Every time the cuts hit, it feels like they're pulling names out of a hat because skills and performance and dedication never seem to matter in the final call. It turns the whole thing into a layoff lottery, and after watching that play out over and over, it's hard to feel motivated to give everything you've got when it clearly doesn't affect who stays or who gets pushed out.
13 replies (most recent on top)
@OP just know that No one cares about you and I mean No one! If you’re a high performer and have been there for a long time … start looking. They meet behind closed doors to find ways to give you a rating based on the needs of the company and NOT your performance. Don’t learn the hard way - stop investing your life to company that doesn’t give a s*it about you!
It appears they are targeting non-Indians over 50. My Indian manager keeps asking me when I’m going to retire and magically I got Inconsistently Meets rating! I’ve never gotten a bad rating in 20+ years. The oldest woman in our department was laid off and was replaced by a youn Indian contractor who they are converting to FTE. There are Indians older than me but they are getting Meets or Exceeds expectations. My manager just as much told me I’m next in line for layoff but I know he’s trying to bully me into quitting.
@aj pretty sure most attempt to do less than minimum out of spite. Their plan is working…sad
That's not an accurate description of the process for all layoffs. Some I'm sure, but not all. The system has to be gamed at times to avoid lawsuits and there's not always the 'right people' that just happen to be low performers. There's also lots of examples of entire teams getting sla-ghtered during building closures and the like. At the end of this, we're all gone and no amount of compliance or performance will change that.
Its not "random" at all. HR or whoever tells your bosses, bosses boss that they need to get rid of X number of people then they get together with their direct reports and decide who gets the axe. Nothing random about that so when/if you get an inconsistent that should let you know you're on the short list to be let go. It may su-k and it may be a terrible decision as far as who is on the list but its certainly not random.
@ah the ones in charge are definitely behaving like psychopaths.
If our leaders truly cared about this company’s long term success, they would stop this nonsense. As others have shared, it inspires working the bare minimum. They think fear will motivate, but it actually backfires. But then again, it’s clear to me they don’t care about long term success at all, just the quarterly earnings reports.
Exactly. Once I saw how random it was I stopped trying. I do the minimum and figure if I get cut at least I didn’t go above and beyond. I would feel like an id--t if I had done that.
@a2 The Stanford Prison Experiment
@a3 I was in cybersecurity and this just happened to me on Tuesday! I have been with the company for 20 years and have always been a top performer until this year. Myself and a coworker- also female and about 20 year tenure have the exact timeline for our “performance “ issues. Makes you wonder how 2 people have the timeline be exact with poor performance. I feel like I am in math class in high school and caught on the wrong end of the curve!
@a2
EXACTLY what I have said to my teammates over the years about being in management, in general. I think it applies to any large corporation. (Aside from "I shouldn't have stopped sniffing glue" I also shouldn't have moved into management.) ; ]
The current strategy is fire everyone with "needs improvement" that was forced on you by stack ranking. The target is anyone with age and tenure. My group was 25 million over budget. Get the picture. Layoff is like winning the lottery. Me: 17 years, female age 62 fired. I was the main income and benefits in my household. I had went from 35k a year, to 159k by hard work and excellent performance. I completed my BS in 2010 and my MBA in 2013. None of it mattered. It just made me a target. In the end all that matters is who you kiss up to. CS has successfuly brought back the 80s with his lack of leadership skills and stripping all the real leaders.
It feels like we are all participating in a psychological experiment.