not very exciting, but I was relatively new to the company (9 months or so, surrounded by a bunch of veteran employees of 10+ years on average). i had been kicking ass, delivering real value, getting recognition/awards/etc, but spending way more than 40hrs/week and it was costing family time/marital strife (holidays were rough at this employer). Then, as usual, company hires some gunslinger C-levels, and began outsourcing the entire department, and immediately labelled me "redundant". For me, it seemed like a pretty good deal: i was going to get severance and a planned exit several months out, for which i could just pick up another job. mean time, i would just be providing a bit of knowledge transfer. however, my immediate boss found the whole scenario absurd and reached out to a different department to see if he had any openings. long story short, i ended up getting a better offer from the other department (something like 10-15% bump), and a start date a couple weeks out. Once the previous department head got notified, they tried to put the brakes on it (company wanted the ability to "change their mind" if transition wasnt hitting milestones). By then, it was too late.

it was definitely a learning experience.. a few life lessons i took away:

  * networking, even inside your employer is critical to success
  * make sure you are always getting paid your market value
  * never personally sacrifice your career, health, or happiness for free (i would even go so far to say for anything)
  * employers owe you nothing but your wages 
  * dont buy into the "we are family" mantra, culture and leadership can change and leave you unemployed and out of date
  * you owe them nothing more than an honest days work.
  * having a good manager is way more important than whether the company sucks or not.. but remember managers can leave too