I was part of the layoffs yesterday and I am really confused. I always received good reviews and one of the team’s most experienced engineers.
Is anyone familiar with how these layoffs were considered? I cant help but feel it’s personal :(
One caveat, I have been a TWA employee for some years now, could that have been the reason?
I was confused because my LL6 reached out to me crying and she said I was a surprise layoff for her (she had sent a message in the morning to the team letting us know who was affected so far and she said she thought that was it from our team)
16 replies (most recent on top)
It is mainly age and money, has nothing to do with experience, they don't care.
100% nda
@ah+1jv76q264 How certain are you about the algorithm?
Firing people based on cost alone, not skills, experience or performance is why Ford’s quality draws liquid in through a straw.
Also, the practice of not transferring people to current openings when there’s a fit instead of firing them is insane.
As much as some would have you think it's performance related, it's not. Bottom line is the bottom line and that's money. HTHD means your a target. How hard it is to replace you plays a little part but not enough to save anyone typically.
My experience with TWA is it leaves you vulnerable on two levels (at least). First, by definition you're not contributing as much as someone who works full time, all else equal. So impact of removing you will be lower than a teammate of similar experience/pay/productivity. Second, maybe more important, is that you're less likely to be given high priority work on a TWA. You're assumed (probably rightly) to be less available and therefore less dependable if something urgent comes up. I know that's what happened to me.
That said, individual circumstances vary. I wouldn't assume that a TWA automatically means your ticket is up. But I think it probably increases the odds.
It has nothing to do with you or your performance. They use algorithm created by a top consulting firm. and its all about $! They look at how much $ you cost the company in total in terms of salary, health insurance, etc. They also look at demographics. Naturally, older people make more money. So cut them - eastñy money, right? Until all the elder former blue kool aid drinkers banded together to sue Ford for wrongful termination due to age discrimination. (Multiple wrongfull termination class action lawsuits over the years. You can look them up) So next time they sprinkle in a couple SG8's to make it less obvious. They know they are wrongfully terminating, but they know not all will sue. Even if some sue, still net benefit.
Cost benefit analysis. Period. You are a number. Thats why we a bunch of incompetent a--kissing jabronis get promoted and the good people are let go. Dont take it personally. The decision maker plugs into the wall and does not care about you or your performance.
First, with TWA you don’t get full time benefits unless you pay extra to make up the cost difference between your percentage (say 60%) to 100% cost of the insurance, etc.
I’ve been TWA for a while. Always felt supported by my management (up at least a couple levels).
But now I am concerned.
Yes, it’s because you were TWA. Some years back, I was targeted because I was TWA. When I went from full time to TWA, everything changed. I wasn’t considered a serious employee, I wasn’t loyal, no longer someone management could rely on. Sorry this happened to you.
Replying to someone that asked under what manager, it was jeremy rawlings, FuSa team.
TWA: Transitional Work Arrangement which means you are currently working part time but with full time benefits
Sorry for my ignorance but what's TWA?
Also very sorry for what happened to you, it su-ks even more when you're a good performer but still get cut! I hope you find a new and better position very soon.
What team and or what manager were you under? This layoff seems to be completely team based and doesn’t have much to do with performance
one highly paid engineer can be replaced by 2 NCG or entry level engineers, that of course have no experience...
Good luck. Been there before, its a gut wrenching time.
I was also on a TWA. Can't say for sure if it was a factor, but if you're a manager who has been told to reduce headcount by X people, someone on a long-term TWA could make an easy target.
Probably not personal. If you have a lot of experience you were probably on the higher end of the salary scale (notwithstanding TWA scale-back) and that could also be a factor. I think these were skip-level decisions (your own experience seems to support this) so likely heavy emphasis on numbers.
Entire teams got cut. Not personal performance based
There is a contractor who basically does no work and wasn't affected (so far) by the cuts. This person is useless.
Trust me, it's definitely not performance based.