To all folks who have been laid off or know someone who was laid off by Cigna, what were the signs?
I’m talking about everything you noticed from management disengagement, anything “off” or not that lead to that last minute meeting
This could be helpful to reduce shock value to a lot of us who will probably get that WebEx meeting sometime in the future.
Saw on this site a mention of management always having to have a certain percentage on a PIP / low performer / cut list. Is this true?
Medicare being sold
The moment the HIH plan was announced. Noelle Eder’s pet project destroyed many careers, she made over $5 million then moved on to another company.
We were the low hanging fruit. Everyone around us had been let go. We knew it was coming. Manager cancelled several 1x1’s, we were invited to a “training” of how to do our jobs, and a week before being let go in May our manager asked us what projects we were working on. 5/8/25 at 7:15 AM my manager messaged me to talk. I knew I was getting let go. She literally never reached out. And just like that, our whole team was JE.
The more comments I read, the happier I am for taking VRP. I have two weeks left and am very content. I will miss the good people, but the good people aren’t the problem.
“I was not kept in loop for key developments on my team. And then blamed for not doing my job.”
Been seeing a lot of this the past year, people getting in trouble for no reason, being sabotaged just before let go to justify themselves, everyone scared were next. This place is awful.
For me it was a huge change in how my entire management team started acting uncomfortable around me. This started about three months before the layoff. Many cancelled or shortened 1:1s. When they did occur questions around processes and no information about new projects. I knew it was coming, had seen it happen to others before.
I knew layoffs were coming to my area rather easily. First there was a slow down of new projects and talk in the town halls from our managing director about cutting operating expense. Then there was HIH roll out to the teams I work with. They started letting contractors go. I knew for sure when all the senior directors in my area started traveling for meetings together. Not just once but multiple times over a short period. Then there was our big boss going overseas. I have a lot of contacts and the rumor mill started going. Then there was the departure of key leadership in our area. Not just one. Anytime that happens, re-org is coming followed by layoffs. If you pay attention, it’s not hard to spot.
For me, I started seeing the signs first with the other layoffs happening prior to mine. There were at least 2 that occurred before I got on the chopping block.
In a 1x1 you would hear your manager saying that we just lost a leader in some org who was doing some high visibility work, or that 3 people under XYZ leader have been let go. And you think wow, this is going to be me very soon. Then you get the vibe around isnt vibing. You can actually smell it. Like the others said, meetings are cancelled here and there, every once a while your boss starts getting pretty interested in your work deeply. They start asking how you are doing certain things, what repo where docs are kept. It's as if I was asking someone: "is the whopper at Burger King or McDonald's?" That's how it was for me.
What's heartbreaking is that when I knew a layoff was coming, I was thinking this is my day. I am definitely losing my job today. And it never was, until I was and I had pretty much started to think I was safe. I had completely switched off. So the layoff caught me off guard. I am restarting my life now, and I have been applying all over. We will see what the future holds. Hang on everyonr.
One sure sign is when they start reassigning your team to other leaders. Or if you are a manager and they start moving your staff to another manager with little explanation. This was obvious with several band 6 leaders last year that “retired” and I see it happening again this year.
@OP I think it's a lot simpler than that. It's more like presenting a situation to the internet on your feeling that a significant other is cheating on you, asking for an opinion. The correct answer to both questions is, if you have to ask, you already know.
When there are no goals outlined for your role, you get assigned less work, meetings at all levels are canceled or never scheduled. It becomes increasingly hard to get access to information or any sort of clarity. And being a high performer doesn’t make you safe so don’t bank on that, have a backup plan. Keep resume and LinkedIn up to date. Most of all don’t take it as a sign that you are not of value. There are other incredible companies that will be thrilled to leverage your skills and I have found a place where the grass is greener so don’t lose hope.
I can echo what everyone said. My manager kept me off projects or barely gave any updates. Canceled a bunch of 1:1. Never included me any of the meetings. My manager and director behavior shifted completely, I felt bad for asking questions and completely so d-mb for not knowing the answers. Quite micro aggressive to say least.
@fc agree 100%…
I had already weathered the October 2023 layoffs which I was not in the loop initially and had no clue what was happening until it happened. However, I was aware the layoffs in April this year were coming because I was in a leadership role and knew my org was going to be seriously impacted by as much as 30-40% through management-level conversations.
We were advised to immediately prepare to change how much work we'd be able to support. I knew end of year reviews for our directs would be a basis (not "the" basis) for some of the decisions and had an idea of who would be in consideration. We went all the way through the process of reviewing merit increases and bonuses in March, not knowing it would mean nothing the next month. What I didn't know is that I was going to be included as well.
I got that 9:30 meeting on my calendar on April 4 and knew that was the end of my time here. I had received the best review of my peers and received the highest percentage of my bonus target of almost 100%, when everyone else got less than 85%. If you are a poor performer, you almost know that you're on the list, but was a top performer, there are no obvious indicators that you
Anyone from HIH involved somehow with your team. They are only there to learn your job and then you’re gone. AI in your programs learning the job. You’re actively teaching AI to learn the job. Those positions will eventually be gone also.
Management disengagement is key. I noticed I was not invited to certain meetings I had been involved in previously, as well as increased frequency of 1:1 cancellations. Management engagement was more social and less business related. I was not surprised when I got the layoff meeting invite. I’d been expecting it for many months.
I was not kept in loop for key developments on my team. And then blamed for not doing my job. My team started moving to HIH progressively and one fine day, I got a webex meeting invite from my manager. I see similar positions open at HIH. I would say keep an eye out for performance issues. Suddenly if everything you do becomes an issue (which was not the case up until now), it would be good to be prepared and start applying.