Grads get lesson in
boom and bust
Students who made recruiting splash
lose jobs
BY TRACY SEIPEL
Mercury News
A year ago, at a different time, Nortel
Networks created a sensation when it hired --
en masse -- 34 Santa Clara University
computer engineering graduates to work as a
team for the networking giant.
But the romance that had started with a lavish recruiting dinner hosted
by their future employer ended recently with the young engineers
huddled around office vending machines, worried about layoffs.
Shortly thereafter, nearly all lost their jobs.
``They experienced both of the extremes -- one being hired very
easily, and the other flip side of the coin, being let go just as easily,''
said Amandip Sehmbey, the ex-Nortel manager who had conceived
the idea to recruit the SCU students as a group. Sehmbey, 39, who
was employed at Nortel for 14 years, also was let go. For everyone,
he said, ``the end came as a bit of a surprise.''
Like many other Silicon Valley workers, the story of the SCU grads
had started out with high hopes in a sizzling economy. So unorthodox
was the concept of signing up entire groups of a college's computer
engineering class that it attracted local headlines, and was highlighted
at some college career-counseling conferences. One-third of Santa
Clara University's computer engineering seniors and a chunk of its
master's class were hired, all to focus on one Nortel project.
But besides the novelty, there was skepticism among other company
recruiters, other deans and career counselors at local universities, and
even among the 34 students.
``I know some of them thought that when we were all hired together, it
was too good to last,'' said 23-year-old Kavita Jhatakia, one of the
students, who range in age from their early 20s to mid-30s.
Their suspicions, it turns out, were right. As the economy cooled, a
small round of layoffs in February put many of them on edge, but they
were assured that ``everything was going fine,'' Jhatakia said.
Sehmbey thought the same -- at first.
A second round of layoffs in April rattled more nerves. Still they were
told to keep working, Jhatakia said. When their workload began
easing noticeably, they realized another round was imminent. They
were not surprised when it came in early May: The company shut
down the division where they worked, and nearly all of them lost their
jobs.
Despite the setback, Nortel Networks spokesman David Chamberlin
said the company remains committed to supporting college programs
and continuing relationships with schools.
But for now, it's back to circulating resumes.
``The market is pretty tough right now, and it's very hard to get any
interviews,'' said Jilin Yao, a 36-year-old former graduate student.
Alan Abar, a 23-year-old SCU grad let go from Promatory, the
Nortel division that provided data and voice services over a digital
subscriber line and where most of the students had been placed, also
is frustrated. For one thing, he's been told by recruiters at other
companies that he doesn't have enough experience. ``A year ago, it
was an employee's market,'' Abar said. ``Now it's an employer's
market.''
Worse off are some of his friends who are working on H-1B visas,
temporary visas set aside for highly skilled foreign workers. Losing
their jobs at Nortel means losing a sponsor, and they may have to
leave the country.
``I was hoping to gain a couple of years at least with Nortel,'' Abar
said. ``It was a place I loved and enjoyed. . . . It was unfortunate that
it had to end all of a sudden.''
It had been an equally swift beginning. Wined and dined at a lavish
recruiting event held at the Crowne Plaza hotel in San Jose in fall
1999, 38 incredulous students were told they would be mailed job
offers from Nortel the next day, complete with signing bonuses for all,
and stock options for some.
The 34 who joined got starting salaries of $53,000 to $72,000 and
went to work. They lived large: free catered lunches, free sodas and
snacks from the vending machines. The goodies ended a few months
before the group got the ax. ``I guess that was an indication that things
weren't going so well,'' Abar said.
About eight of the 34 students got lucky; they found positions in other
Nortel divisions before or after the layoffs at Promatory. Jhatakia, for
example, was picked up by Shasta, another Nortel division, a month
after she was laid off in May. Grad student Chao Wang, 33, was hired
as a software engineer for Promatory. But within a few months, he and
another ex-SCU student had moved to Xros, a branch of Nortel
focused on optical-networking products.
``It's the nature of the work in Silicon Valley,'' said Terry Shoup,
Santa Clara's dean of engineering, when told of the group's fate.
``Some organizations succeed, and some don't. And some parts of
some organizations succeed, and some don't. But I don't think it's a
reflection on the students in any way.''
Andy Ceperley, director of the career center at Santa Clara
University, said the ``incredible year of transition'' at many workplaces
in Silicon Valley has inspired his office to offer a one-day program to
students next year that addresses the shifting job market and job
security.
And if the job search slows to a crawl, the engineering school has a
fallback for the laid-off students: a ``degree warranty'' program.
Started in 1993, it offers any engineering school alumni who have been
laid off the chance to enroll in graduate-school classes for free until
they find new jobs.
Shoup said the program is meant to say, ``We know you're important
and you're a valuable human being and we're going to help you get
that next job.'' In the boom cycle of the past five years, there have
been few takers. But that may change with the growing number of
layoffs, he said.
Contact Tracy Seipel at tseipel@sjmercury.com or (408)
920-5343. |
