Company I accepted an offer was bought. I wasn't informed of this until after I signed the offer letter

Question

I recently accepted a position at a smaller IT company, which every employee seems to love working for. They have a reputation for paying fairly, having good benefits, and treating their employees like valuable assets, rather than replaceable cogs in a machine.

A few days after accepting the offer, I was told that a large conglomerate has bought the this company. Looking at reviews on Indeed, Glassdoor, etc., the smaller company has significantly higher reviews than the acquiring company.

At this point, I feel kind of betrayed. I had a good job, for which I have already put in my two weeks' notice.

I'm certain that the people I dealt with either didn't know or weren't allowed to tell me. I also have some trust issues with the larger IT firms, after some past experiences. This is one of the reasons I was looking forward to working for a smaller, more employee-focused company.

Now, I am thinking about contacting my current employer to inquire about rescinding my resignation. I'm sure this would burn the bridge with the company I accepted the offer with, but I made my decision based upon the risk vs. reward of a particular scenario. That scenario has now changed.

I know this is a decision I will have to make on my own, and rescinding the resignation may not even be an option, at this point. That being said, has anyone else been through a similar situation? How did you handle it, and what were the results?

Answer 1

I'm in the exact same position, about 14 months later...

We were the smaller company. The big company bought us because we were better run. They haven't touched us, and rather than inflicting their corporate culture upon us, they are trying to learn from us and adopt what makes us work into their culture.

The worst thing about being part of a purchased company is the uncertainty. I've been through it a few times as have friends and family. Here's some of the things I've seen or heard about.

• Purchasing company completely guts purchased company. Massive layoffs, and eventual termination of brand
• Purchasing company replaces admin and management of purchased company.
• Purchasing company dismisses people in purchased company based on redundancy
• Purchasing company reviews redundant positions, and does strategic dismissals of people in both companies, based on where they want the staffing
• Purchasing company removes staff through attrition (not replacing people who leave)
• Purchasing company keeps staff from purchased company (if better run), replaces redundant management with staff from purchased company.
• Purchasing company blends staff, people are shuffled around, but no dismissals
• Purchasing company leaves purchased company as a "wholly owned subsidiary", only some staff are dismissed. Anyone who's positions are being eliminated are invited to apply to open positions in either company, and given priority.
• Purchased company becomes the dominant corporate culture, purchasing company's management is largely replaced or reassigned.

So, as you can see, there can be many different outcomes. In our case, it was a very favorable purchase. In others, things have gone very badly.

If you have misgivings, talk to your current employer ASAP, and see if you can get your job back. If you are stuck with this new job look for any and all of the following.

• Communication blackout: Nobody knows anything
• Senior management leaves/resigns/is fired
• Hiring freezes
• Equipment purchasing freezes
• People who have been with the company a long time (10+ years) leave
• Benefits are cut
• New, strict codes of conduct are imposed.
• Frequent tours of facilities by purchasing company.

If you see three or more of these, get out ASAP.

Answer 2

Try to contact your future boss and ask him if the recent operation affect your future position.

There is nothing else that you can do beside getting assurence that you job would be there with rejoing the new company. If it goes well, stick around and enjoy working there.

Generaly speaking, when a big company buys a smaller one, it's because they are intersted in it and it saw a great potential in it business developpement strategy plan.