This is a question for managers if we have any here. Is there a way to volunteer or make yourself a likely target for the next layoffs round? I would like to be let go with severance and if I could save a job of somebody who wants to stay while doing that, that would be great.
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Those decisions are quietly made before anyone has the chance to ask for a severance. I was a Level 1 manager who experienced two waves of cuts in my previous area, the last in 2019.
For a Lvl 1, usually a higher-up will reach out and ask you to rank your direct reports. If you have, say 10 directs, you rate them 1 best to 10 who is your worst. Consultants and senior mgmt then determine who gets cut, usually based on a combination of tenure and pay, though I have seen several exceptions.
There are many people doing the bare minimum that never get laid off. It is more about pay grade and what department you are in. I think I am in a bad position due to mt pay grade and only having 2 direct reports. Having said that we do the work of 10+ employees from a few years ago. Are you in an expanding or contracting department? Things like that make a difference. People in their 40's to 50's at pay grade 15+ tend to be targets.
The TOS managers prefer a-s li---r. They bullied their staffs. It is OK as long as the manager above is in the same club with his puppet. Toxic corporate culture.
It does have a lot to do with being liked by the useless middle managers that are clueless about everything and have never experienced a good idea on their own. If they can push you around and you don't make the money you deserve, you get to stay. If you are making a market income and once in awhile say something negative about their constantly stupid ideas, RIF is headed your way. They prefer a PIP though. Re-org is the only move that they know. Once this one is done, they start working on the next.
For those acting like children and whining that “if they don’t like you, you’ll be cut”… grow up. Do you come to work with an attitude of being owed something? Do you do the bare minimum to tell yourself you did your job today? Do you feel entitled to a raise and bonus? I think u have your answer now, on a Welcome to REAL life playing field.
If you are in TOS, it's who the BIOs pick, after checking with the social club. There is ZERO meritocracy in this organization. If S Levang doesn't like you, you are dead meat.
Whoever your manager and the manager above dislike most. It is white boys keeping white boys, yuppie alpha white girls keeping yuppie alpha white girls, indians keeping indians, if you are asian or latino, you feel you don't belong. Also, if you are a 16 working with 15s, be ready to pack your bags...
Volunteer to be laid off? Wow you sound like a really desirable worker that employers will fight over... I am sure the thought of not working and getting a severance package sounds great to you (Imagine you would live off unemployment if you could as well) but how about you just quit or find something new rather than volunteer to be let go! You are the problem with society!
I’ve worked on four different teams. Both times when the teams I was on was re-orged, the RIF plan was decided by consultants using an org chart. Honestly the cuts seemed to be random with mostly middle managers who were targeted. When it happened, even the manager of the people cut had no idea. The irony is many of the positions cut were later added back over the years. I did not see a correlation between performance and who got cut, it seemed mostly about org and pay grade.
I'm not able to answer with actual certainty, because I'm just a worker bee. But what I've seen on the corporate side is this: most cuts are either whole teams or overpaid middle managers. My direct manager manages a team and has his own responsibilities. He's been here 30+ years and is underpaid for what he does. He's safe over and over again. His manager and his peers are always on the chopping block when RIF time rolls around, because all they do is manage managers. Several of them are also paid as much as people higher up the chain, and they're the ones that get cut. Sometimes I think the company uses a RIF to cut a PITA employee or two without needing to justify it, but mostly it's about money. The people making more than their direct peers and do little to no work are generally the victims. That's why I don't fear the RIF!