Resign or get fired? Help!

I've been reading on this thread about how sales people are getting PIPs, performance improvement plans, which is totally a way to avoid saying they're doing "layoffs." They can say its performance based not cutting back work force. I'm in cloud data sales in comms sector, and I'm one of about I dunno 10,000 sales reps not hitting quota so far this year (mind you q4 is our biggest quarter always). So you could put any person on a pip right now. My mgr put me on a 90day one in August that ends on 11/18.

Important to note, this is not an RA. It's a 90-day window to hit certain goals or they fire you. All the usual severance packages don't apply. But I'm told they give you 1month pay and benefits when they fire you on last PIP day, 11/18 in my case.

I'm not interested in staying at IBM. It's been toxic forever and worse lately. I founda new job and accepted. It starts on 11/19 coincidentally. My plan has been to resign next week.

Then it hit me, should I just stay on to get officially fired the day b4 new gig starts? Is it worth it to get the severence and whatever else they give? Also the few potential deals I have. The jobs will not overlap and I don't think ethically I owe them any explanation. But I'm wundering will this effect future job opps? Will future employers be able to see i was terminated in stead of quit? Could it impact the job I already accepted? Worth it not worth it?

I'm one who cares about professional integrity, but also I'm not keen to give in to their plan which is literally to make things so unbearable I quit and they skirt having to pay some kind of reasonable severance. I'm also worried about a few commissions actually getting paid if I leave and can't babysit the whole process. Would be curious on anyone's advice or thoughts or if you've been in this situation before

Comment! It's anonymous!

9 replies (most recent on top)

Non union, right to work state, at will employee. They covered their tails, how bout you?

If IBM doesn't fire you on the expected date the you will have to resign. Until that happens I would not say a word to anyone about the fact that you gave another job and intend to leave.

You don't owe IBM anything, especially not the courtesy of notice of leaving. The approach suggested in this post and the one previous allows you to leave on your terms.

It is IBM's policy to never disclose any personnel records or performance (positive or negative) to another entity. If you have another job starting the day IBM will fire you, your personal employment record will not be affected.

I was in the same situation you are in in 2009. I was RAd but had another job starting the day following my last day at IBM. I have never been asked if I was ever fired. The only question that will ever be asked of you regarding you employment history, for example when applying for a government clearance, is if you were ever unemployed. You will not. So my advice to you is let IBM fire you and pay you the severance. No one will ever care.

I am so glad that IBM RAd me because after 26 years with IBM I still felt the loyalty to the company and probably would not have left on my own. But the opportunities to continue to learn and be challenged at IBM were not there and I would have rotted. Since I left, the opportunities of the technology world are available to me again and allowed me to continue to grow my knowledge and paycheck.
My advice to you is let them fire you. Take the money and run as fast and as far away as you can. And enjoy the rest of your career and life.

Resign. You don't want the other one on your record.

My friends who have left IBM, move to another company or retired, have all said leave on your own terms.

You already have a job so why hang around just to see if they offer a package or don't let you go. If you think IBM might give a "package" upon letting you go, how much would it be? If they fired you there is unemployment but you already have another job so that is not in play here.

If they owe you commissions I guess then it depends on how much they owe you. If it is a lot then maybe hang on to the end to ensure you receive it. Maybe talk with HR and ask them if I was to leave, how do I ensure I receive the commissions I am due. Some will say this will alert them to your thinking of leaving, but do you really care? You do want to make sure you get what you deserve.

If you do hang in to the end I would keep my resignation letter handy so I could give it to them if it looks like the are going to let me go.

Me personally, I rather leave on my terms and never have to explain to anyone in the future why IBM let me go (other than RAs) I rather say, I left IBM because.......

Leave. Now.

Bob is closeted

How do you know you will be fired on 11/18? Maybe they decide to keep you.
How do you know your boss isn't reading your post and thinking, "Hey, Bob's last PIP day is 11/18, I bet that's Bob. I think I'll fire him right now?

I think you should have stayed quiet and then see if you got the severance or not.

Of course, you could be lying about the 11/18 date, in which case someone else, whose last day is 11/18, might take the brunt of it.

you are a w—rr

Thread regarding IBM layoffs

Resign or get fired? Help!

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