As someone who’s been at the “layoff selection meetings” before, I thought I’d provide some insight.
(1) It’s not about you. It’s always about the managers’ ego. They arrived at this place of enlightened decision making because someone above them liked them and they never forget it. They go home every night and tell their spouses how hard they worked but they persevered because they are so special. Their #1 goal will be to protect themselves, so if “giving in” to another manager’s attack on you shows them more as a “collaborator” (I mean that in the East German sense, not our CDQ sense) they will stab you in the back.
(2) It’s all a negotiation. Ok, I’ll give up two of mine if you give up three of yours. Yours’ are worse for this reason (they made a critical remark at a meeting, did not show proper concern and admiration for my pet project, did not express enough joy or pay enough attention at that safety meeting).
(3) Unless there was a significant medical or personal reason (and even that is probably not enough), if you received a “4” or a “5” you are gone. These are the easily culled at the start of the numbers allocation game.
(4) It ain’t pretty, but age, race, and religion come into the calculation. They are very subtle but I’ve seen this.
(5) If your manager/sponsor is getting layed off and is bitter, the manager won’t care about you. If the manager wants to go and is getting a nice package, he won’t care about you. See a pattern?
(6) The Concho and ConocoPhillips managers at these meetings are sizing each other up. Selection is a secondary goal. They want to know who they can work with, who they will have as future friends, and who will be future enemies.
This is why it take so painfully long. It’s not about you.
So what can you do about it? There’s already been some useful postings here. There is hope. I saw one lazy self-centered employee going into a fetal position and tears after a layoff, but he re-invented himself, got a job at another Big Oil nearby, and is now actually doing quite well. He learned his lesson, says “yes” to everything, plays the corporate game, works long hours, and effectively had no compensation change except for more security, because we are literally the worst of the worst (in every aspect).
If you’re G&G, think changing careers. Big Oil is under attack from the Global Warming folks now, and it won’t be pretty (until the next shock). Think teaching, or, best of all, a government job. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a job in minerals, leasing, safety, or environment where you can get back at this incompetent company. Yes, you’ll take a pay cut, but you’ll have security and will regain your soul, and the in-house competition will be less, so you’ll advance quicker.
If you survive, start preparing now for the next round. The organization is never “right sized” and our leaders’s incompetence and continued mistakes guarantee more. Always have an updated CV handy, don’t keep personal items at work (or on your phone or computer), and network, network, and network.
Last, don’t let this get you down. You started with little and if you’ve been smart you have a lot more. There are lots of places you can get a paycheck and contribute without the vicious cruel reindeer games.