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Microsoft laid me off after 15 years of service. Life after Microsoft?

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Re: Microsoft laid me off after 15 years of service. Life after Microsoft?

#11

Post by smackfu »

wyager wrote: post #7
acchow wrote: post #4

Honest question as a Canadian - what do you do about health insurance when you're 50 and get fired from your lifer job? Should you really have been paying for your own policy in parallel with your employer's so that you can continue with the low premiums post-employment?

A very reasonable thing to do is ask for a higher salary and no company insurance. You end up paying a premium (because the extra salary gets hit by income tax, while if the company had used it to buy insurance it would not have been subject to income tax), but you get to choose your own insurance and it doesn't stop when you leave.

How is that better than COBRA?

Re: Microsoft laid me off after 15 years of service. Life after Microsoft?

#12

Post by nanidin »

badmadrad wrote: post #2

Naturally, he is very disappointed but he should keep things in perspective. It's not that bad of situation to be in. You have 15 years of software development experience at Microsoft and there are going to be a lot of open doors. This could really be blessing in disguise.

Yeah, I'm about to start a job search pretty soon. Not so nice that the market is being flooded with ex-MS people at the moment.

Re: Microsoft laid me off after 15 years of service. Life after Microsoft?

#13

Post by nanidin »

oddevan wrote: post #9
ajross wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These days you go to your state exchange (for the putative ex-MS person, that's likely to be https://www.wahealthplanfinder.org/ ), search for a plan, click on it and sign up. It used to be worse, of course. But even then it wasn't a disaster for the case at hand: the COBRA act allowed you to continue to buy your existing plan at the same premiums for a year and a half until you found a new job.

Should be noted that in most cases your employer would cover most of that premium. My insurance went from $10/month (with my employer covering $580) to $590/month on COBRA when I was laid off.

As a mid 20's single male, I had the same experience. My premiums were fully paid by my employer, so it was quite a shock when the COBRA paperwork came stating the monthly cost would be almost $600/month.

Re: Microsoft laid me off after 15 years of service. Life after Microsoft?

#14

Post by dataminded »

kstrauser wrote: post #8
ajross wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These days you go to your state exchange (for the putative ex-MS person, that's likely to be https://www.wahealthplanfinder.org/ ), search for a plan, click on it and sign up. It used to be worse, of course. But even then it wasn't a disaster for the case at hand: the COBRA act allowed you to continue to buy your existing plan at the same premiums for a year and a half until you found a new job.

COBRA is impossibly expensive for many people. When you simultaneously have your salary drop to $0 and your portions of your insurance premiums triple (say, if you have a spouse and kids covered by the plan), that's a rough situation to be in. About the only good thing about COBRA is that it covers preexisting conditions.

I can cosign this. Cobra for my wife and I was ~$1000/month.

Re: Microsoft laid me off after 15 years of service. Life after Microsoft?

#15

Post by chiph »

nanidin wrote: post #12
badmadrad wrote: post #2

Naturally, he is very disappointed but he should keep things in perspective. It's not that bad of situation to be in. You have 15 years of software development experience at Microsoft and there are going to be a lot of open doors. This could really be blessing in disguise.

Yeah, I'm about to start a job search pretty soon. Not so nice that the market is being flooded with ex-MS people at the moment.

Be willing to move.

The hard part about this is convincing the HR department that you can self-relocate and don't want relo money.

Re: Microsoft laid me off after 15 years of service. Life after Microsoft?

#16

Post by mercwear »

Being laid off can really take a shot on your confidence but the approach you are taking seems to be a healthy one. You have also got a great set of skills to "fall back on" should bring your own boss not work out (I hope it does!).

I personally believe that Windows PowerShell desired state configuration experience is about to become worth its weight in gold as more Windows shops move towards automation. If you have any experience with DSE finding a rewarding and well-paying job in the future probably won’t be too hard.

Re: Microsoft laid me off after 15 years of service. Life after Microsoft?

#17

Post by mike_h »

smackfu wrote: post #11
wyager wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A very reasonable thing to do is ask for a higher salary and no company insurance. You end up paying a premium (because the extra salary gets hit by income tax, while if the company had used it to buy insurance it would not have been subject to income tax), but you get to choose your own insurance and it doesn't stop when you leave.

How is that better than COBRA?

COBRA rates are 3-4x higher than individual plan insurance every time I've heard about them.

In a rapid-churn economy like tech, where people often strike out on their own and companies cease to exist etc., the few $K a year it takes to maintain your own individual plan is something everyone should consider. As you age, starting a new private plan becomes frighteningly expensive, and if ACA doesn't stick, it may become impossible again for many people.

Re: Microsoft laid me off after 15 years of service. Life after Microsoft?

#18

Post by walkon »

acchow wrote: post #4

Honest question as a Canadian - what do you do about health insurance when you're 50 and get fired from your lifer job? Should you really have been paying for your own policy in parallel with your employer's so that you can continue with the low premiums post-employment?

Buying a parallel policy could help. I don't understand why the U.S. government has a tax code that effectively makes the most important type of insurance the easiest to loose.

Re: Microsoft laid me off after 15 years of service. Life after Microsoft?

#19

Post by fencepost »

acchow wrote: post #4

Honest question as a Canadian - what do you do about health insurance when you're 50 and get fired from your lifer job? Should you really have been paying for your own policy in parallel with your employer's so that you can continue with the low premiums post-employment?

Prior to the Affordable Care Act / Obamacare, you had up to 18 months of COBRA eligibility, meaning you could stay on your employer's plan but paid all premiums (expensive). During that time you frantically look for a job that includes healthcare coverage. Failing either of those, you might find junk insurance, or you simply go without and hope for good health. If your income is / remains low enough you might qualify for Medicaid, but you pretty much have to be at the poverty level for that.

Post-ACA you can now purchase coverage from any of a variety of companies through the exchanges. Rates are limited in that there's now a legal requirement that a minimum percentage of premiums must actually be used to pay for medical expenses (I believe 80 or 85%) so premiums are set accordingly. There are also income based subsidies that you're eligible for of your income is more than 4x the poverty level.

There was also an expansion of Medicaid eligibility up to 4x the poverty level with the additional cost being paid by the federal government, but some states have refused that expansion and money. This has left many poor in those states stuck unable to afford premiums and unable to get either subsidies or Medicaid.

Re: Microsoft laid me off after 15 years of service. Life after Microsoft?

#20

Post by huhtenberg »

badmadrad wrote: post #2

Naturally, he is very disappointed but he should keep things in perspective. It's not that bad of situation to be in. You have 15 years of software development experience at Microsoft and there are going to be a lot of open doors. This could really be blessing in disguise.

Except every interviewer will be wondering why did Microsoft let go someone with so much experience. What did Microsoft know that's not on the resume.
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