I have informed $CURRENT_EMPLOYER that Wednesday next (28 June) will be my last day. It was already going to be my last day before a 12 workday vacation, so I was already doing about the same handoff that I need to do for leaving permanently, but when I get back from Europe (as previously detailed) I will start a New Job.
You might be, as I was, shocked at the less-than-two-weeks notification, but after reading over the contract I signed and the referenced HR policies, I could have told them this at 16:59 EDT next Wednesday and been legally in the clear, but that would have been even poorer form than this. If I hadn't already scheduled and bought plane tickets for this trip prior to any of this coming up, I'd have gladly given two weeks notice or more, but…
So, I told the managment directly involved that they should feel Just Fine about calling me for historical information that the next four work days don't leave me time to cough up to a real person. Seems only fair, and in the same way I'd rather someone call me, if at all practical, even on vacation, when something blows up, than come back to find it a smoking pile of rubble, I'd rather they called me to find out why something was configured as it was then hurt themselves trying to fix it when it breaks absent that knowledge: it just lets me sleep better. (Yes,
When I'm back from .eu, these folks will be known as $FORMER_EMPLOYER[1], and there'll be a new $CURRENT_EMPLOYER, where I get to use the same level of technology (down to the hardware) I'm used to, even if it is with fewer total systems, plus get direct ownership/control over disk storage, systems administration in toto (with less to no red tape), get to go play with VMWare ESX, get to actually Know HP-UX, rather than just maintaining an application (albeit a complex and bitchy one) there, and get a hand in technical direction far larger than I've got now, not only because I'm no longer limited to “just backups”, but because it's a smaller place, with a reasonably-sized team, with quickly and fluidly changing project requirements.
So, it's over. “Fuck you guys, I'm goin' home.” I'm friends with a lot of these people. I am not friends with the Corporation. They've engendered political strife between people who should be friends (various people in management positions, some times dotted-line, above me), they've made it outrageously difficult to get me out of a non-exempt position (despite the fact that people who are by title my far superiors come to me for help regularly; and this sounds self-serving, but I'm one of several people burned by this), and, most importantly to me morally, they showed a massive and callous disregard for their employees at large by requiring many of those in the NY metro area to move their families across the country or lose their jobs with sixty days notice. That last didn't impact me personally in the least, but it certainly affected me personally.
There's no one person who needs a night in the barrel over this, not even a clearly identifiable group. Most of the individuals are actually good people who I respect, and that's even true for relatively large logical groupings of them, but the corporation at large sucks in the way only a multinational teenager can. If I wanted to deal with a teenager with an overweaning ego at this point in my life, I'd have had a child when I was fourteen.
I wish my soon-to-be-former cow-orkers nothing but luck, and have nothing but good will for them. If my situation were slightly different (especially, if I were about a decade older), this would Not Be Happening. All the political bullshit aside, what I have now is a Good Job for an overall Good Employer (who I think has made some mistakes lately, which will hurt them, though hopefully only in the relatively short term). But. It's the wrong time in my career to stick with this gig, and the one I'm moving to is perfect in timing, perfect for my commuting, perfect for me to Grow and to Learn, and perfect for me to have a Real Effect (rather than just be appreciated for knowing what the hell I'm doing).
Enough. Basta. Genug. I'm out.
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