Started here in April and just what is happening. This is the most chaotic stuff ive ever seen. have no idea what is happening, any company vet out there that just explain what this restructure is.
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The reality is that the closer you are to the customer, the safer you are. If your role is tied to revenue generation, you will more than likely be safe.
I'm not sure that changing roles will "reset your layoff timer". I've seen plenty of recently moved to new role employees get cut. I do agree that recently hired employees generally seem to be safe.
What that person said "PepsiCo operates in defined silos which all unproductively compete against each other for capital, resources, and recognition." is the truest statement that has ever been spoken. So many functions think they should cover theirs and 17 others, and whoever is loudest has the final say even if its wrong.
To the OP:
Welcome to PepsiCo! What you walked into is the reality of working at the company and not the optimistic mirage that was presented to you during your recruiting process. As a marketing machine, the company excels at image crafting and spinning positive narratives regarding its products - this naturally trickles down into its recruiting process. You are here through no fault of your own - candidly, we all fell for it.
As an associate that started in April, you probably wont have to worry about this round of layoffs. Generally, from what I've seen, individuals get a two year grace period before they are up for the chopping block. You have two options if you want to actually make a career at PepsiCo:
- Ingratiate yourself to your manager and their fiefdom. PepsiCo operates in defined silos which all unproductively compete against each other for capital, resources, and recognition. Sell your soul to your manager an become a loyal soldier executing to his or her edicts regardless if they make business, let alone, common sense. Never question anything and always move forward with a "ready, fire, aim" approach. If you accept this challenge, you will be deemed high potential and an all star in no time.
- Out-run the layoffs. Selling your soul isn't for everyone - and if you don't understand the sunk cost fallacy regarding a (in hindsight) questionable career move, and still want to try to make it at PepsiCo, you need to move internally every 1.5 to 2 years to reset your layoff timer. Here, unlike scenario 1, you will accomplish nothing and work every day to try to get loosely associated with successes while not being involved long enough to be left holding the bag when everyone else bails and moves on to the next "success."
That said, at the end of the day most of us end up burnt out and wish we would have left the toxic company sooner. Inexplicably, PepsiCo still has a reasonably good reputation in the industry and you should be able to leverage your experience for a job at a company with a far better culture that actually respects its employees.
Best of luck in whatever you decide.
Our leaders decided that anyone who doesn’t make/move/sell can be laid off or their jobs can be outsourced to India/Mexico. So these re-orgs will continue until they achieve that
Assuming you are in S&T/IT, that is the normal state of things.