Several asked to be transferred to other departments. That's what prompted his demand to be the sole point of provisioning. He had final say over Finance, Analytics, internal reporting tools, if he didn't like you it didn't get a server.
I had been with the company for four years at that point and I knew a lot of other old timers. Overnight it went from a flat organization with a progressive expectation that "No one is going to tell you what to do. You are here because you kick ass and we expect great things." to a strict hierarchy with several layers of management and influence.
Everyone who had been there as long as I had was equally unhappy with the new direction. This was all done under the guise of, "Getting the budget under control." when we all clearly saw the budget was fatter than ever. Where we had a diversity projects and research going on before, now we had 1 or 2 large money making projects. Where we had an expectation that we needed to be competitive and lean and every aspect mattered before, now they were hiring more and more management instead of workers.
We were doing so well that many former co-workers contacted me and other old timers during this time and we warned them off. Many simply didn't renew their contracts because they saw the writing on the wall.
Only one other person outright quit and that was really heartbreaking to watch. He had just transferred from California and the bullying was so bad he told me he was going home to stay with his sister and start going to therapy. He couldn't stand the idea of working in tech anymore.
I had been with the company for four years at that point and I knew a lot of other old timers. Overnight it went from a flat organization with a progressive expectation that "No one is going to tell you what to do. You are here because you kick ass and we expect great things." to a strict hierarchy with several layers of management and influence.
Everyone who had been there as long as I had was equally unhappy with the new direction. This was all done under the guise of, "Getting the budget under control." when we all clearly saw the budget was fatter than ever. Where we had a diversity projects and research going on before, now we had 1 or 2 large money making projects. Where we had an expectation that we needed to be competitive and lean and every aspect mattered before, now they were hiring more and more management instead of workers.
We were doing so well that many former co-workers contacted me and other old timers during this time and we warned them off. Many simply didn't renew their contracts because they saw the writing on the wall.
Only one other person outright quit and that was really heartbreaking to watch. He had just transferred from California and the bullying was so bad he told me he was going home to stay with his sister and start going to therapy. He couldn't stand the idea of working in tech anymore.