Thread regarding Qualcomm Inc. layoffs

Does the list change once its made?

Of course your manager will know before you. This time however, it shall not be a lot sooner. Layoff decisions are being made far above his level. Still, he/she would be informed before you know to manage the event.

Poor chap may be on a list himself.

Your supervisor and his or her supervisor and his or her supervisor and so on and so forth.. could be on some lists too. There are multiple sets of lists.

I was a line manager at Qualcomm. Whether or not I was clued in, in advance, was a toss up. Layoffs are always chaotic, but Q often handles them particulary bizarrely. Also, I was a manager there for over 10 years and was never offered "lay off training". Much of the selection criteria was just math, summing up the three previous review cycles and drawing a line, maybe a little debate.

As someone who makes these lists - if you’re a first line manager not involved in the process you’re probably part of the problem and should go.

Directors and SR directors do not work in vacuumes.

Also, most companies require layoff training of their managers so likely your line management is or has gone through the required training and would likely know the lists many days prior to the act.

If your supervisor/manager is on good terms with his director/sr. director, then yes, he'll know in advance. As a former manager I knew two months ahead of time who was going. Was I asked for input? No. Was I included in any decision process? No. I was simply told two months in advance that so-and-so would no longer be part of the company.

Fwiw, directors got the final list last thursday

@lix, you don't know squat about upper management. For starters, they probably DO know your name. One thing you'd notice if you were actually around some of these guys is that they're generally VERY good at remembering names. It's part of the game of politics, which they play very well.

I would assume a manager will know before one of his people who get laid-off, but I'm sure in some instances, they won't.

Managers normally will not know the names. Director would take feedback about the team by probing questions ahead of time and decide the cuts based on how much he has been asked to cut (or his headcount budget).

This time around, some Directors were not even asked for names.

Heard directly from a director -

May be that director was "on the list" .. but in general., the focus is on high level/high title/ inflated ego folks.

Line managers are indirectly involved in the process because they gauge the performance of their managees.

Directors and above ask leads and managers for ratings and that's how the process works.

You guys crack me up.

For starters, the top level management doesn't even know who you are OP, ok? Not a clue.

So if you think they choose names, you don't understand how large corporations are run. The entire reason lower level managers exist is to help with decisions about individual peons, such as this one.

And they also have enough sense to tell the peons a load of BS about how "Your manager wasn't involved" so the low level managers can still be the "good guy" among the peons.

Good grief, some of you desperately need to take some business courses, and maybe develop some common sense too.

It’ll depend who your manager is, and the approach taken by your function lead.

Some are more inclusive, others less so.

@yld He/she is correct. Decisions are made at higher level than the manager level. Your manager knows slightly ahead of you if he/she is the one delivering the message.

Not true. Decision doesnt come down to manager level. It is usually made by Sr. Dir and above only with previous data including rating, skill set and business need.

Considering that there's a very high probability your supervisor was on the team who put you on "The list" I'm gonna say yes to this one...