i've been laid off, what's next?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When applying for new jobs, do I have to do cover letters? It’s been a long time since I’ve looked for a job.

Yes of course you do. Two or three paragraphs are enough. Just introduce yourself and point out how your past experience doing X,Y, and Z makes you a good fit for the position and such. Use the cover letter as a chance to pitch your resume and highlight certain areas of it that match the job requirements. Once you write a few you can cut and paste and bang them out pretty quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Capital one?

yep

Capital One hired a bunch of Amazon execs and instituted a ranking program forcing managers to rate their employees - they had to rate at least 2 below standard. Those people were then given a choice - go on an improvement program with impossible standards and at the end, get axed with nothing if you don’t improve, or leave now with severance, etc, and in order to get that, sign a “I won’t sue” disclosure. And if you speak up as a manager in defense of your staff? You’re next on the chopping block. Capital One didn’t want the stink of layoffs on them like Amazon had, so they are forcing employees into a Hunger Games situation. I know someone who left on his/her own due to this because morally, they could not cope with these disgusting practices.

It hurts to be laid off but my suspicion is you will be not only better off, but a better person as a result.

I thought the dead end PIP vs voluntary severance was pretty standard.

Is it done piecemeal to not seem like layoffs?

Re-read what I wrote. This is not standard. Managers were forced to rate an employee(s) as low standard even when the manager thought that wasn’t the case. If you have five employees under you and they are all above standard, you could not state that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Capital one?

yep

Capital One hired a bunch of Amazon execs and instituted a ranking program forcing managers to rate their employees - they had to rate at least 2 below standard. Those people were then given a choice - go on an improvement program with impossible standards and at the end, get axed with nothing if you don’t improve, or leave now with severance, etc, and in order to get that, sign a “I won’t sue” disclosure. And if you speak up as a manager in defense of your staff? You’re next on the chopping block. Capital One didn’t want the stink of layoffs on them like Amazon had, so they are forcing employees into a Hunger Games situation. I know someone who left on his/her own due to this because morally, they could not cope with these disgusting practices.

It hurts to be laid off but my suspicion is you will be not only better off, but a better person as a result.

I thought the dead end PIP vs voluntary severance was pretty standard.

Is it done piecemeal to not seem like layoffs?

Re-read what I wrote. This is not standard. Managers were forced to rate an employee(s) as low standard even when the manager thought that wasn’t the case. If you have five employees under you and they are all above standard, you could not state that.

NP here, but again, this is nothing new, has always been the case for 10+ years and nothing to do with Amazon. They both follow the Jack Welch model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Capital one?

yep

Capital One hired a bunch of Amazon execs and instituted a ranking program forcing managers to rate their employees - they had to rate at least 2 below standard. Those people were then given a choice - go on an improvement program with impossible standards and at the end, get axed with nothing if you don’t improve, or leave now with severance, etc, and in order to get that, sign a “I won’t sue” disclosure. And if you speak up as a manager in defense of your staff? You’re next on the chopping block. Capital One didn’t want the stink of layoffs on them like Amazon had, so they are forcing employees into a Hunger Games situation. I know someone who left on his/her own due to this because morally, they could not cope with these disgusting practices.

It hurts to be laid off but my suspicion is you will be not only better off, but a better person as a result.

I thought the dead end PIP vs voluntary severance was pretty standard.

Is it done piecemeal to not seem like layoffs?

Re-read what I wrote. This is not standard. Managers were forced to rate an employee(s) as low standard even when the manager thought that wasn’t the case. If you have five employees under you and they are all above standard, you could not state that.

NP here, but again, this is nothing new, has always been the case for 10+ years and nothing to do with Amazon. They both follow the Jack Welch model.

Yep, stack ranking with the bottom counseled out. A lot of companies do this in tech in some way or another. At my last employer (I’m in tech), a manager could give everyone above average scores, but the vps could and would change the scores—with the goal of “readjusting” each team to fit them to a curve so that there would be clear bottom performers in each group. Bonuses (and PIPs) were based on your final “standing” in your group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Capital one?

yep

Capital One hired a bunch of Amazon execs and instituted a ranking program forcing managers to rate their employees - they had to rate at least 2 below standard. Those people were then given a choice - go on an improvement program with impossible standards and at the end, get axed with nothing if you don’t improve, or leave now with severance, etc, and in order to get that, sign a “I won’t sue” disclosure. And if you speak up as a manager in defense of your staff? You’re next on the chopping block. Capital One didn’t want the stink of layoffs on them like Amazon had, so they are forcing employees into a Hunger Games situation. I know someone who left on his/her own due to this because morally, they could not cope with these disgusting practices.

It hurts to be laid off but my suspicion is you will be not only better off, but a better person as a result.

I thought the dead end PIP vs voluntary severance was pretty standard.

Is it done piecemeal to not seem like layoffs?

Re-read what I wrote. This is not standard. Managers were forced to rate an employee(s) as low standard even when the manager thought that wasn’t the case. If you have five employees under you and they are all above standard, you could not state that.

NP here, but again, this is nothing new, has always been the case for 10+ years and nothing to do with Amazon. They both follow the Jack Welch model.

Yep, stack ranking with the bottom counseled out. A lot of companies do this in tech in some way or another. At my last employer (I’m in tech), a manager could give everyone above average scores, but the vps could and would change the scores—with the goal of “readjusting” each team to fit them to a curve so that there would be clear bottom performers in each group. Bonuses (and PIPs) were based on your final “standing” in your group.

Which is dishonest

[Anonymous]

Apart from the Capital One/Amazon stuff, this thread has a lot of great information.
Perhaps you'll find as I did: some close contacts shun you while mere acquaintances give you the shirt off their back. I had this happen to me on a few occasions and the acquaintances that gave me time and counsel were invaluable; even when their contribution is just a positive sounding board when things seem tough. I'd walk a million miles for those people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op were you better off? My brother was laid off in March and is STILL looking. In tech sales so crazy slow.

I lost my job in mid April and I have yet to find a new one. I've had three interviews so far, no job offers. Interviewed for a job that was basically what I did for 10 years and they know me from my work. Nothing. Interviewed for another job in the industry where I knew the woman from our professional organization, nothing. Third one, used to work with this woman at a previous employer. Nothing.

It's demoralizing. The last times I had extended unemployment like this was when I graduated from college in 2006 and last time I lost my job in 2001---three months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op were you better off? My brother was laid off in March and is STILL looking. In tech sales so crazy slow.

I lost my job in mid April and I have yet to find a new one. I've had three interviews so far, no job offers. Interviewed for a job that was basically what I did for 10 years and they know me from my work. Nothing. Interviewed for another job in the industry where I knew the woman from our professional organization, nothing. Third one, used to work with this woman at a previous employer. Nothing.

It's demoralizing. The last times I had extended unemployment like this was when I graduated from college in 2006 and last time I lost my job in 2001---three months.

I’ll tell you what I tell my kid: you are one day closer to getting that next job. Just keep at it.

It’s really hard out there. Employers go through lots of resumes and some job “openings” aren’t even openings. But eventually, if you keep at it, you’ll get the next job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Capital one?

yep

Capital One hired a bunch of Amazon execs and instituted a ranking program forcing managers to rate their employees - they had to rate at least 2 below standard. Those people were then given a choice - go on an improvement program with impossible standards and at the end, get axed with nothing if you don’t improve, or leave now with severance, etc, and in order to get that, sign a “I won’t sue” disclosure. And if you speak up as a manager in defense of your staff? You’re next on the chopping block. Capital One didn’t want the stink of layoffs on them like Amazon had, so they are forcing employees into a Hunger Games situation. I know someone who left on his/her own due to this because morally, they could not cope with these disgusting practices.

It hurts to be laid off but my suspicion is you will be not only better off, but a better person as a result.

I thought the dead end PIP vs voluntary severance was pretty standard.

Is it done piecemeal to not seem like layoffs?

Re-read what I wrote. This is not standard. Managers were forced to rate an employee(s) as low standard even when the manager thought that wasn’t the case. If you have five employees under you and they are all above standard, you could not state that.

NP here, but again, this is nothing new, has always been the case for 10+ years and nothing to do with Amazon. They both follow the Jack Welch model.

Yep, stack ranking with the bottom counseled out. A lot of companies do this in tech in some way or another. At my last employer (I’m in tech), a manager could give everyone above average scores, but the vps could and would change the scores—with the goal of “readjusting” each team to fit them to a curve so that there would be clear bottom performers in each group. Bonuses (and PIPs) were based on your final “standing” in your group.

same thinking happening at Mastercard. Think twice about joining.

new Amazon / Goldman Sachs leaders implementing stack ranking and a guaranteed percentage have to go. New to the culture. Very painful.

[Anonymous]

These companies are bringing hardball tactics to a soft government town. Imagine the howls of government workers if they were stack ranked and every year the bottom was let go. Let's go baby!

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]These companies are bringing hardball tactics to a soft government town. Imagine the howls of government workers if they were stack ranked and every year the bottom was let go. Let's go baby![/quote]

Interesting I thought Jack Welsh had been deemed a sham, and he championed stack ranking.

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/how-would-jack-welchs-leadership-style-fare-in-todays-world

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These companies are bringing hardball tactics to a soft government town. Imagine the howls of government workers if they were stack ranked and every year the bottom was let go. Let's go baby!

Interesting I thought Jack Welsh had been deemed a sham, and he championed stack ranking.

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/ite...days-world

[Anonymous]

You will be ok. My company laid off 40% of the staff two months ago. Some for good reason, others because of bad luck. Most have found great jobs that are a step above what they had. It typically works out in the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You will be ok. My company laid off 40% of the staff two months ago. Some for good reason, others because of bad luck. Most have found great jobs that are a step above what they had. It typically works out in the end.

You must be very young to think that.

Right now market is still decent, and everyone is cheering for a soft landing, but layoffs are only recently a “step up” career thing esp if over 35.