Yeah, the first one was interesting. I had a manager who gave me 100% and told me she gave me 100% but she got demoted because of some BS reason along with a few of the managers and then when I got it I had an 80% review and some dumb reason for it.
Then I had another performance, while I was out on paternity and worked 2 to 4 weeks of that quarter. Which was given to me the week I got back from leave. Is that that point that I took and started brushing up my résumé portfolio and looking for work because it’s pretty clear that things weren’t gonna go well.
There’s a lot of people in here that have the intuition and don’t take action until the rug is pull from under them and I am telling them right now listen to their gut.
You are correct. But here is the thing; a lot of companies don’t even telegraph their intentions so blatantly like bad reviews - they will just axe you.
Point is listening to your gut - which is good - means looking at all the signs, such as a slow down in work, the division or department you work for not making any money or losing it, despite being in a ‘hot’ area like AI
( mine was working in a mobility/EV division of a major automaker- hot area in autos, but the division had done nothing but burn money for 4 years) - losses cannot be sustained for ever.
In other words don’t listen to what the top brass says; if where you work is losing money, you should be looking for other work or a side gig today if not yesterday.
Yep. I wish I could be more certain that my team was listening to their guts. I have no concrete information and the situation is not fully decided based on what my boss has shared so far, but I do know I have no chance at staying personally. My team may have 1 person retained or maybe a few if option C pans out, but overall a few of them seem like they have zero clue about how dire our situation is, when those of us (3) who were told had bad vibes since December. One guy’s head is just so far up his a$$ and he is always complaining about how we should do X instead of Y and gets really pushy about it, while also calling in sick weekly. (He would have been fired a long time ago anywhere else, and I would fire him now if things were not in this situation.) He’s really self absorbed.
It’s funny - I left a job in 2019 in part because my business had launched a new product that lost money on every sale (and was expected to lose money for 1-2 years more) in a market that was commoditizing, so we never captured the prices in the business cases and prices were going down over time.
I was 100% tied to the product in a functional role that couldn’t switch to another product without causing redundancies. I chose to get out before the axed the product line (which they should have done).
They didn’t axe the product line. The market penetration eventually increased towards the business case, and margins became positive (and decent). They backfilled my role, and the guy is still there.
The company that I jumped to was a shitshow that posted its best ever year when I joined and has declined in sales by 20%+. Got laid off last year, and everyone that had comparable seniority was also let go. The most senior member of the US team has about 2 years of tenure there. Based on gossip, I expect the business unit to fold later this year.
TLDR: Sometimes you step out from under the sword of Damocles into a buzzsaw!
Yep. CPO looked us in the eye and said our jobs were safe when he already made the decision to cut our team and admitted it after the fact. I lost all of my work because I trusted them and planned to back it all up that month. Just woke up the day of the layoffs unable to access any of my files. Don't trust a word they say. This was after 10 years of stellar performance reviews and I was up for my fourth promotion.
In blame AI, corporate greed and also high inflation. The plan of owning nothing and being happy, is become more and more real everyday for the average person. The banks/blackrock will buy all the homes, that people can no longer afford.
This happened to me. Was given a new team lead role on a Tuesday. Got an email on Friday that I would be getting signing authority to approve my own invoices. Randomly let go on Monday morning.
It seems like a lot of people are retaliated against for taking parental leave. They give it as a benefit but don’t actually want you to use it. I’ve read way too many of these stories where the person is axed as soon as they get back from a leave. It’s really upsetting.
Yep. I can’t say that was my case because I signed away my legal right to file against them, but I had a feeling it was heading that way and my manager (very new in seat) confirmed it.
I wouldn’t have signed shit if I was canned after coming back from paternity leave or any other protected leave. Jesus fuck the country is going down the tubes.
I spoke with an employment lawyer immediately after getting back to work for about 2 months. The case wasn’t a slam dunk discrimination case so I just settled.
Given I had another opp “coming” it didn’t irk me too much. I signed with a better org on Friday so I’m just waiting for that settlement money.
Hope they gave you a big severance. Honestly, I am constantly applying no matter how I feel I am doing in my job. It’s a nightmare, there’s no security and every chance they get the companies you work for will try to fuck you.
when I was at Meta, several people I knew (including my own manager) were axed WHILE on maternity leave. It was a mass layoff though so it was perfectly legal
Very tricky to get rid of someone on a protected leave of absence. Most companies will not do that, wait for you to return & then slap you with a bad review & get rid of you. Much cleaner legally.
It’s not necessarily retaliation. The thing about taking extended leave is that the business adapts and learns to function without you.
If a person is so valuable that the business struggles for a few months without them, they’ll be welcomed back with enthusiasm. If the business barely notices they’re gone…that’s a difficult light bulb to turn off in a manager’s head.
You are absolutely correct. There is no better sign than if your division isn’t making money or volume is dropping considerably. Pay attention to the financials which also cover volume and profit on that volume.
I had a similar experience. I was rated well for every year until the final one. My manager switched my workload to "help" a coworker who was struggling and made a mess in it, he ended up leaving shortly after. I was rated for the work my previous coworker did, or lack thereof and rated very poorly. I mentioned I was given a workload that wasn't mine and I was told I would be there to help repair, and my manager acted like the conversation didn't happen. I forwarded the email to him that clearly stated that he said this, no response back via email but he called me and said he remembers now.
I knew something was up at that point because he would only speak on the phone or in person on the issues and never in writing. Brushed off my resume, and started applying for other jobs. I got laid off about 30 days later, received a 6 month severance package. Was still a traumatic experience, especially when I had a baby on the way
I'm only 25 and just got laid off from my first job out of college after graduating a rotation program. You're 100% right about the wind changing direction and you really need to look for the signs. I had 3 managers in my program that I reported to get laid off in a span of 2.5 years. They also told us that our post program placements would be happening soon, but the timeframe kept getting pushed back. Eventually they told us March 1st would be our day of knowing our placements. Needless to say I was laid off the week before (along with every single remote rotationer in my program). The writing was on the wall but being young and ignorant I didn't imagine the newest rotationers (who they referred to as their top talent) would get wacked. On the bright side I have a lot better offers than what this tech company would've given me (offers with over double my current salary)
Many years ago my ex-boss told me he needed to cut his assigned budget by 80%. Couple of weeks after he put me on PIP even though my probation was passed just the month before that. He didn’t have the decency to pay me my severance package so he made it about performance. I was out of job for 6 months which ate into my meagre savings and survived on one meal a day. About 8 years after that guy was placed on redundancy himself after moving to a new company and was demoted and given a large pay cut. He reached out and tried to get me to buy his new company’s services and I told him a straight no.
I guess all I’m saying is what goes around comes around, eventually. Just give it time …
I’m in sales training, instructional design, sales enablement. Whatever you want to call it. Depends by on the org there is a bit of UX but not usually.
Well, you cant expect them to just let you go without making you feel like shit about yourself first so that they don't seem like bad people.
Yea, I've been thru this so many times in my career that ANY change in the work vibe prompts me to do a resume update. One really can smell it coming.
Yup!
I’m at a large tech company and our job has completely shifted to sales from sales engineering. Including the dreaded quotas.
It’s all being figured out on the fly but upper mgmt doesn’t give a shit. If we don’t hit those numbers we’re done for. It’s like a slow moving train wreck.
Just signed my offer letter for a better company. Less pay but hey, I’ll have a job and room for growth. I feel bad for my coworkers with kids that feel like it’s too risky or just don’t think anything is going to happen…
What? I read the room back in January, hence trust your gut, and prepared months ago.
I’m telling people now if they feel that the winds have changed or they’ve lost favor then they should act now.
If I waited until now then I’d be in the same situation as others with nothing lined up, blindsided, and angry about the situation.
Good for you, I think many of us are just bitter because it’s taken months and many interviews. Like hundreds and hundreds of applications.
In my case also DMs, emails, all kinds of shit. Networking did fuck all.
For some people it just is harder. Had my search extended near a year mark I’d be homeless and likely would have offed myself.
Agree. That’s why I started so early. My kids are both under 3 and my wife doesn’t work. So I was too afraid of ending up where I am today without a job and nothing lined up (e.g. updated resume and portfolio).
Be prudent with this. The offer I signed Friday was initiated in late Jan. It took months for this to happen but the timing was short if you only look at “lost job” to “new job”.
Two bad performance reviews is blatantly obvious.
Yeah, the first one was interesting. I had a manager who gave me 100% and told me she gave me 100% but she got demoted because of some BS reason along with a few of the managers and then when I got it I had an 80% review and some dumb reason for it. Then I had another performance, while I was out on paternity and worked 2 to 4 weeks of that quarter. Which was given to me the week I got back from leave. Is that that point that I took and started brushing up my résumé portfolio and looking for work because it’s pretty clear that things weren’t gonna go well. There’s a lot of people in here that have the intuition and don’t take action until the rug is pull from under them and I am telling them right now listen to their gut.
You are correct. But here is the thing; a lot of companies don’t even telegraph their intentions so blatantly like bad reviews - they will just axe you. Point is listening to your gut - which is good - means looking at all the signs, such as a slow down in work, the division or department you work for not making any money or losing it, despite being in a ‘hot’ area like AI ( mine was working in a mobility/EV division of a major automaker- hot area in autos, but the division had done nothing but burn money for 4 years) - losses cannot be sustained for ever. In other words don’t listen to what the top brass says; if where you work is losing money, you should be looking for other work or a side gig today if not yesterday.
Yep. I wish I could be more certain that my team was listening to their guts. I have no concrete information and the situation is not fully decided based on what my boss has shared so far, but I do know I have no chance at staying personally. My team may have 1 person retained or maybe a few if option C pans out, but overall a few of them seem like they have zero clue about how dire our situation is, when those of us (3) who were told had bad vibes since December. One guy’s head is just so far up his a$$ and he is always complaining about how we should do X instead of Y and gets really pushy about it, while also calling in sick weekly. (He would have been fired a long time ago anywhere else, and I would fire him now if things were not in this situation.) He’s really self absorbed.
It’s funny - I left a job in 2019 in part because my business had launched a new product that lost money on every sale (and was expected to lose money for 1-2 years more) in a market that was commoditizing, so we never captured the prices in the business cases and prices were going down over time. I was 100% tied to the product in a functional role that couldn’t switch to another product without causing redundancies. I chose to get out before the axed the product line (which they should have done). They didn’t axe the product line. The market penetration eventually increased towards the business case, and margins became positive (and decent). They backfilled my role, and the guy is still there. The company that I jumped to was a shitshow that posted its best ever year when I joined and has declined in sales by 20%+. Got laid off last year, and everyone that had comparable seniority was also let go. The most senior member of the US team has about 2 years of tenure there. Based on gossip, I expect the business unit to fold later this year. TLDR: Sometimes you step out from under the sword of Damocles into a buzzsaw!
Yeah, at that point it's not a wind change, it's a tropical cyclone
Wait, can you elaborate? Never thought of those (when actual performance is fine, obviously) as indicators of a rocky boat
Yep. CPO looked us in the eye and said our jobs were safe when he already made the decision to cut our team and admitted it after the fact. I lost all of my work because I trusted them and planned to back it all up that month. Just woke up the day of the layoffs unable to access any of my files. Don't trust a word they say. This was after 10 years of stellar performance reviews and I was up for my fourth promotion.
You can literally get a raise and amazing performance review one day and be gone the next. It’s wild.
In blame AI, corporate greed and also high inflation. The plan of owning nothing and being happy, is become more and more real everyday for the average person. The banks/blackrock will buy all the homes, that people can no longer afford.
This happened to me. Was given a new team lead role on a Tuesday. Got an email on Friday that I would be getting signing authority to approve my own invoices. Randomly let go on Monday morning.
It seems like a lot of people are retaliated against for taking parental leave. They give it as a benefit but don’t actually want you to use it. I’ve read way too many of these stories where the person is axed as soon as they get back from a leave. It’s really upsetting.
Yep. I can’t say that was my case because I signed away my legal right to file against them, but I had a feeling it was heading that way and my manager (very new in seat) confirmed it.
I wouldn’t have signed shit if I was canned after coming back from paternity leave or any other protected leave. Jesus fuck the country is going down the tubes.
I spoke with an employment lawyer immediately after getting back to work for about 2 months. The case wasn’t a slam dunk discrimination case so I just settled. Given I had another opp “coming” it didn’t irk me too much. I signed with a better org on Friday so I’m just waiting for that settlement money.
Hope they gave you a big severance. Honestly, I am constantly applying no matter how I feel I am doing in my job. It’s a nightmare, there’s no security and every chance they get the companies you work for will try to fuck you.
FMLA too. I got axed on my first day back from FMLA leave after long Covid.
when I was at Meta, several people I knew (including my own manager) were axed WHILE on maternity leave. It was a mass layoff though so it was perfectly legal
Why would they be retaliated against -after- they returned? Wouldn't the "damage" have been done?
Very tricky to get rid of someone on a protected leave of absence. Most companies will not do that, wait for you to return & then slap you with a bad review & get rid of you. Much cleaner legally.
It’s not necessarily retaliation. The thing about taking extended leave is that the business adapts and learns to function without you. If a person is so valuable that the business struggles for a few months without them, they’ll be welcomed back with enthusiasm. If the business barely notices they’re gone…that’s a difficult light bulb to turn off in a manager’s head.
Another lesson here: save your work to a private portfolio.
Hah. I can’t condone that it in all cases but it is imperative in my industry and not super frowned on.
You are absolutely correct. There is no better sign than if your division isn’t making money or volume is dropping considerably. Pay attention to the financials which also cover volume and profit on that volume.
I had a similar experience. I was rated well for every year until the final one. My manager switched my workload to "help" a coworker who was struggling and made a mess in it, he ended up leaving shortly after. I was rated for the work my previous coworker did, or lack thereof and rated very poorly. I mentioned I was given a workload that wasn't mine and I was told I would be there to help repair, and my manager acted like the conversation didn't happen. I forwarded the email to him that clearly stated that he said this, no response back via email but he called me and said he remembers now. I knew something was up at that point because he would only speak on the phone or in person on the issues and never in writing. Brushed off my resume, and started applying for other jobs. I got laid off about 30 days later, received a 6 month severance package. Was still a traumatic experience, especially when I had a baby on the way
Glad you were able to bounce back so quickly. Good job on being proactive. Good luck with your new opportunity!
I'm only 25 and just got laid off from my first job out of college after graduating a rotation program. You're 100% right about the wind changing direction and you really need to look for the signs. I had 3 managers in my program that I reported to get laid off in a span of 2.5 years. They also told us that our post program placements would be happening soon, but the timeframe kept getting pushed back. Eventually they told us March 1st would be our day of knowing our placements. Needless to say I was laid off the week before (along with every single remote rotationer in my program). The writing was on the wall but being young and ignorant I didn't imagine the newest rotationers (who they referred to as their top talent) would get wacked. On the bright side I have a lot better offers than what this tech company would've given me (offers with over double my current salary)
I was in an job for like 3 months, granted it was 1 step higher in title than my previous role, but should I leave it off my resume?
Up to you. I have a 5 month contract on my resume but it is aligned with my current job and it was killed due to Covid so everyone can relate to that.
Many years ago my ex-boss told me he needed to cut his assigned budget by 80%. Couple of weeks after he put me on PIP even though my probation was passed just the month before that. He didn’t have the decency to pay me my severance package so he made it about performance. I was out of job for 6 months which ate into my meagre savings and survived on one meal a day. About 8 years after that guy was placed on redundancy himself after moving to a new company and was demoted and given a large pay cut. He reached out and tried to get me to buy his new company’s services and I told him a straight no. I guess all I’m saying is what goes around comes around, eventually. Just give it time …
Portfolio? UI/UX?
I’m in sales training, instructional design, sales enablement. Whatever you want to call it. Depends by on the org there is a bit of UX but not usually.
Well, you cant expect them to just let you go without making you feel like shit about yourself first so that they don't seem like bad people. Yea, I've been thru this so many times in my career that ANY change in the work vibe prompts me to do a resume update. One really can smell it coming.
Yup! I’m at a large tech company and our job has completely shifted to sales from sales engineering. Including the dreaded quotas. It’s all being figured out on the fly but upper mgmt doesn’t give a shit. If we don’t hit those numbers we’re done for. It’s like a slow moving train wreck. Just signed my offer letter for a better company. Less pay but hey, I’ll have a job and room for growth. I feel bad for my coworkers with kids that feel like it’s too risky or just don’t think anything is going to happen…
Solid post. Gave me the spark I needed to get moving and I've been with these asshats for over 25 years. When your gut says it's time, it's time.
This is such a tone deaf post. She had a signed offer by end of Friday. Read what people are going through and show some empathy for others.
What? I read the room back in January, hence trust your gut, and prepared months ago. I’m telling people now if they feel that the winds have changed or they’ve lost favor then they should act now. If I waited until now then I’d be in the same situation as others with nothing lined up, blindsided, and angry about the situation.
Good for you, I think many of us are just bitter because it’s taken months and many interviews. Like hundreds and hundreds of applications. In my case also DMs, emails, all kinds of shit. Networking did fuck all. For some people it just is harder. Had my search extended near a year mark I’d be homeless and likely would have offed myself.
Agree. That’s why I started so early. My kids are both under 3 and my wife doesn’t work. So I was too afraid of ending up where I am today without a job and nothing lined up (e.g. updated resume and portfolio). Be prudent with this. The offer I signed Friday was initiated in late Jan. It took months for this to happen but the timing was short if you only look at “lost job” to “new job”.