After the Voluntary Leave round that did not each the exact 500 people they wanted to reach, does anyone have any insights as to why exactly the Social Plan was not actually implemented? Was there an explanation by the Works Council or by Michelle and HR why this did not happen? After the VLP, some teams that did not reach the desired number of people to leave "voluntarily" started to inform selected team members that they no longer have a position in the team. It is worth noting, that these were team members with experience, management and technical skills that are required for the job and the team moving forward, and who would have had a good chance to stay at adidas had a social plan been implemented.
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@a1n and yes when you start gardening leave you have to give back all IT equipment and ID cards, there is no access to emails, teams, one drive or the campus. That was all explained pretty clearly in the internal VLO site - you can look it up. You’re leaving but still getting paid your notice period. You can come to the campus as a guest, but not as an employee.
@a1n to clear up a misunderstanding here - when you go on “gardening leave” - you are leaving the company. There is no spot for you in any org chart as you have signed a severance agreement as part of the “voluntary leave offer” to leave adidas. Gardening leave is adidas paying you out your notice period, and that time depends on how long you’ve worked for the company. For some it’s 3 months, for some it’s more. I think what you may be referring to are the people who did not apply or sign the VLO and then were told they do not have a job in their existing team. They were then offered something similar to the VLO, if they still did not sign that - they had 3 months to find another job in the company, and if not, then do they leave with the social plan terms? I don’t know how many people found other jobs in adidas and how many people are still are looking.
Garden leave is finished for many without spots on the org charts. What is the next step for them? Does adidas have to officially terminate their contracts? Do they just get the 0,8 per year worked paid in the next salary and their access to campus cards / IT access revoked?
Anyone know?
@4wx Many had the VLP rejected, while others did not sign up not knowing that their jobs would disappear.
And nobody wants to stay in a toxic place but with such job market it is not easy.
I still don’t get why one would stay if the company is clear that they don‘t „want“ one. Not being on the org chart and changing JD‘s to ensure that one is „locked out“ is a pretty clear sign. Adi offered a generous package and I can’t see them being generous to those who wanted to stay. Being at the mercy of ruthless and sh-t managers to convince them to keep one is just soul destroying.
@1q8 Those who did not get Vlps and their job was reorganized out will face the "amazing" social plan which is one salary per worked year.
But before that the usual drama from the company with pretending to help you: put on the risk list (which only works for certain people), having interviews for jobs (already given to others), Woco pretending to help, integration hr team (totally useless but getting promoted). And if some toxic leader spread "nice feedback" about you forget about ever finding a job.
And some of these people will accept the social plan while others will go the lawyers route.
The usual carnage continues. What a great culture.
@1dy The company provided probably nothing....and wishing they do not go to lawyers.
What did the company offer to the ones who did not sign or apply for the VLP but had no job at the end? Was it something similar to the VLP or even more money to leave?
That VLP was extremely generous. I’d be shocked if any future VLP comes with the same offer.
Or does it create any same legal precedent?
The company does not have the stomach for the legal battles that would come with a social plan. This is why the VLP was so generous, so they could achieve the job cuts they wanted and avoid this route.
Many people were encouraged to take the VLP because they would “probably be impacted by the social plan and get half the money”. That fear was used to push people into accepting the VLP.
When wave two of the VLP arrives next year, don’t let yourself be bullied into taking the severance package if you are impacted and want to remain with the company.
They didn’t promise a social plan, that’s just an option in case they can’t achieve headcount reductions through other means.
The last WoCo announcement said that there were just 30 roles given temporary assignments, and about half of them don’t have a permanent landing spot. Those ~15 people could also take a severance, if the company is generous enough, it could be tempting. Then they avoid the long court battles….
I guess that other re-orgs are in the pipeline for the rest of the year. Brand and Operations are the most obvious.
The company can do whatever they want. Does not mean it is necessarily inline with the social plan or even legal.
If the social plan would be implemented single people without kids would be the first ones to go, but again the company would decide who they compare them with.
The WoCo if they would do their job they should know which positions are no longer needed and at least on parer why. But do not expect them to reject anything they need to approve.... They are paid by the company....
So again same advice as given by others : keep your cv up to date and look for jobs outside.
And you might want to consult a lawyer, but prepare yourself for years of battling them in courts. The company would not care as they have a budget for legal battles and lawyers companies on their payroll...the longer the lawsuits the more money the lawyers make.
Maybe we’ll hear something at the WoCo meeting in a week or so…Or maybe at the next townhall. Or not.