I have been presented with the option of severance and an impossible “option” of staying in a role I was moved into which requires an entirely different technical skill set but being held immediately to the standards of that skillset. Does anyone have guidance on negotiating the severance package? I asked the HR rep and she said no element of any of the packages offered have been negotiable in this entire RIF which seems inaccurate.
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Sounds like you are stressed. Hang on to the job and file for short-term disability for mental health. You can get up to 26 weeks of full pay. I was a manager recently laid off and cannot begin to count the number of people who used this tactic….Nike is overly generous on their short-term disability.
Don’t even have to go a doctor….just a mental health provider who is willing to sign the papers.
Thanks so much to everyone for the helpful responses and wishing you all the best.
I would just accept it and move on. Things are not going to get better if you refuse the severance package.
Take a couple weeks off to regroup and rest. Then hit the ground running with networking and applying.
It's challenging right now but there are better companies than Nike. Good luck OP!
Think and see if you can find any leverage to bump your severance package. I had a co worker who had documented some stuff from her manager how she was treated poorly and those stuff. She hired a lawyer and they negotiated her exit package.
Severance is negotiable if you know where the skeletons are buried. The whole line about fairness is bs and used when an employee does not have leverage.
Also interested if you were offered severance unexpectedly or if you communicated a dissatisfaction with the role and this is their offer as a result?
Sorry to hear this and will say that nike and corporations in general use this tactic to push people out. 100% agree that best course of action is to calculate severance package vs how many months you might expect to still have a job before being piped and laid off. Also consider your time and energy to start looking for a new job and if you can do that while still doing your new job.
Without knowing your specific circumstance, my decision would be to hold on, get piped, because that can drag out for a year or more, and just not do your job while looking for a different one. This is because you know Nike has already planned to let you go they’re just doing this to avoid a stickier hr mess by giving you unreasonable goals. The goalpost is a lie, so you might as well just pull in the paycheck and ignore the job while looking out for yourself.
Thanks for all the replies and perspective. Trying to weigh current severance package versus timeline of staying in the role but likely eventually getting fired (given unrealistic expectations around acquiring and utilizing a new field and skillset immediately). Was told I was “safe” multiple times since the first wave only to be caught off guard abruptly by this. Su-ks to be treated so poorly as a human at this company but unfortunately seems pretty standard.
I tried to negotiate and was told no. Reason stated we wanted to be fair to everyone.
Here's another option. you can work the role until they "fire" you and then you can get unemployment afterwards. I think if you take a severance thats optional, you can't file for unemployment as this is basically resigning your position.
Unfortunately you have no leverage to negotiate anything with Nike. Only you can assess your situation, the job market is not good and it will likely take you 3-6 months to find another job. You can take the severance and bail or stick around and do the bare minimum while focusing on your next steps. At least you have options!
I am in the same situation where I too was moved into a role which requires an entirely different technical skill set but is not appealing in the slightest.
What happened for them to present you with the option of severance?
How did this work?
I dont think you can. You either take it or leave it. It's pretty standard.