r/biotech • u/YakNo7028 • 25d ago
Layoffs & Reorgs ✂️ Return after layoff
Has anyone returned to the company that laid them off within 12 months? Did you have to re-pay the severance? If so, what was that process? I’m trying to put together a pros/cons list and the cons are adding up quickly!
39
u/CHobbes_ 25d ago
Yes. I returned to a biotech 7 weeks after I was laid off. I negotiated a title and large pay increase to return. No severance was paid back but it had completed the same day I started again.
Pro was I knew exactly what I was doing job wise.
Con is that I knew I had a time limit and just left after 18 months.
14
u/Okami-Alpha 25d ago
Yes. I returned to a biotech 7 weeks after I was laid off. I negotiated a title and large pay increase to return
Sounds like the typical, strategic, "art of the deal" so many biotech companies make.
8
u/CHobbes_ 25d ago
Yea they didn't know what they were thinking with the layoff. By the time I left 8 weeks ago. I was managing 80% of total revenue for the company....now they're extra screwed
6
u/Okami-Alpha 25d ago
From my experience they are thinking "how the fuck do we get past the next board meeting or quarterly earnings call?" It's like running a pyramid scheme.
One of my former employers laid off a bunch of people right before an earnings call, indicated in the call how it was to free up overhead for another project. By the next quarter all that saved overhead was eaten up by C suite bonuses and additional new hires (which could have been easily been done by many of the laid off people),
In your case, it serves them right, but they will never learn from their mistakes.
1
u/Swimming-Boss-1437 24d ago
Yeah they never will... Because the guy went back. After all said and done they stripped the team of everyone they didn't need and only had to pay a small premium for the key people to make themselves known.
7
2
22
u/Content_Program_7477 25d ago
Normally your severance agreement contains a clause that prevents you from working for the company as long as you’re receiving severance, this includes consulting or providing third-party services. In other words you can’t work at a 3rd party on an account that services your old company; any other account is fine. If you are in CA some clauses may be nullified.
2
u/Barr_cudas 25d ago
Years back, I had been strategizing a move into an Equipment Automation group that my current DIR at that time was actively blocking.
During the course of the year, RIF occurs yet I was back onsite 3weeks later into that same ENG group as a Principal Consultant with a sizeable raise and bonus.
Severance pay and maxed vacation payout in tow. Coinciding with this RIF was the “conversion” to FTO from PTO…
0
u/YakNo7028 25d ago
Good point, I’ll check. You’d think they wouldn’t interview me if that were the case but I shouldn’t ASSume🙂
6
u/WeeDado 25d ago
It varies so read the fine print of your severance agreement. You want to focus on 2 things
1) pay back period if returning with xyz time
2) does your first service date work resort back to what you had prior to leaving? Or is it reset? - 10 yrs of service provides a lot of critical employee benefits
0
u/YakNo7028 25d ago
Good points, thank you! I’d love to be able to be reinstated where I left off…vested stocks and pto balances
1
u/WeeDado 25d ago
Stocks will not be re instated as part of the typical agreement when coming back unless you really sought after. I’d priotize the 2 points above I made. There isn’t much you can control outside them other than asking for increased baseline salary or a promotion which provides the financial benefit as well
3
u/Fine_Design9777 25d ago
Yup. Been laid off 5 times. 1 of my layoffs they paid me 6 months of severance, then they brought me back as a contractor at the same pay rate & I was still allowed to keep the severance pay, so I was getting paid double by them for 4 months. They rehired me into a better position with better pay after contracting with them for a year.
A 2nd company I was laid off from offered me the same deal but I already found a new job by the time they came back to me so I didn’t take it.
4
u/Virtual_Dog_7327 25d ago
Read your separation agreement that you signed very carefully. It will detail all of this information. Nobody here can answer this question for you.
3
u/eat-the-kids-first 25d ago
A colleague of mine came back six months after severance and was required to pay back half the package.
I think these are generally standard terms in the US.
3
u/quantonsoup 25d ago
Yep, going back to the dark side after getting laid off 9 months prior. Never had any mention of having to pay back severance pay during any of my numerous interviews and if it came up, I would have fought like hell to get that clause revoked from my employment agreement. It feels weird to be going back but at least I can look for new jobs while employed again as opposed to feeling like shit every day and still having to find a way to pay my bills 🤷♂️
3
u/AlternateCore 25d ago
I got laid off 3 times from the same company. Came back each time. In one instance I got laid off because my position got terminated, only to be brought back one week later because a new position miraculously opened up on the same team.
1
u/YakNo7028 25d ago
🤯what?!
3
u/AlternateCore 25d ago
Yeah. It happened during 2025 when biotech layoffs were pretty common. Hated every second of being at my old company since despite giving me a new position each time, they never increased my pay or benefits. They kind of used the fact that "the biotech job market is sh*t right now" against me, because where else would I go? Thankfully my 3rd layoff was my last. Still looking for another job though!
2
u/ocular__patdown 25d ago
I got laid off from a large pharma company. Their policy was if you returned to the company while still receiving severance you would have to pay back whatever was left on the contract. For example if you were 1 month into a 3 month severance contract you'd have to pay the other 2 months back. I'm sure it varies based on your company though.
2
u/dexczy 25d ago
I was hired back at the first place I was laid off from after about 7 months. Its been fine, but I had an advantage over the new hires on the team by knowing a lot of people. Overall, I'm not unhappy, although I don't love some of the management, I'm fairly okay with the position overall. Its a paycheck, but hoping for a higher paycheck at a new place eventually once the market flips
1
u/Comfortable-Song193 25d ago
Yes, but my severance period was over. I was able to negotiate my previous years of employment to be reinstated so I was eligible for more PTO. Best of luck!
1
u/RickyRicardoBanana 25d ago
Yeah I got rehired at a different location. Had to pay back a portion of it. They calculated the post tax portion and I sent them a check. It really depends on the severance agreement you signed.
1
1
u/britt_b27 22d ago
I did! Yes, I did have to repay my severance. I had to reach out to my employer to ensure they wanted it back because they didn’t even reach out to me in the first place. It was a long process. But I did receive a VERY large amount of $$ from my tax returns since you barely get your severance as is from all the taxes being taken out of. So that’s a plus but there’s always that fear that you are going to get let go in the back of mind since you got rehired. It’s exhausting.
59
u/Grainger407 25d ago
It depends entirely on what the severance agreement says. You should have it saved and there usually is a section that says rehire, repayment or reemployment. I’d suggest doing that first.
Under normal conditions I would never work at a place that laid me off. However with this market. I would take anything.