7 ms·

Correct, Take the first round of payouts, always. Almost every 10+ years a mega company buys the company I'm working for and lays off everyone. The first time

Correct, Take the first round of payouts, always. Almost every 10+ years a mega company buys the company I'm working for and lays off everyone. The first time I stayed on and didnt take the layoff with my group, was going to merge into the new company. Then after a year, was let go and didnt get the big layoff package, then my manager left. Totally screwed out of a major layoff package as it was a year later, way past the laws for mass layoffs, was a mistake to stay on, they kept me long enough they only had to let me go under new terms, then promptly closed the group (me and my manager). I was the most senior and long term employee, they saved a bucket load to screw me over.

washywashy 4y ago
Are employees able to “take” a layoff even if they don’t receive an email telling them they are among the affected group?
- WanderPanda 4y ago
  I was wondering about this as well, would be nice if someone could clarify!
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - crims0n 4y ago
    It depends on the company and situation. Sometimes they ask for volunteers and you can request the package, most times you don't get a choice.
  - ciropantera 4y ago
    The writing is usually on the wall for a while before the layoff actually happens, so there's time for you to let your manager know that you wouldn't mind getting the boot.
- madengr 4y ago
- kasey_junk 4y ago
  Not usually in layoffs. In acquisitions or for old fashioned pension based companies sometimes there are voluntary “buyouts” which look like that.
- htrp 4y ago
  If you're pretty close with your Director/VP, you can volunteer to be first on the list. Frame it as a sacrifice that you're willing to make to spare another member of your team.
  - sigzero 4y ago
    Good advice, I have done this and it has worked.
  - johnvanommen 4y ago
    It was petty, but I worked with a dude who got fired for doing that. When he volunteered to get laid off (with the intention of getting a severance), the person he said that to fired him on the spot for "not being a team player." Eventually, every last one of us were laid off. But it took six months and I used the time to find a new role and I also received a four month severance.
    - hnfong 4y ago
      The "If you're pretty close with your Director/VP" part is probably important :)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- francisofascii 4y ago
  Sometimes voluntary buyouts are offered before the layoffs. And they typically will make it seem like the buyout option will have better terms than the eventual severance package, to entice people to take it rather than risk getting fired down the road.
  - washywashy 4y ago
    Yeah this is what I’ve seen at previous companies. Basically, they need enough headcount for it to not eventually proceed to full layoffs. It actually seems beneficial if you meet the tenure requirements, are still relatively young, and have a good network. I saw several people make out like bandits from those types of offerings.
    - marcus0x62 4y ago
      Yep. I knew several people at a previous employer who got 1 year full pay packages and had a new job lined up within a week. One guy took an early retirement package, worth probably $250k at the time, left for two years and worked at a startup for a while, then came back and within 18 months took ANOTHER early retirement package.
- gwbas1c 4y ago
  In situations like this, it's usually too late. Sometimes voluntary layoffs are announced, but really you need to be able to read between the lines and smell that something is coming before the layoff is announced. (The reason is that layoffs are usually kept confidential because no one wants to incite panic.) What I did a few years ago was have a 1-1 with a VP and basically implied that I was ready to do something different. I ended up with a great severance package right as the pandemic was taking off.
  - sidewndr46 4y ago
    I've never understood why people in middle management seem to be blindsided by layoffs. I've even listened to a manager tell the CEO this. Are they that oblivious they can't see the writing on the wall? Or is it all just a weird act?
    - afterburner 4y ago
      You don't get to be middle management by NOT doing a weird act all the time
vegetablepotpie 4y ago
Let’s say you are an employee at a company that does mass layoffs. They do not lay you off like everyone else and keep you on. What is the best course of action to take at that point?
- iLoveOncall 4y ago
  Looking for a new job. The advice to "take the first layoff" is weird, you rarely have a choice, if ever.
  - eschneider 4y ago
    The advice isn't so much "take the first layoff", it's "next time will be worse."
  - lumost 4y ago
    If you say that you aren’t plussed, then they will probably lay you off to.
  - jaredandrews 4y ago
    True but there are exceptions. At a previous job of mine, layoffs were happening and my manager was tasked with laying off one member of my team. He sat us in a room and told us about it and the severance package and basically asked for a volunteer. A more senior engineer volunteered and went on his way with a good chunk of cash. Oh how I wish I had volunteered cuz a year later basically everyone including me had quit anyway.
  - stanmancan 4y ago
    The last job I had they offered very generous buy out packages to a few thousand employees to lower the head count. We got to decide if we took it or not. id you accepted they would then figure out your exit date which could be anywhere from 2 weeks to 12 months out depending on company needs.
  - gangstead 4y ago
    I don't know if it's an industry specific thing but my parents worked for big defense contractors and they would often talk about layoffs in conjunction with offers that people could take to leave voluntarily. Always signed crazy to me. My mom took one in 99, worked private industry for a couple years then came back to defense after the dot com crash for way more money.
chipgap98 4y ago
I'm not saying there won't be more layoffs, but I don't think this advice makes sense for people at places like Meta. They are generating a ton of revenue and profit even with the current economic conditions.
- david927 4y ago
  Not to be contentious but some people may ask, "How much of that revenue is real?" and, "How much of it is inelastic?"
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  In the case of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg has set the controls for the heart of the Sun. It has no future because Zuck will lose everything in the quest for a product nobody wants.
  - emptysongglass 4y ago
    There's actually a bunch of us who do want it. I work in VR 5 hours a day. It's the dream for me.
    - PaulHoule 4y ago
      There is VR and there is the Meta version of it. One can succeed despite the other, in fact, the Meta version of VR endangers the success of VR in general. Specifically, Zuck is working overtime and spending his shareholders money to convince people that VR is somewhere between Axie Infinity and watching paint dry. Most of the VR advocates I know are no fan of Meta: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThrillSeekerVR https://www.youtube.com/c/ThrillSeekerVR What is missing from Zuck's vision is any of the understanding that can be had from or had about fiction. If he was willing to listen he should take a sabbatical and go watch Ready Player One and all of the Sword Art Online anime and then he should buy a Switch or a PS5 and get a serious gaming habit. At some point he might get some insight about virtual worlds that aren't just a pale shadow of the real world but rather a place you might really want to work or play in.
  - 4y ago

washywashy 4y ago

Are employees able to “take” a layoff even if they don’t receive an email telling them they are among the affected group?

WanderPanda 4y ago
I was wondering about this as well, would be nice if someone could clarify!
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- crims0n 4y ago
  It depends on the company and situation. Sometimes they ask for volunteers and you can request the package, most times you don't get a choice.
- ciropantera 4y ago
  The writing is usually on the wall for a while before the layoff actually happens, so there's time for you to let your manager know that you wouldn't mind getting the boot.
madengr 4y ago
kasey_junk 4y ago
Not usually in layoffs. In acquisitions or for old fashioned pension based companies sometimes there are voluntary “buyouts” which look like that.
htrp 4y ago
If you're pretty close with your Director/VP, you can volunteer to be first on the list. Frame it as a sacrifice that you're willing to make to spare another member of your team.
- sigzero 4y ago
  Good advice, I have done this and it has worked.
- johnvanommen 4y ago
  It was petty, but I worked with a dude who got fired for doing that. When he volunteered to get laid off (with the intention of getting a severance), the person he said that to fired him on the spot for "not being a team player." Eventually, every last one of us were laid off. But it took six months and I used the time to find a new role and I also received a four month severance.
  - hnfong 4y ago
    The "If you're pretty close with your Director/VP" part is probably important :)
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
francisofascii 4y ago
Sometimes voluntary buyouts are offered before the layoffs. And they typically will make it seem like the buyout option will have better terms than the eventual severance package, to entice people to take it rather than risk getting fired down the road.
- washywashy 4y ago
  Yeah this is what I’ve seen at previous companies. Basically, they need enough headcount for it to not eventually proceed to full layoffs. It actually seems beneficial if you meet the tenure requirements, are still relatively young, and have a good network. I saw several people make out like bandits from those types of offerings.
  - marcus0x62 4y ago
    Yep. I knew several people at a previous employer who got 1 year full pay packages and had a new job lined up within a week. One guy took an early retirement package, worth probably $250k at the time, left for two years and worked at a startup for a while, then came back and within 18 months took ANOTHER early retirement package.
gwbas1c 4y ago
In situations like this, it's usually too late. Sometimes voluntary layoffs are announced, but really you need to be able to read between the lines and smell that something is coming before the layoff is announced. (The reason is that layoffs are usually kept confidential because no one wants to incite panic.) What I did a few years ago was have a 1-1 with a VP and basically implied that I was ready to do something different. I ended up with a great severance package right as the pandemic was taking off.
- sidewndr46 4y ago
  I've never understood why people in middle management seem to be blindsided by layoffs. I've even listened to a manager tell the CEO this. Are they that oblivious they can't see the writing on the wall? Or is it all just a weird act?
  - afterburner 4y ago
    You don't get to be middle management by NOT doing a weird act all the time

vegetablepotpie 4y ago

Let’s say you are an employee at a company that does mass layoffs. They do not lay you off like everyone else and keep you on. What is the best course of action to take at that point?

iLoveOncall 4y ago
Looking for a new job. The advice to "take the first layoff" is weird, you rarely have a choice, if ever.
- eschneider 4y ago
  The advice isn't so much "take the first layoff", it's "next time will be worse."
- lumost 4y ago
  If you say that you aren’t plussed, then they will probably lay you off to.
- jaredandrews 4y ago
  True but there are exceptions. At a previous job of mine, layoffs were happening and my manager was tasked with laying off one member of my team. He sat us in a room and told us about it and the severance package and basically asked for a volunteer. A more senior engineer volunteered and went on his way with a good chunk of cash. Oh how I wish I had volunteered cuz a year later basically everyone including me had quit anyway.
- stanmancan 4y ago
  The last job I had they offered very generous buy out packages to a few thousand employees to lower the head count. We got to decide if we took it or not. id you accepted they would then figure out your exit date which could be anywhere from 2 weeks to 12 months out depending on company needs.
- gangstead 4y ago
  I don't know if it's an industry specific thing but my parents worked for big defense contractors and they would often talk about layoffs in conjunction with offers that people could take to leave voluntarily. Always signed crazy to me. My mom took one in 99, worked private industry for a couple years then came back to defense after the dot com crash for way more money.

chipgap98 4y ago

I'm not saying there won't be more layoffs, but I don't think this advice makes sense for people at places like Meta. They are generating a ton of revenue and profit even with the current economic conditions.

david927 4y ago
Not to be contentious but some people may ask, "How much of that revenue is real?" and, "How much of it is inelastic?"
PaulHoule 4y ago
In the case of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg has set the controls for the heart of the Sun. It has no future because Zuck will lose everything in the quest for a product nobody wants.
- emptysongglass 4y ago
  There's actually a bunch of us who do want it. I work in VR 5 hours a day. It's the dream for me.
  - PaulHoule 4y ago
    There is VR and there is the Meta version of it. One can succeed despite the other, in fact, the Meta version of VR endangers the success of VR in general. Specifically, Zuck is working overtime and spending his shareholders money to convince people that VR is somewhere between Axie Infinity and watching paint dry. Most of the VR advocates I know are no fan of Meta: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThrillSeekerVR https://www.youtube.com/c/ThrillSeekerVR What is missing from Zuck's vision is any of the understanding that can be had from or had about fiction. If he was willing to listen he should take a sabbatical and go watch Ready Player One and all of the Sword Art Online anime and then he should buy a Switch or a PS5 and get a serious gaming habit. At some point he might get some insight about virtual worlds that aren't just a pale shadow of the real world but rather a place you might really want to work or play in.
- 4y ago