#stealthlayoff

I’ve noticed on my team under the umbrella of National Buying, every now and then, we hear that XYZ is no longer with the company, effective immediately, no further explanation. And then their role doesn’t get reposted. I don’t know if these people are being let go or if they are quitting and it’s effective immediately. But it is ominous. Thoughts? Insight?

More people seem to have vanished over the weekend.

I was talking to my manager and he let slip that we most likely won't have major layoffs because they're too messy from a PR point of view. That leads me to believe that we'll continue having small layoffs that fly under the radar indefinitely. This is just my guess, but it seems very likely in light of things.

Humana is playing a nasty game. The are laying people off and before you can get your severance you have to sign an agreement that gives up so many of your rights. It is as if they are forcing people to be silent about being treated unfairly, retaliated against and humiliated by leadership. They offer severance which is 2 weeks for every year worked and an AIP payout the following year. This job market is terrible but allowing Humana to continue to get away with this is not good. Humana leadership is horrible and HR IS NOT for the employee. They support and protect horrible managers

Senior management apparently wants to avoid another large round of job cuts becoming public news, so its small layoffs all the time. I've noticed that a few people are being laid off nearly on weekly bases. This is our new reality.

Small cuts are happening all the time, but they're not talked about. The big rounds are announced, the small ones are kept quiet so to avoid panic. We're never layoff-free at Ford.

Headcount doesn’t usually “bleed out” overnight. The warning signs show up long before the announcement.

At BNY, the biggest red flags are already visible: headcount declining without major layoff announcements, growing hiring in lower‑cost hubs like India and Poland, jobs leaving without being backfilled, office consolidations, constant reorganizations, and leadership talking nonstop about efficiency, operating leverage, automation, and AI.

None of those things automatically mean layoffs, but when they all show up together, it usually means restructuring is already happening behind the scenes.

The pattern employees keep describing on this forum is simple and unavoidable: fewer people, more work shifted offshore, more automation, more role consolidation, and fewer opportunities for experienced U.S. workers.

By the time a formal layoff is announced, the process is often well underway. The strongest signal isn't a press release or WARN notice It's watching headcount quietly shrink while leadership continues talking about transformation, operating leverage, productivity, and efficiency gains.

Don't expect any public communications from BNY. In fact, the last publicly available U.S. WARN Notice was from the Jersey City location in January 2024 for only 62 positions. Leadership won't ever describe these as "layoffs" but as "outcomes of the business."

Looks like Leadership will continue to be force feed us a strict Word Salad Diet. The Transformation Playbook says so.

Layoffs never stop. Yes, the next huge round might be coming in December, but ask around, and you'll see that cuts are happening every day. They're just focused on a few people here and there, and it doesn't get as advertised as the big rounds. Layoffs simply never stop.

100s of posts on cuts at JPM, but what about people who resign or retire?

Are those positions actually getting filled or is management just spreading the work around and calling it efficiency? This comes across as a silent layoff.

Curious if anyone in CCB, CIB or tech has seen a backfill approved recently. Could this be how they're reducing headcount without announcing more layoffs?

Williams Sonoma secretly fired 1100 people on 9/23/26. Performance Analysts, Managers, Voice of the customer analysts etc. This was done because they want to transition the whole company to AI which includes customer service and chat. They publicly announced that 70% of all Otto (Chat Ai) interactions don’t go to human. That number is a flat out lie when it was actually more like 27%.

Are the drip drab redundancies still happening in ANI?

Legal Action Over Alleged "Stealth Layoffs"
A federal lawsuit filed against Ford Motor Company highlights growing concern over how headcount reductions are executed without formal WARN notices: 

Forced-Ranking System Allegations: The lawsuit alleges Ford implemented a rigid performance calibration framework that caps top performance tiers (maximum 5% "exceeded") while requiring at least 30% of workers to land in lower performance brackets. 
Performance-Based Separations: The complaint asserts that management used these forced calibration sessions to execute "soft" or "stealth layoffs" across salaried divisions. This allowed the company to reduce overhead without triggering public WARN filings or high-profile severance package releases.

Show us the graphs and projections for headcount by country and location. How many of us are you planning to stealth layoff via the PIP?

A federal lawsuit filed against Ford Motor Company alleges the automaker used a performance management system to create grounds for terminating salaried employees without conducting formal layoffs.

The complaint, filed on September 28 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, centres on the termination of a 57-year-old data analyst who worked at Ford for 28 years and was approximately two years away from a key retirement milestone.

According to the filing, the employee's dismissal formed part of a wider company-wide "stealth" or "soft layoff" programme that allegedly relied on manipulated performance ratings to reduce headcount.

https://www.peoplematters.in/news/strategic-hr/ford-turned-performance-reviews-into-a-layoff-tool-suit-alleges-52428

Hearing from friends in different orgs that silent layoffs started earlier this month—right after GSX.

A number of linkedIn and Reddit posts showing signs of new silent layoffs, the silent layoff process will continue until the first week of October, mostly roles in the US impacted but would not be suprised other regions to follow as we head towards end of month!

It’s been almost 3 years since the first round of major layoffs that changed everything. The layoffs have continued more “silently” twice a year since then. Not a single person feels secure or appreciated anymore. Things at TU were pretty good prior to Nov 2023. Many VP’s and SVP’s were decent humans who cared about their people. Now it’s every man for themselves, the hunger games culture. I firmly believe our CEO enjoys his legacy as the hatchet man. It’s true that we are all id--ts to stay, but leaving is not that easy. Remember that they are spending hundreds of thousands on this boondoggle India trip. I’ve seen the numbers.

It is just done in small batches where it is not reported. Warn Act.

What's going on here?

There are going to be some hidden RAs in all BUs using PIPs.

Record any 1:1 with your manager and any document showing your performance.
Save all your emails and keep them safe.

If you are on PIP you are a target (you are going to be fired from Indian Business Machines).

Save as much as you can from this sh---y company.

USAA doesn't really lay off people as much anymore. They just make your life miserable until you leave quietly. Pay attention for a while and you'll see I'm right.

I just went on Facebook and typed in Centene in the search bar and quite a few people’s posts came up showing they were recently laid off. This was in the last week or two. So it looks as though things are happening behind the scenes and they are not going by a specific date like we all think for next week.

They are hiding it by running monthly layoffs below x number of employees per month, so they would not need do publicly announce it. The AI is still sh-t and its bubble will bite them, can't wait 😆

Another item for your reading pleasure. Doubtful that Stinkey has read this one.

https://enhancv.com/blog/rto-stealth-layoffs/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

In addition to the rolling layoffs we've seen in marketing and sales I can confirm that additional layoffs have hit roles in project management and engineering. Naturally this will never be addressed, but it would be nice to know when this can be expected to subside. Extremely disappointing approach from leadership and such a departure from the transparency of the founders and subsequent leaders.

No announcements, no WARN, just a few people here and there?

Well so much for the change in posture with new "leadershits" as folks are still randomly getting tagged and Rif'd. No news, no word, just the same old quiet layoffs to help bolster someone's 10 Mil stock target as a reality and not a bad dream. Exit while you can.

Be aware: they no longer want the negative attention and blowback from company wide layoffs. Instead, they are doing aggressive, targeted cuts. Yesterday, they laid off several directors and engineers from DevOps. Before that, marketing, design, and CS3.

• I posted this as a response, but figured it would be more useful to some if it was a standalone thread. *

  Come one, everybody! Don't be so gullible.

  CK didn't say there wouldn't be layoffs in our recent all-hands call, he just said they aren't focusing on that right now. It's an incredibly careful response the comms team has prepared ahead of time for the topic.

• What does 'focus on that right now' even mean? Focus on it later (this month? next month?) He might focus on them next week if the market reacts badly to his strategy?
  P23 and P24 were VERY expensive once you calculate out the VERP and severance packages of thousands of senior skilled colleagues with decades of time at the company. They'll want to find a cheaper approach to 'brushing their teeth' going forward. (Clue: "Our new Performance Management" where we overload you with work, give you impossible targets to hit, then later on use missing them as the reason to fire you for performance reasons with no payout).

• After the morale cratering debale that was how they handled P23 and P24, they'll want a quieter approach to future layoffs. They don't even have to tell you. Just cut a team of 15 here, 25, there, 55 here, 30 there... no need to announce it, and if anyone finds out use the bogus 'location strategy' explanation (you know, the BS one where a team of 30 can get cut because that office is not in their strategy, yet for other colleagues in that same location all is fine).

• The next layoffs will be cheaper and done as sneakily as possible - manufactured performance problems for expensive workers followed by unattainable PIPs, and voila.
  Let's not be gullible. "not focusing on that right now" absolutely DOESN'T mean there will be no layoffs in executive speak, just like "there aren't any plans currently" or "we want to keep our best people". They're empty non-answer phrases that give nothing away.

SAP couldn't give 2 ships about you as a person. Do what's best for you. If that means stay and try to put up with the political drama and backstabbing, good for you - best of luck to you. But if not, don't be blindsided. Tidy up that CV and start paying attention to what's out there. I certainly will be.

BNY Mellon’s significance on this forum is clear: the forum has become a real‑time barometer of employee sentiment, revealing a workforce that perceives the bank’s strategy as dominated by cost‑cutting, stealth layoffs, cultural deterioration, and leadership distrust. The volume, tone, and consistency of posts signal reputational, operational, and talent‑retention risks that BNY cannot ignore.

1. Stealth Layoffs & WARN Avoidance
Numerous posts allege unannounced, rolling layoffs, often tied to:

RTO policy enforcement

Performance review manipulation

Site closures (e.g., Pennington)

Employees repeatedly claim BNY is circumventing WARN Act notifications by staggering terminations and using “performance” as a pretext.

2. Labor Arbitrage as Core Strategy
Threads explicitly describe BNY’s operating model as:
“If someone, somewhere, can do it cheaper, that’s where the work goes.”

Offshoring, contractor freezes, and AI‑driven job elimination are recurring themes.

Employees see this as systemic, not cyclical—a permanent shift in workforce philosophy.

3. Leadership Distrust & Cultural Breakdown
Robin Vince (RV) is a central figure in discussions, often portrayed as:

Detached from employee reality

Focused on cost‑savings and personal compensation

Culture is described as toxic, demoralizing, and psychologically unsafe, with morale at “historic lows.”

4. RTO We-ponization
RTO dashboards, “red periods,” and inconsistent enforcement are cited as:

Tools to push out employees

Methods to avoid severance

Many posts describe RTO as a layoff mechanism, not a business need.

5. Operational Instability
Reports of:

Unresponsive or dysfunctional teams

Leadership churn

Poor communication around relocations and site closures

Employees describe the environment as chaotic and directionless.

What This Means for BNY Mellon

1. Reputational Risk
TheLayoff.com is heavily trafficked by job seekers, analysts, and journalists.
The persistent negativity shapes external perception of BNY as a troubled employer.

2. Talent Flight
High performers openly discuss:

Practicing interviews on company time

Planning exits

Warning others away from applying
This accelerates brain drain and raises replacement costs.

3. Strategic Execution Risk
A demoralized workforce undermines:

AI transformation

Client service

Operational resilience

Regulatory compliance
BNY’s own employees describe the bank as “McKinsey’s magnum opus of misery.”

4. Legal & Regulatory Exposure
Frequent references to:

Wrongful termination

Forced ranking

WARN circumvention

Discriminatory practices
…suggest heightened class‑action and regulatory risk.

Bottom-Line
Discussion on this forum portrays BNY Mellon as an institution in cultural and operational decline, driven by aggressive cost‑cutting, offshoring, and leadership detachment.

For analysts, journalists, and job seekers, the site functions as a candid, unfiltered window into a workforce that feels expendable, unheard, and increasingly hostile toward senior leadership.

This site is loaded with comments of actual and observed layoff behaviors. Check the new and active discussions if you are new to this site. BNY does not announce layoffs since their goal is to circumvent federal and state WARN Act notification requirements and to avoid employer payments to State Unemploument Insurance (sUI) in the event layoffs are publicized. BNY is very unusual and would never admit to layoffs. Instead layoffs are referred to as strategic realignments. They are continuous, systematic and calculated to support cost reduction and location target goals, eliminating experienced workers without severance, sending non-client facing jobs offshore. BNY also “we-ponizes” RTO policies and uses mandatory performance rating targets and forced below expectation ratings to expunge workers using PIPs. To add insult to injury, the company now has flatter or-a, changed the VP/SVP/Director pay structures, capped annual wage and merit increases (with 0 to 2 percent increases being the norm), created labor pipelines with state colleges and universities to maximize state and local tax credits, closed real estate holdings, increased the number of days required in office, and accelerated the reduction of all work from home associates. While these behaviors are not technically considered layoffs, they are designed to promote voluntary attrition. This company has created a place where there is a toxic culture and no psychological safety for anyone to speak up. Senior leadership and EC is highly scripted and does not promote an environment of openness, trust and transparency. Sure there are posts on LinkedIn from EC and chapped lips supporters singing praises, but that’s mostly to protect their positions and personal brands on social media as “hands on leaders” or “emerging leader wannabees.” Again, if you are new to this site, suggest you read through the comments to learn more about the layoff topics and comment history. The picture very clearly describes what’s going on here. The EC goes out of their way to create false optics of rainbows and unicorns. This site is for truth telling in a psychologically safe environment that the EC has intentionally, consistently failed to develop and maintain.

This deserves its own thread. OP: @ar+1kmt70t6q

This is happening to a number of people, good people too and it really makes no sense when they keep hiring. This now seems a regular approach to making change happen whenever and wherever by whomever

Many workers view return-to-office mandates negatively. They often perceive these directives as stealth layoffs. Remote work was common five years prior. This situation has changed dramatically recently. The article explores these impacts on companies and staff.

https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/news/2026/03/23/remote-work-stealth-layoffs.html

I keep seeing more and more Cisco employees on Linkedin with "Open to Work" on their photo. Looks like there is quiet layoffs happening.

PIP has been moved to 30 days instead of the normal 90 days. 30 days to get on pip 90 days to get off pip.….whoever makes these decisions are so out of touch with reality they should be in a mental institution

If you don’t hit 50% of your phone target you move immediately to a written warning.

All hands call tomorrow. Maybe members of the cwa should get on and speak up for us

.This past week, they conducted another round of layoffs, this time targeting VP’s and directors. It seems they are doing this in stages for some reason, trying to remain under the radar.

I was laid off after Q1 results were announced, even though there was no formal announcement of any cuts by the company. Came as quite a surprise.
They are doing stealth cuts every quarter, may not be a high number that they need to announce, but its happening every quarter.

So... I thought this was going to be a Technology-only round of layoffs but it seems that it expanded towards Commercial and possibly other teams... Brace for impact.

It seems that people are disappearing from teams without any company wide communication. Look on social media and you'll find evidence. This is worse than major rounds, in my opinion. At least with a major round, you know when it's done. This can go on forever.