#349 Benedikt Oehmen: Layoffs, Level-Ups, and the ‘Big Three’ for Starting Over
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Who is Benedikt Oehmen and what is his background?
Hi, everyone. Welcome to our show, Chief Change Officer. I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist humility for change progressives in organizational and human transformation from around the world. Every day, it seems like you can't escape news of layoffs, corporate downsizing, or restructuring. Today's guest, Benedict Uman, has been directly impacted. Benedict has spent 17 years with Blizzard, a market leader in creating epic gaming experiences. In today's workplace, loyalty to employers or even employers' loyalty to employees feels like a relic of the past. So how was that experience for him? For the most part, it was positive and enjoyable. But then, things shifted. Hearts were broken. Homes were shuttered.
Now, Benedict is turning that experience into something powerful. He's built a full-time practice to help others navigate similar challenges of layoffs and downsizing, offering a shift in mindset and sharing the principles from his book, where he lays out his big three strategies for stepping out of the shadows and moving on. Better, faster, and stronger. Welcome, Benedick. Welcome to our show.
Hello. Thanks so much for having me. I'm feeling very honored among all your distinguished guests to be here.
Benedick. You've written a book which is freely available. Through this book and your coaching practice, you're helping people through career dilemmas, layoffs, and various forms of corporate downsizing. I'm sure many listeners are eager to hear more about your insights, your philosophy, and your approach to these challenges. But before we dive into that, could you share a bit about your own story? Where are you originally from in Germany? What brought you to France? And what did you do there? Let's start with your background and then we'll explore different parts of your experiences in more depth.
What was Benedikt's experience working at Blizzard?
Okay, sure. Sounds great. So I'm born in Germany, close to Cologne and Dusseldorf, so in the western part of Germany. In 2001, I moved to Heidelberg to study physics. And did my bachelor's degree there in physics and asked myself, what do I actually want to do with this? Once like in real life. And my brother made me aware that Blizzard, which was one of my favorite gaming companies or Z, my favorite company of all times when it comes to games at the time and still is. He said, hey, they're looking for support staff for the Game Master, for the in-game customer support. That's all. Let's take a semester off of physics and see how the real world looks like working for a real company in France, close to Paris. And so I sent my CV, I had an interview and said, awesome, when can you come? And then basically took the semester off, started at Blizzard. I loved it so much that from the half year I was taking off originally, that quickly became one year.
Then I changed from customer support to community management and communications. And then I stayed for 17 years total instead of a quick semester and then going back.
Wow. You've stayed with one firm for 17 years, taking on multiple roles. Talk about loyalty. In today's workplace, loyalty to employers or employees. Even employers' loyalty to employees feels like antique. Premium, high value, but very, very few people truly understand the value. How was that experience for you? Tell us about how your roles evolved over time. You mentioned that you study physics, which I have to admit, I know nothing about. I've always thought people who study physics are super smart. But then in a gaming company, you were dealing with customers, working with people and creating games. How did all of that come together for you?
Okay, so I started in customer support, so basically helping players in our premier game at that point, World of Warcraft, if they had any issues in-game. Then I quickly transitioned into community and communications, where the team that I worked in is the linchpin between the community and the game developers in the States. It's like they're communicating back and forth.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Who is Benedikt Oehmen and what is his background?
0:12–3:50
2
What was Benedikt's experience working at Blizzard?
3:50–10:53
3
How did the merger with Activision affect Blizzard's culture?
10:53–14:28
4
What were the impacts of layoffs at Blizzard?
14:28–19:08
5
How did Benedikt transition from Blizzard to a new career?
19:08–22:38
6
What is Benedikt's coaching philosophy for career transitions?
22:38–30:15
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