HPE Buys Juniper Networks

That picture shown above has got nothing to do with HPE's acquisition of Juniper Networks. Well, kind of, actually. I took this picture as I was boarding the plane on my way home after visiting the Juniper Networks office.

When news broke that HPE is buying Juniper Networks in the early part of this year, I was stunned but I did not fully understand how it is going to be affect me...as a Juniper Networks contractor.

From the time when that news broke out until last week, I was just doing things as I normally would. Me and my colleagues would get news here and there but nothing major really.

But, just last week, we heard news that the acquisition is happening really fast and it might be completed in as early as the 1st of November. This time, this news made me fearful because there is still no information what will happen to the existing employees of Juniper Networks, whether they will get absorbed to HPE or not. Not even a figure of a percentage how many employees are getting absorbed to HPE.

If there's no news about the employees, it's much worse to the contractors. If employees are assured of getting a 'layoff package', the contractors most likely won't.

These events and progress, and the lack of any relevant information about the future of the employees and contractors has made me so unsure what the next steps I need to take.

Different departments are pressuring me and my team to close out all the open requisitions before HPE takes over. My manager must be feeling the brunt of the pressure from these departments and he's pressuring us in return.

But, these things just made me question the intentions of these departments and I dare say, even question my manager's intention - is it really for the purpose of closing a position for increased productivity and profit OR is it to look good in the eyes of HPE and in effect they get absorbed as a result?

HPE's acquisition of Juniper Networks is a really good things on the investors of both companies, that's for sure. While these acquisitions happens almost all the time in the tech industry, this also spells out uncertainties on the part of the employees of the companies that are being bought.

But, one can always argue that there's not a need to worry if you're just doing your job right - well, we can say this up to an extend. But, we also need to recognize that this is not always the case. With an acquisition that happens, redundancies and similarities of position between both companies will always be there and the prioritization of retaining the employees of the buying company, especially the good ones, will always be at the top.

Anyway, in my case as a contractor, the uncertainty of having a job after the 1st of November or until HPE fully acquires Juniper Networks, just grows day by day.