AguaMan236's journey

I'm currently in a tough situation at my job. My division is being acquired, and while half of my team has been offered positions at the new company, the rest of us, including myself, are being left behind. We've been verbally assured that we will remain employed until February, but nothing is in writing yet. I just applied for a position within my current company that is similar to my role but at a lower grade level. To give you some context, I've been with this company for 8 years, starting as an Analyst I, then moving up to Analyst II, and for the last 2 years, I've held the title of Analyst III. My boss mentioned that I was on track for another promotion to Analyst IV in the next year or two. The job I applied for is an Analyst II position, which means I'd be taking a step back in my career. This would also come with a 10% pay cut, dropping my salary from $100k to $90k. My current manager, who will keep her job post-acquisition, is urging me to withdraw my application, believing that this move would hinder my career progression. I'm concerned about how this demotion would look on my resume, and while I would prefer to find a job that maintains or improves my current status, I'd rather take a step back than face unemployment. I've applied to several other jobs outside the company, but this is the first one that has offered me an interview. I appreciate the remote work setup and the 6 weeks of PTO at my current job, and I'm hesitant to give that up for a hybrid role elsewhere, even if it means keeping my current salary. I'm at a crossroads and would love to hear thoughts on whether I should withdraw my application or if taking the Analyst II position would be a wise choice given the circumstances.

I recently experienced a layoff announcement that left me feeling frustrated and humiliated. Two weeks ago, my company informed us that they were exiting the market for the product I work on, and that our jobs would be eliminated soon. While another company is acquiring most of our business, they chose not to include us, although they hinted that some of us might be hired. Yesterday, during a team meeting, we learned that out of 12 people on my team, 5 had received offers from the new company. The remaining 7 of us, including myself, are set to be laid off in January. There was no interview process, and it seemed like the selection was arbitrary. I was particularly shocked that some of our less experienced team members received offers while two of the best performers did not. To add to my frustration, our managers and director were hired by the new company, which raised questions about the reasoning behind the selections. The way the layoff was communicated was especially distressing. We were all informed at once in a meeting, with our cameras on, in front of a small audience that included both employees and managers from the new company. Our director, who was hired by the new company, delivered the news while visibly emotional. It felt incredibly dehumanizing to receive such significant news in a group setting rather than privately. I believe we deserved to be treated with more dignity. Now, I'm grappling with whether it's worth bringing this up with my manager or director. Am I wrong to feel that this was a terrible way to handle the situation?