The company I work for announced the first of this month that there were going to be 1200 layoffs in my division (7.5%). This is my first job out of college and I have no idea how layoffs work. Who usually makes the decision on who gets let go? Is it your first line managers, some computer, or some executive who has no idea who you are? I casually talked to my manager about the layoffs and he said he had no information either about anything.
Second isn't announcing the layoffs 4 months in advance a long time?
I'm not very scared that I am going to be let go because most people and I agree, that my location will see few layoffs because our products are profitable and the layoffs came because another location in the corporation lost a contract and now they are merging that location with our division. I don't want to get over confident though because my job is the only reason I moved to my present location and now I own a home. I have no connections to the area other than the house.
Every company does it a bit differently. HSBC did layoffs when they bought Household in the early 2000's, they laid off the highest producing sections because they were the most expensive to run. Eli Lilly announced layoffs a few months ago that just started in January, and recently announced another round to start in a few months. They've been cutting (as far as I can tell) based on something other than productivity also.
The how's of it vary also. If the company has openings in another area, they'll probably post them and give consideration to the laid off before looking outside. You may get a severance package, you may not. The good news is it sounds like your company isn't going bankrupt, so if you ARE laid off you'll still get any accrued vacation time, and be eligible for COBRA benefits.
Every company does it a bit differently. HSBC did layoffs when they bought Household in the early 2000's, they laid off the highest producing sections because they were the most expensive to run. Eli Lilly announced layoffs a few months ago that just started in January, and recently announced another round to start in a few months. They've been cutting (as far as I can tell) based on something other than productivity also.
The how's of it vary also. If the company has openings in another area, they'll probably post them and give consideration to the laid off before looking outside. You may get a severance package, you may not. The good news is it sounds like your company isn't going bankrupt, so if you ARE laid off you'll still get any accrued vacation time, and be eligible for COBRA benefits.
Thanks for the reply. I don't really care if they give me severance or benefits or anything like that. The reason is because the only reason I live in this area is because of my job. I actually don't even like the area because I'd prefer to be with my family and friends but I LOVE my job so I moved here. I lose my job then I have no job and no reason to be here except I now own a house. I don't need any severance I've got so much money I could probably live 2 years at my current life style with no income.
Last edited by benchmarkman; 01-23-2010 at 08:03 AM.
Honestly, layoffs are a great time for companies to get rid of people who aren't fitting in. Malcontents, the lazy, the gossipers, the non team players.
If you truly love your job and you've been showing it, you are likely to be one of the safe.
Have you ever read this book? It's pretty awesome:
We recently had a round of layoffs and what generally will happen is they will ask if there is anyone who wants to go. This is usually the people who are close to retirement and others.
Then they will have managers/directors make 'lists' of people. The first people who go on the lists are those that are poor performers. Then they start looking at people who are overhead and see where they can thin out. If there are 3 or 4 people doing the same job then they may see if 2 people could do that job.
I had asked my manager when they were doing our layoffs if I was even close to being on a list and he said no. His department wasn't asked to give any names and even if they were, I wouldn't have been one of the names.
Overall, I'd wait and see what happens. Even people I knew who got laid off actually found jobs elsewhere in the company. If you have any clearance in the DC area, then the likeliness of you finding another job in the area is pretty good. I had a friend who quit and got a job within 2 weeks. (this was within the past couple months).
Honestly, layoffs are a great time for companies to get rid of people who aren't fitting in. Malcontents, the lazy, the gossipers, the non team players.
If you truly love your job and you've been showing it, you are likely to be one of the safe.
That doesn't seem to be holding true in this economy, tbh. Both of my parents were planned parts of the Eli Lilly layoff this month. My mom's division ended up not being cut, but may be in the coming months. She consistently is given the highest ratings on performance reviews, and her boss was near tears when telling her that her job might be cut because she's "been such an asset for the last 40 plus years". My dad's whole division was cut, including his job. He posted for a lateral move and was up against several senior executive directors (he's just an executive director), and thankfully got a new job, the one he really wanted.
I'm not trying to say you will or won't be laid off, I'm just saying it's not safe to assume you'll be ok because you're good at your job. If your division is expensive, or someone else can and will do your job for less, it could come down to dollars.
They did announce in December voulentary layoffs and then in January they said that the 1200 would be off set by the voulentary people and attrition. Rumor has it that 118 people have already signed up to leave voulentarily. When I talked to my manager he felt pretty certain that our department wouldn't be hit hard because in our job we already do 20 different jobs at one time. You can't really give our job to somebody else but more likely they will just give somebody else's job to us.
Layoff Questions?
