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^^^^ Bob was a lightweight :).

I actually would go do it again....same way for the most part. I just had enough to last a lifetime...but lived a techie's dream....my way ;)

BTW, I have a red swingline stapler on my desk :)

Peter - I have been through a few of these. The company that acquires is king, The acquiree follows. Every merger has a playbook created by consultants, accountants or a team created by the acquirer. Upper management teams are put in place and directives are trickled down. Synergies are identified: accounting, IT, payroll, HR and purchasing are typically low hanging fruit. If the company has several locations, real estate is another synergy ( consolidate similar processes, manufacturing, etc) The goal is to shrink the footprint and reduce heads. Reduction of heads is a synergy - the company will look for the ROI calculated from the playbook.

You will also see chnages locally - The acquirer will have their own people in HR, Finance, IT, purchasing and maybe the Plant manger/director - they want their own people. This will happen within 12 months after the acquisition. You will see policy changes, changes in vacation, benefits and possibly a new employee handbook. Some maybe better or worse - it is what it is.

Depending on where you are in the hierarchy, the impact varies. If you are lower on the food chain, you may not see much - certainly the higher, more demands may be placed on you to increase productivity, efficiency which affects profit.

I don't know how old you are but you do have 20 yrs of tenure. You could look for something else but I would not panic - If they chose to eliminate your position, you have a severance and probably access to outplacement services. You got to look at your options.

I'm an old guy whose company got acquired last October. I'm looking at least 1 yr severance if I'm let go. I will retire. Those who are younger than me are in a wait and see mode. And they are looking for options too. The good thing is this isn't 2008 -09.

Be patient and don't rush into any decision cuz you have time.

all the best Peter!

On the stay or go thing: Seen it both ways, done it both ways... But generally if you stay for a promised sum of $, they will squeeze you and own you for the duration, on their terms and schedule, and in my experience it's not worth the abuse to just be let go eventually. Faced with that situation I would take the immediate departure option everytime. If they figure out they messed up come back as an independent contractor for $$$$.

The contractor option is very true.

I have seen this. There is a 1b: Tell everyone that is left they have made the cut so they have nothing to worry about. Repeat the same lie in 4b.

In 5b they start threatening that any grumbling (read: anything less than yes men) will be considered insubordination and the company will be "forced" to fire those folks "for the good of everyone's attitude". Repeat the same lie in 9b.

Somewhere in all this they will also try to sell you shares in the company to try to gain needed operating capital and make you feel loyal to the company because "you are one of the owners". There will also appear a lot more cronyism favoritism. Promotions will no longer be based on skill and pay raises will no longer be based on productivity.

BTW...This is completely wrong! He has "Watch customers leave" listed last at #12. That actually starts around #3 when the word of the merger gets back to the clients who already hate the big company with terrible service that bought the little company with great service. Everything else is spot on! :D

Oh... Wow. Thanks guys I appreciate the support and comments. I'll be fine. :)

I guess we should apologize for giving such dire warnings but unfortunately, your situation seems rather textbook. The bottom line is you need to decide if you want to risk what may happen and be prepared with a plan B. Best wishes for you to find direction and peace in your choice.

Sounds like you will and good luck. I went through a few of these in telecom back in the 90's and early 2000's. At one point one of my colleagues had collected two severance packages in a year post buyout and was hired back as a consultant. The decision making was beyond stupid but I quickly learned it didn't need to make sense from a business perspective. The motivation was to move the stock price.