Curious when managers find out that their direct reports are getting laid off?
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Usually the manager 2 levels above you knows since they are in the culling process. It is a beauty pageant always has been. If you are in the clique ( high potential. HIPOT, or a good cultural fit for that area). you name falls off the list. If in protected worker class your name falls off the list. Then it goes by how much overall cost you are if not in any of the groups above. So performance has zero to do with those being the sacrifice for the round. If you are part of acquired company the odds are not in your favor. The company is sliced and diced and most of the parts are thrown in the waste bin after the goodies are picked through. Was looking at the org chart recently and man this place is top heavy following one path from top down there are 7 CEO deep before getting to the redundant VP layer. What a huge chunk of egos and cash to behold with zero value
For what it's worth I definitely believed my manager as he has told me a lot of stuff over the year.
For the last one he said that he did not know until the morning of, he said for the two previous ones there was weird questions about giving names so he had some idea ahead of time but didn't know for sure who until morning off or maybe day before.
So it seems they can know but they will not always know. Your skip manager probably knows though.
When I was RIFed my manager was RIFed an hour before I was. I had to call him to let him know I was cut, as he wasn't informed since he was also on the list.
When I was laid off (GL 30) my Vice President made the decision that I was the one to be cut. My manager (GL 31) found out late on a Tuesday, she had to attend a mandatory training call the next day, and then called me at 8am that Thursday. My manager had no idea and was devastated - she was far more upset than I was.
@ds Your team is an exception. Managers here do choose who gets let go. I worked here for almost 9 years and know this for a fact.,
@hj it depends, you’d only see the ones you work with directly. Not your entire group, let alone the company. Mine had 6 people listed.
@cw Lol, I see the managers lying to direct reports that they had no choice are here downvoting comments. 😂 Wait until the next reorg, these managers will also get laid off.
@hf Can you share how many were selected in the layoff document they sent you?
In the severance package is a list of the age and pay grade of everyone selected and those who were on the list but not selected.. so even if you are not layedoff just know it does not mean you was not on the list it just means you were not selected this time around. My manager was unaware of my layoff but my director was aware and sent the meeting invite for my manager and I. When I got the meeting request I asked my manager what was going on and he had no idea.
I had to submit names back in May for who would be cut in June.
If you have access to view your manager's calendar you may just catch a glipse of what is going down Thrusday...caugh...caugh...hint...hint
@ds Most (not all) people get a 2 week notice so turning off access same day is more the exception than the rule. Were these hourly employees? Just curious whey they had access cut immediately.
@ab You are so wrong. During one round of layoffs that affected my area in Specialty, I was advised the day of that my assistance was needed to remove access as the meetings were taking place. We do NOT know in advance and we do NOT provide the names.
The managers are the ones putting direct reports on the layoff list. They lie saying it wasn’t their choice cause they are afraid of hatred and backlash but trust me, these managers are cancerous, pretentious and awful.
@ad Yep, nobody wins in the lottery game.
All of the below plus some 1s and 2s are cut too! You can be cut for being too old, too experienced, too expensive. Or you can be cut because they can hire offshore for a fraction of your salary no matter the performance.
Managers put the names in the bowl for the hunger games but upline managers mix the bowl and change the slips in the lottery.
I've had to RIF an individual and I was RIF'd 3 years ago (and took another roll internally) Your boss knows WEEKS prior that you're on the list.
Okay, let’s get it straight here. They know that you are out because they gave your name, they marked you a 3 or lower. They lie to you and say the higher leaders made the picks, that BS. Then they talk about it in their leadership reviews! Don’t believe that nonsense.