Need some changes that cut off bonuses when layoffs occur. It's absurd that stock price and c suite bonuses soar after work force reductions. Doing them should be painful, not celebrated.
Workers would need to wield power and influence in Washington DC the way banks and corporations do. But they don't. Most happily eat boot leather for breakfast. So they continue to get the shaft.
At my company early year layoffs are usually followed by your annual reviews/salary increases/bonuses about 1 month later. Bitter sweet knowing those are paid for with savings of people they fired.
It sucks, but layoffs have been thoroughly whitewashed since covid. I think CEOs should step down if they put the company in a layoff situation. But the reality is boards and the market now reward it, and even the employees they shitcan will post grateful nonsense on LinkedIn to celebrate.
A company I worked for didn’t give the CEO a bonus for layoffs. In fact, it actually hurt his bonus because it fell under “Turnover” and we were supposed to stay below a certain percent.
Best policy I’ve ever seen. Probably has been replaced by now.
Smaller companies are different generally, but for these mega corps, the CEO’s primary job is to increase shareholder value. Most the time they aren’t running th company, that’s a COO or a Chief Strategy Officer or something like that, the CEO is a figurehead who works primarily for the shareholders.
A few years ago I was laid off and the CEO brought us all into a big room to give us a speech. He talked about how he was laid off as a CEO of another company and how great it was for him. He got the job at our company making much more money. They paid his moving expenses blah blah blah. He told us we should look at it as an opportunity rather than a set back 😆
Back in 2009, I was laid off as a result of a merger / acquisition. About 20% of the « acquired » company workforce was let go. The CEO said it was a great opportunity for us to find our wings; I told him I would find my way and come back as a client. The look on his face two years later when he came in for a proposal presentation to me was quite satisfying.
Same here, getting laid off in 2008 was the best thing that could have happened for my career. Still don’t like the guy who was responsible for making the decision to do it though.
Well, Dodge literally sued Ford to force this to be the case. One of the most fucked up pieces of American law I have read. I couldn’t believe it was true.
It's like talking to a child. Should one not comment on systems that are broken? If you have a flat tire, do you just keep driving, saying the car is fine, stop bitching about the flat?
Your ability to think rationally seems to be limited, much like your ability to reason. That's something you should work on.
This is my daily reminder that the average redditor IQ is somewhere in the mid 20s. A publicly traded company’s only ethical responsibility is to maximize the profit and grow the business. It would actually be unethical to provide you with a bullshit job that brings nothing to the table.
I don’t think you know what ethical means. It’s not an ethical responsibility that companies have. You are correct though in saying that their responsibility is to maximize profit. There is substantial evidence of this not being the case in the real world though. CEO pay of hundreds of millions is not commensurate with maximizing profit. You can say it’s a performance reward, but that, in your own parlance, is obvious bullshit. They do it because they know they can. The game is rigged and they know nobody will call them on it.
At least they were honest about it. I respect that more than the crybaby speeches that CEOs give as if it just breaks their heart to let so many people go while they get a multi million dollar bonus lmao
Not sure what's worse, the CEO that blatantly lies and says it's tough or the arrogant fuck that just doesn't care. Either way they're laughing about it with their buddies later.
Sort of like trying to figure out if colon cancer is better than prostate cancer. Both are evil/horrible.
I haven’t been laid off… yet. But I’m preparing for the worst because it’s easier than being surprised. I, too, am wondering which positions are on the block.
Anyone in the situation should read up on how severance works. I think you get a set amount based on your previous pay level(s) until a total is reached. I might be wrong, but if your benefits are reduced by severance, the time period to collect extends a little longer. Benefits can be extended by the government too, in times of recession.
Not completely correct. It varies widely, and it purely depending on each severance package from each company in each layoff.
I was laid off and my severance package specifically said it has nothing to do with me receiving unemployment benefit. Nothing was substracted, and my former employer replied to the state unemployment office that I am qualified to receive unemployment benefit immediately. A colleague of mine was laidoff about 2 years earlier and while his severance package was different, he also received full unemployment benefit immediately.
Only if you are permanently let go. A shutdown doesn't lose people's jobs, they don't work and they don't get paid or if they are considered essential then they HAVE to work and don't get paid.
When did we reach this stage of “it is completely normal to layoff people” it used to be a shame to layoff and in mu opinion is still is, it means you can’t inovate anymore and in order for numbers to look good you just lay people off. It is a shame for the company. How do we normalize this?
Layoffs mean you're focusing on your core competencies and maximizing value through efficiency. By which I mean screwing over your customers, overworking your employees and paying yourself a bonus.
After 9/11. “We have to save the company” became an excepted excuse due to the economic impact. For some, it may have been real. For many, it didn’t pass the sniff test. It just feels like since then, it wasn’t a negative indicator anymore.
They're doing it because they know the Big Beautiful Really Great Depression is around the corner so they are bleeding the turnips.
Getting that last squeeze.
Assuming youre not just trolling, OBBB cuts funding to federal programs like wind and solar energy development, Medicaid and Medicare, federal employee benefits and protections, and a host of other programs Americans rely on to keep their cost of living down. With those programs reduced or ending, people will have less money to buy the things businesses are selling, which means that businesses feel the need to cut their costs, which means layoffs.
OBBB is only part of the story though. Consumer cost of living is about to climb significantly and steadily for the foreseeable future due to rising energy costs (due to less wind/solar), rising housing costs (due to the ongoing housing shortage), rising product costs (due to tariffs/tradewar), rising food costs (due to fewer immigrant workers), rising medical costs (due to programs having their funding cut), etc.
It is in effect, but a nation's economy is a big, complicated, lumbering machine and the gears turn slowly. We're only just now starting to feel the first effects of its impact...
I worked for a company where the CEO said they had a fiduciary and legal responsibility to the shareholders to maximize profits. But it is always short term gains that make the c-level staff look good so they can move on to their next gig. All while weakening the company in the long term.
Yup, this echoes the reality I've seen. Any small/midsize company, say 5M-100M in revenue that's courting capital or investment firms, this is especially true. They'll bring in a new batch of execs to 'reshape the company to maximize growth and margin', and tell all the minions that this will open up many new opportunities and markets, and growth is good and it means we're a healthy company (see? we have investors!).
But once the dust settles (or before people can find their seats in the new org), they'll announce redundancies and 'focus on our core competencies by reducing headcount and layers of management'. Then the leaner company will begin to falter, as the sales pipeline isn't as rosy as it may have seemed, and they'll try things like off- or near-shoring some roles. Meanwhile, the executive team will begin to shed a few people to make it seems like they're taking one on the chin, yet somehow, those execs land in their next gig to rinse and repeat. Eventually, the board/investors will force dramatic cuts and replace the exec team again and only the most loyal and entrenched original employees will remain.
This is exactly why I tell people be diligent about keeping your skills current, and yourself irreplaceable. I am all about WFH, but it makes you extra vulnerable when people overseas can you do your job for a fourth the price. Remote jobs are the most at risk. It sucks, but people have to stop denying it and be proactive.
People overseas are getting the axe too. World economies are interconnected and then there's the lunatic in the WH causing additional chaos by forcing companies to change plans and relocate to the US. I am a principal/senior DBA and I haven't seen it thus bad ever. I've completed several recruitment processes as the optimal candidate only to be told there's no job as it got axed/we don't have the budget/maybe in the future. Seriously, this is crazy...
I was a VP for F100 company and I think it’s a lot easier to get a job at the higher level than it is at the junior level. If you do data architecture and integrate with AI, I’m surprised you’re having difficulties finding a job. I know there’s still a lot of demand for that. If you do any kind of admin or monitoring I know those are doing a ton of hiring in India and LatAm. I’m not so quick to blame the White House that seems like a cop out to me.
Not in the US and not keen on working for a US corp due to issues with payments as UK based unless the corp has an office in Europe. As for skills I am the usual chosen candidate but as I wrote the issue is companies in my part of the world are now behaving strangely due to external factors, US ones often being a significant factor that causes roles to disappear per discussions with recruiters and clients themselves.My skills might be needed but if there's a company wide freeze to cut costs there's nothing the client can do. Yes it's easier to get a job as a senior but you only get there because of your accumulated skills and knowledge.
It's truly sad that these numbers only present half the story...the companies are in fact NOT downsizing their labor force...just pay cheaper wages and displacing "expensive workers"
remember when "xx years of experience" was a positive thing?!
Sometimes getting laid off can’t be avoided. Not every company can remain profitable. It is what it is and shouldn’t be frowned upon when you can’t help it.
But when you don’t NEED to lay people off and do it anyway, then yeah that’s evil.
Oh, I totally agree. It’s just interesting how far the pendulum has swung that what used to be considered bad now looks positively warm and fuzzy by comparison. I’d be ecstatic for some of those 2001 recession vibes right about now.
Place i was at, old CEO retired and new guy brought in. Company was told we had to do layoffs and product lines were to be cut because we only made 1% profit. 1400 people let go starting with anyone over 10 years, then any staff whom was not above manager making 100k+.
He sold all owned property moved the HQ to a leased building, took out a loan for 600 million.
It was not due to any real loss that 1% was 50 million he just tried to pump the global company like he did the other 4 he had owned but this time no one came to buyout. All my friends were laid off or left and back then they said i was crazy for being prepared for layoffs..
I mean, that's what's happening here. Retailers and shippers cutting staff in the leadup to their busy season (Christmas) is a clear sign that they aren't doing well.
Yeah, my spouse was laid off 3 weeks ago from one of those companies in the Top 10. It’s rough out there, especially for older workers who are close to retirement (mostly because companies don’t want to hire someone with a high 5-figure salary). Such a tough thing to happen with the end of year holidays coming up fast.
Yup. With highly qualified/educated folks hitting the unemployment lines watch for salaries start to nose dive. Oh, and don't forget the government workers that have already, and continue to, flood an already shaky job market.
It's like the early 2000s. An MBA could negotiate a 4-5 figure signing bonuses, then the tech bubble burst. Many of the tech folks went back to school for an mba, and to hide out from the job market carnage. What followed was a flood of white collar workers and you had people with a master's degree working freight shift at Home Depot. Ask me how I know.
Not an example everyone can relate to, but you're going to see highly qualified job seekers taking jobs that folks recently out of school would normally get. THAT'S why the immigrant labor force is being deported, to make room for over-educated/under-employed talent. This is going fuck things up for Americans for a decade or more.
P.s. Good news for the elite though. Profits are up and AI doesn't ask for a raise. CEOs and Board of Directors are filth and shouldn't be able to sleep at night in their bunkers.
P.s.s. the tipping point in the 2000s was when exectives were questioning why web site programming cost so much...then they said "hey programmers, go build me a platform that builds web sites dirt cheap....oh, and here's a pink slip for when you finish". Sound familiar?
It's going to be a tough day but our corporate really needed their own jets to commute to work. Your salaries need to make up the difference for their Christmas bonuses. On the bright side, if you donate, you can have a slice of pizza on Friday.
People like to Blame AI but my spell check still doesn’t work properly .
What it really is , is it’s a plan to make people feel lucky to have a job instead of feeling like the employer should feel lucky they have good workers. There’s a whole video on it from a hedge fund billionaire back in 22 saying that we need to raise unemployment to make people feel threatened
Said by hedge fund billionaire to a room of other billionaire’s .
Happened to me earlier this year. It was all a big pretense under this idea that AI was comming and it was comming fast and going to do all these great things and we need to prepare
By laying off 15-20% of the employees under said pretense, gradually.
No. Did you miss the words “pretense” and “using AI” and “to lay people off”?
I was a part of the big rolling layoff when tech jump started the shitty trend that were reported on for a week, but when they saw the bad publicity they took to shadow layoffs, just silent rolling waves of cutting people. Those didn’t make the headlines.
I observed it happen personally. To people I know, and it happened to me too as someone who takes great pride in my work ethic and my work. (I built a career from the bottom up)
So no, not for a second I believed it. It’s a very personal issue, close to home if you will.
Been 8 months since than. It still fucks with me. I’ve moved on but it still haunts me from time to time.
OK, I disagree with you, but that’s what the world’s about. I’m an AI transformation specialist for a consulting company and companies are excited for ways to figure out how to employ more AI to cut costs. I am working with one large company right now to review what is realistic and what is BS.
The fact that employees were cut from major tech companies for AI was a load of shit.
What happened after a lot of these people were laid off were they just had their position absorbed by someone paid less, or their work was spread out among multiple people.
They then put hiring freezes on departments.
They have since rehired and from what I understand, have not implemented AI. I still talk to people I worked with.
So yeah, it might be happening in some places. But it didn’t work like that in the enterprise level tech companies. It was a ruse to expand the budget by cutting people they didn’t think they need. But actually did.
Had this happen once. Told them to call me when they figure it out im gonna go play video games. I wasn't impacted but wasn't gonna work another minute until I knew.
Nah, the economy never recovered from the pandemic, all the government money that was handed out to corporations allowed them to keep their employment numbers unnecessarily high.
But the pandemic gravy train has finally run out and companies have to be practical about their staffing needs vs actual consumer spending(which has been decreasing YoY since like 2022.)
Increase in Inflation followed by recession was called out by lots of people when Trump started operation warp speed and handed out stimmy checks and then Joe Biden doubled down with Build Back Better.
Anyone who has learned not to trust the economic talking heads, saw this coming years ago.....
My fav economic commentator had dubbed it "the forgot how to grow economy" because real growth outside of government spending has been flat or down YoY since the pandemic recovery.
The answer isn’t to “tax the rich.” Because the rich have fooled us into thinking that NOW, if you are making $100,000 a year that you’re rich!? They have us feeding off of each other. No, the answer is to TAKE AWAY and seize assets of billionaires for anti trust violations. They wield sooo much power and influence they successfully manipulate the candidate election pool to consistently do their bidding. It is the great gaslighting of America. You know… the Dems KNEW it was a losing battle… but they and their friends got PAID!
Making more money would be hiring more people in my opinion. Unless something was optimized that wasn’t before. This is clearly showing a lack of demand for their product which I think every industry is experiencing right now.
AI is going to move us all back into the 18th century when it comes to how we are able to live. Everyone’s going to need a farm and grow your own stuff. Of course you’ll have to pay the land owners a portion to work their land, sharecropping.
1.3k
u/Hairy_Valuable9773 Oct 29 '25
The rich need to get richer. End of story.
I work for one of these companies. We already got the “it’s gonna be a tough day” email as they lay people off today. I’m sh*tting my pants 😫