most of the development went to third world nations, senior developers are trying to remotely teach entry level programmers what the code is meant to do. A big issue is the lack of business knowledge these folks have. If you have no idea about financial services it's a tough job. It's worse when you receive a statement that's completely wrong and your account balance is gone!

 

[candrew]

First of all, congratulations on your retirement!

After 35 years w*rking for a large, health care system mega-corp, I was able to end my days of wage slavery. Retirement for me at age 59 may not be defined as "early" in this online community, however, it sure beat working another 6 years or more. DW & I did the best we could in that regard.

The U.S. healthcare industry has undergone transformations of its own, not entirely unlike those you have mentioned in tech. Along with a number of colleagues, I was able to survive the acquisition of our system when it was swallowed up by another in 2008. As if the Great Recession didn't give us all enough to worry about there was the specter of job loss that haunted many. I took a demotion and pay cut to insure my own survival.

Sometimes, I wished that I had been more outspoken re: my retirement ambitions with colleagues as you were with yours. I felt a need to balance that sort of outspokenness with my need to remain empl*yed so that separation could be on *my* terms. Maybe it was just paranoia on my part, but it seemed that our MC was making strides toward a more youthful workforce. Nevertheless, I respect your courage in that regard, JoeWras.

I expect that what you refer to as your evangelism re: E.R. will pay off not necessarily in the words you have spoken, but in the example you have set for others.

Well done, and once again, congratulations!

 

[JoeWras]

Thanks candrew. I only spoke up on my last day. No risk.

We have numerous friends in healthcare and have watched them go through the huge changes you speak of. Very challenging and dispiriting. Our good physician friend works for one of the large hospital based practices. Her complaint is that it is all about pushing through people to make the numbers and is extremely frustrated.

My doctor is staying independent and has made it his mission to stand up for independent family practices. I'm not sure how long he can keep up working against the tide. He has as many administrators as health professionals in his practice now.

 

[USGrant1962]

I like the analogy, never thought about it that way. Wikipedia defines Stockholm Syndrome as "a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy..." So "a condition that causes employees to develop a psychological alliance with their employers as a survival strategy...". Fitting for those who "just can't" FIRE.

 

[GravitySucks]

Congrats Joe

 

[iloveyoga]

Congrats on your retirement. I'm not quite sure why at this point, probably the culture, but I kept all of my retirement planning to myself. When I got close to setting a date, I told a few close friends, but I did not talk openly about it at work until I gave my notice.

I think that is one of the reasons I went looking for and found this forum. There is not really a lot of open discussion on the topic of FI and ER and I even worked directly in the business of retirement plan administration for my career.

 

[CaptTom]

LOL, everyone knew about my "countdown clock" a couple of years or more in advance.

Very true that labor/management relations have changed dramatically. I also just saw a chart comparing employee vs. CEO compensation over the years. Sort of makes their claims about not being able to pay good raises or benefits ring hollow.

So glad I got out when I did.

 

[candrew]

Very true that labor/management relations have changed dramatically. I also just saw a chart comparing employee vs. CEO compensation over the years. Sort of makes their claims about not being able to pay good raises or benefits ring hollow.

So glad I got out when I did.

Yeah, a few eyebrows were raised at the health system "not-for-profit" mega-corp that I retired from when our CEO's annual compensation (not including bonus) was mistakenly publicized in an industry magazine article. Not including bonus, he was making 100X the average annual salary of employees. CEO compensation for publicly traded companies is a matter of public record, and IMO, it should be the same for any private sector business, including not-for-profits, that accept reimbursements from the public sector, i.e. Medicare, VA and Medicaid.

 

[JoeWras]

Yeah, a few eyebrows were raised at the health system "not-for-profit" mega-corp that I retired from when our CEO's annual compensation (not including bonus) was mistakenly publicized in an industry magazine article. Not including bonus, he was making 100X the average annual salary of employees. CEO compensation for publicly traded companies is a matter of public record, and IMO, it should be the same for any private sector business, including not-for-profits, that accept reimbursements from the public sector, i.e. Medicare, VA and Medicaid.

It generally should be, but you have to dig. I can use GuideStar to access 990 information.

I had to peek at a nearby mega-non-profit hospital to check. The business does over a billion a year. Wow. CEO is less than $1m. Surprised to see multiple physicians at $1.5m for highly specialized surgery.

 

[candrew]

It generally should be, but you have to dig. I can use GuideStar to access 990 information.

I had to peek at a nearby mega-non-profit hospital to check. The business does over a billion a year. Wow. CEO is less than $1m. Surprised to see multiple physicians at $1.5m for highly specialized surgery.

Thanks for that bit of information JoeWras. So, I just looked up my former empl*yer on GuideStar and learned that in 2015, our CEO received bonus compensation equal to 50% of his total pay - 150 X the average employee salary and 400 X the lowest paid full-time employee.

My cynicism reached an all time high in 2010 when, after a particularly strong year in terms of cost savings, system-wide bonuses were given to all employees with the exception of those who were deemed to be "merit ineligible". That included yours truly and a number of other long term employees, not due to performance issues, but for the sole reason of being at the top of our salary ranges. My VP lobbied on our behalves but it fell on deaf ears. It was a stunning display of disrespect, IMO.

Like CaptTom said - glad I got out when I did.

 

[CaptTom]

Most CEO's worked very hard, and gave up a lot of their lives, to get to that position. They are probably smarter than me, and work harder than me. They deserve more pay than me.

But they're not 100 times smarter. They don't work 400 times harder.

Interlocking boards and a good-ol-boy's network guarantee they all scratch each other's back, even while their MegaCorps jump through hoops to reduce employee costs by lowering benefits and giving raises below COL.

Frankly I'm surprised shareholders put up with it.

 

[rayinpenn]

My last day will be 1/5/2019 I’d go earlier but i can get cobra until I’m 65 and they will fund my 401k for 2018 too. Im not telling anyone until 2 weeks before.

 

[MoneyChic]

Congrats on your retirement!! I think it's great that you spoke out before you left, and I believe there is truth to your statement. Many people probably work longer than they need to because they don't know there's any other way. Hopefully you've inspired several others to start learning and working towards early retirement.


With today being a holiday that most people are off work anyway, you've yet to have your true first Monday of retirement. I hope tomorrow morning is great when you wake up and don't have to go to work!!