3 ms·

Do you really believe anyone has the time to weigh individual performance when told to lay off 10,000 employees? I've been on both sides of layoffs. I've seen

by base3 4y ago

Do you really believe anyone has the time to weigh individual performance when told to lay off 10,000 employees? I've been on both sides of layoffs. I've seen functions, groups, orgs, and offices eliminated. Individual low performers are either managed out or fired with cause.

viraptor 4y ago
They wouldn't have time, but that's also why nobody fires 10k people. They delegate the decision to various managers below them.
- mijamo 4y ago
  This sometimes happen but is not the norm. The problem with this approach is the long uncertainty for EVERYONE while the decision is made, and if many managers are involved it's basically the same as it being public information. In a lot of recent layoffs everything was decided in small committees so that it can go really quick between announcement and effect. Also evaluating employees is really really hard when it is creative / intellectual work and most of the time personal affinities override any decision from managers so that is not ideal.
  - Volundr 4y ago
    Especially because the managers they'd delegate this too are also potentially on the chopping block. In my experience the larger the layoff the more likely it's a small committee of upper level management and HR figuring out who goes.
- lazyant 4y ago
  > They delegate the decision to various managers below them From causal reading about the Big Tech layoffs, own/second hand experience etc, large layoffs are decided at the Director level at least (VPs in the case of Google iirc), as in line managers or team managers have no say in it and are kept in the dark.
- tssva 4y ago
  My experience as a manager is that I have been consulted when a small number of people have needed to be laid off to reduce costs on a specific project but not for large company wide layoffs. For the 2 large scale layoffs I have been involved in while in a management position I learned who was being laid off at the same time those being laid off learned. My only prior notice was the head count I was losing.
- DanielHB 4y ago
  I assume that when large scale layoffs happen they terminate whole teams at once, letting everyone in that team go without trying to relocate the high performers to another team
- bart_spoon 4y ago
  Many of those managers are kept in the dark because they too will be laid off

by base3 4y ago

viraptor 4y ago

They wouldn't have time, but that's also why nobody fires 10k people. They delegate the decision to various managers below them.

mijamo 4y ago
This sometimes happen but is not the norm. The problem with this approach is the long uncertainty for EVERYONE while the decision is made, and if many managers are involved it's basically the same as it being public information. In a lot of recent layoffs everything was decided in small committees so that it can go really quick between announcement and effect. Also evaluating employees is really really hard when it is creative / intellectual work and most of the time personal affinities override any decision from managers so that is not ideal.
- Volundr 4y ago
  Especially because the managers they'd delegate this too are also potentially on the chopping block. In my experience the larger the layoff the more likely it's a small committee of upper level management and HR figuring out who goes.
lazyant 4y ago
> They delegate the decision to various managers below them From causal reading about the Big Tech layoffs, own/second hand experience etc, large layoffs are decided at the Director level at least (VPs in the case of Google iirc), as in line managers or team managers have no say in it and are kept in the dark.
tssva 4y ago
My experience as a manager is that I have been consulted when a small number of people have needed to be laid off to reduce costs on a specific project but not for large company wide layoffs. For the 2 large scale layoffs I have been involved in while in a management position I learned who was being laid off at the same time those being laid off learned. My only prior notice was the head count I was losing.
DanielHB 4y ago
I assume that when large scale layoffs happen they terminate whole teams at once, letting everyone in that team go without trying to relocate the high performers to another team
bart_spoon 4y ago
Many of those managers are kept in the dark because they too will be laid off