The CEO of the company I work for just sent an email out about an hour ago, probably with the expectation that everyone would see it first thing in the morning. Lucky insomniac that I am, I get the word well in advance that there will be a 20% reduction in staff tomorrow. No specifics on how that will be distributed amongst the various departments and locations.
This is going to be a very long night...
Posted by Miro (Member # 1178) on :
That sucks. Good luck in the morning.
Posted by 0Megabyte (Member # 8624) on :
Oh, man...
I really hope when I wake up you still have a job, Matt!
Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :
Have you heard anything yet?
Good luck.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Huh. What is the logic that comes into giving a one day warning about jobs being lost? You get the stress of potentially losing your job but not much warning time to do anything about it.
I could see giving a warning one or two weeks in advance, to give people time to start looking for jobs, and secure their finances a bit.
Why not just wait until more details are available so that less people are stressed out? I'm sure there is a good business reason beyond being cruel, any business students/people here?
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
When my husband's position was eliminated, the company did something similar. They gave everyone in his position overnight to choose one of three options (severance package, apply for another management job in the same company, or take a demotion). That was a rough night.
MattP, I hope everything goes well for you.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
quote: What is the logic that comes into giving a one day warning about jobs being lost? You get the stress of potentially losing your job but not much warning time to do anything about it.
I think for some companies, especially if they deal with client-sensitive information, there is potential for a great deal of "damage" to be done to the company by the exiting employee if they are given enough lee-way notice in advance.
I mean, people SHOULDN'T burn their bridges in that way, but they do. Many react with hostility and resentment and have the ability to do great damage before exiting.
Unfortunately, the fear of those types of people ruins the situation for everyone else.
Posted by Christine (Member # 8594) on :
I'm afraid that still doesn't make sense to me. If tomorrow, 20% of the people are going to walk in and lose their jobs then just give the pink slips today and escort them from the building before they can sabotage anything. It's really cold to make everyone bite their nails overnight, wondering if it's going to be them.
Of course, news of these things does have a way of leaking out through unofficial channels.
Apparently, there's less chance of an "incident" if you lay people off on a Friday.
I hope things work out for you, Matt. What a lousy deal.
Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :
When my company did layoffs 7-8 years ago, they had a "lunch meeting" for all the people who were staying, and the ones being laid off were asked to come in to their manager's office real quick, then escorted out the door. Not even 5 minutes notice.
Probably better that way. I got an early lunch, and got to change the oil when there wasn't anyone else at Jiffy Lube Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
Man I have way too much indignation. That kind of thing would make me so angry that I'd probably quit before finding out if I were one of the layoffs.
Good luck, and if you have to leave, load up on office supplies on the way out.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
quote: It's really cold to make everyone bite their nails overnight
Well, maybe I misunderstood the first post. I thought he was saying most people wouldn't see the e-mail UNTIL the same day as the layoff -- he just happened to see it early because he logged on in the middle of the night because he couldn't sleep.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Farmgirl: Actually, thats a good point. It was the indeterminate thing that threw me. If they knew who was going to be fired, I would have caught that immediately. Of course, if there is a chance you could lose your job, you could still program a "time bomb" and only trigger it if you find out for sure.
Thus it makes sense not to give advance warning. I guess I still haven't become cynical enough, but I will work on it
Still, I don't get the point of a "in one hour, you have a 20% chance of being unemployed, yar mateys!" email.
Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :
I wonder how often layoffs are a direct result of bad management choices.
When I was laid off (along with about 15% of the company) the management had just given themselves raises and huge stock options plans months before, putting the company into serious debt, so when the economy slowed down they were forced to lay off 15% of the company to pay the loans.
Of course, none of the management were laid off. Even though it was their greedy decision that hurt the company, and one of their salaries would have paid to keep 10 employees working. Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
The email was clearly meant to arrive at the start of the work day. I was just up late enough to catch it when it was sent out. As far as how and when to give notice about this sort of thing, I've experienced several different versions and probably the least stressful is just to be told about when it's time for you to leave the building.
I've never been laid off, but I've experienced plenty of anticipatory stress because of notifications that preceded the actual layoffs.
Anyway, I'm safe, or so I'm told unofficially by the people that are making the decisions. No one has been notified yet.
Thanks to all for the well wishes.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Didn't see this thread until just now. At my last job I just noticed that top level executives were being replaced, and that our customer base was shrinking drastically. The sales floor people started disappearing and I knew that my own position was tenuous at best. Those last two weeks sucked as I tried to just focus on keeping myself busy and making sure I looked as important as possible. I ended up requesting a meeting with head of HR as I had some work related stuff I needed to discuss with him. He took the opportunity our meeting provided to tell me that I was losing my job and to pack up and be gone by tomorrow. I can certainly empathize with you Matt.
I'm glad it seems your job is secure for now. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. To be honest though if there are mass layoffs I might start looking around for alternatives just in case anyway.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Glad to hear that you're safe, Matt.
Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
For the first layoff that I lived through, a few employers ago, they notified everyone that there would be a yet-undetermined number of layoffs at a yet-undetermined point in time within 30 days. That was miserable.
Posted by Christine (Member # 8594) on :
I guess I misunderstood. Still, probably best to just tell people they're gone and escort them out. I'm glad you're safe, but I always hate to hear about layoffs like that. They seem so commonplace, and I DO think that bad management decisions are often to blame. I've noticed that companies are incredibly short sighted, and in part I blame the stock market system. It creates a tendency to care more about this quarter's figures than long-term profitability. What does it matter, as long as the numbers look good this quarter and your stock prices go up?
My husband, who works in the tech field, has noticed a especially ominous cut in R&D, which we suspect is due to the fact that research money doesn't come back for a long time...years...and then it's hard to tie the profit directly to the expense. Sad, really.
Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
They sure are handling this poorly. Apparently, they are insisting that an HR rep be present when people are notified but the main office can't get them out here until tomorrow and wants to hold off until then. Local management is appealing that and we're all just twiddling our thumbs.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Ugh. I hate layoff day. I've been through 3 layoff days so far, 2 of which I've gotten laid off. The first was probably the best--we were all just brought into the manager's office 10 at a time and told about it, then sent home. The second and third were excruciating--everybody milling around, waiting for their phones to ring, ready to snap. I didn't get laid off the 2nd time through, but it sucked. It changed company culture for the worse. People stopped feeling like being loyal to the company mattered much.
The 3rd layoff confirmed that feeling. It made no sense why we were being let go, and loyalty didn't count for squat. I was laid off along with people who had been working there 15+ years and doing a pretty darn good job. I'm still inwardly bitter about it mostly because it still doesn't make any sense why it happened. A few of the people they laid off got rehired after about a week when they realized they still needed them. I did freelance work for the company for months afterward because they didn't have anyone to take over my work.
Luckily, this time around, we got pretty good severance packages. Although it took me a while to get a steady income again, we didn't suffer too much thanks to that severance. And I guess the upside is that I eventually landed my current job, which pays significantly more than my last one did.
Definitely act professionally when you get laid off. Don't burn bridges. It's a good bet most of the people you'd be inconveniencing will be there down the road in other companies. Keep your head on during the layoff and you keep a network of people who are more sympathetic to you and ready to put in a good word for you later on. Plus, it's just good practice for life in general.
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
quote:Originally posted by MightyCow: When my company did layoffs 7-8 years ago, they had a "lunch meeting" for all the people who were staying, and the ones being laid off were asked to come in to their manager's office real quick, then escorted out the door. Not even 5 minutes notice.
Probably better that way. I got an early lunch, and got to change the oil when there wasn't anyone else at Jiffy Lube
We had a similar one at a company once, but we were herded into a conference room. The only problem... the conference room had a glass wall that faced the CAD area. So ten minutes into the meeting, we had to watch these people come back into the area with boxes and pack up. Poor planning on their part. They should have taken us to the lunch room. It was weird watching these people pack up.
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
I understand why they do not want you to touch the computer, but there is so many things that I keep on my work computer that I would want to get before I left. Some would include: Outlook contacts, photorendered images of work I have done, personal files kept on the computer, etc. Not having access to those would really make me upset.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
quote: but there is so many things that I keep on my work computer that I would want to get before I left.
That is why I back up any personal files I have on my work computer onto CD and take it home occasionally.
Because I'm one of the people who have to deal with those "terminated employees files" once they've been ushered out. So I know the protocols for our company, and know it would be very hard for me to recover any of these things if I was fired. (unless it was under very friendly terms)
God forbid that ever happen. I think I have a pretty secure job and plan to be here for many more years.
Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
We had a layoff (temporary but had the possibility of lasting for several months) at my last employment. The company was owned by an Eastern corporation. They were insisting that the notification be given as the personnel left the plant on the last day. They were fearful of sabotage. I convinced them that was not the way people did business in the West and they let me give the employees a two payperiod notice. I called the state unemployment people to set up a group enrollment to be held after the layoff date. The state lady asked "You mean to tell me that you are going to tell these people on Thanksgiving that you are going to lay them off on Christmas?" When I answered yes, she hung up on me. I called back and she continued to hang up. I finally had to call the state director to get it scheduled. Layoffs are traumatic for everyone because our society so equates employment with self. Generally when we meet someone for the first time, "What do you do?" comes right after "What is your name." So, a layoff for any reason becomes a devaulation of you as a person. I wish it wern't so. But, it's not likely to change any time soon.
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
quote:Originally posted by Farmgirl:
quote: but there is so many things that I keep on my work computer that I would want to get before I left.
That is why I back up any personal files I have on my work computer onto CD and take it home occasionally.
Because I'm one of the people who have to deal with those "terminated employees files" once they've been ushered out. So I know the protocols for our company, and know it would be very hard for me to recover any of these things if I was fired. (unless it was under very friendly terms)
God forbid that ever happen. I think I have a pretty secure job and plan to be here for many more years.
I backup also. Just not as often as I should.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
My last job, we had 12 rounds of layoffs in 6 years. We shrank from 120 employees down to 18 when the last round where I was cut came 'round. That took them down to 3, I think. The company folded later that year, though I hear that the CEO and CIO are trying to revive it.
It got to be a macabre sort of joke. If we were having a Thursday all-company meeting, it meant layoffs. I don't know why they always did layoffs on Thursday, but that's how it always was. While there was never any notice, and after round 5, there was no severance package, it almost never came as a surprise. Being taken over by venture capitalists was the worst thing that could have happened to our company.
I'm sorry you're going through this, MattB. I've been laid off quite a few times, and after the experience at my last company, I have to say that for me, being the survivor was almost worse than being the victim.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by jeniwren: I'm sorry you're going through this, MattB.
(It's MattP -- I've confused them before, too. )
I'm glad this didn't mean a layoff for you, but what a stress.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I've only dealt with that once. It wasn't so bad, because I was the only part-time employee, and I already had another job lined up anyway.
They had a big meeting with everybody and said that half the company was getting laid off, and then everybody came into the boss's office one at a time to find out which it was for them. I got to go in first because I had to leave for class. I was fired, but I didn't really mind. I already had two job offers for when I finished classes. And they were nice enough to give me a severance package, which they really didn't need to do.
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
I wish they'd given one of the guys in my department a few minutes notice so he could clean the pr0n off his laptop.
Oh, wait. They did, and he knew I was getting his computer. Little brat must've had a crush on me, 'cause all the naked ladies were just my size.
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