These are not layoffs. They are mass firings of low talent hangers-on or irrelevant departmental deadweight that pretty much needed to go and probably wont be missed. Like MD or AR, or your coworker who never quite got it. Why does CDW do it this way? Because our power-hungry CWS department has both ears of our lawyer CEO who is terrified of lawsuits. They won’t let managers fire people along the way that are incompetent, underperforming or bad cultural fits, so the business becomes filled with dead weight and weakened operationally, and bad people are pushed around to different teams or ignored. And it causes the business to run like cr-p. Then every year or 18 months there needs to be a house cleaning. It’s true and it’s really a pi-s-poor way to run talent in a talent-dependent business. Oh, and think you want to go to a PE owned company like Presidio or similar? Good luck. If you are weak, slow or ignorant, they will cut you faster than you can say “at will employment” and its why they are always hiring. They also rate leaders on how fast they can get rid of bad people. But that approach has an ironic “intended” consequence: Minimal layoffs, and true destination workplace because the talent is top notch. The type of people you want to work with. The thing is, at CDW, we did lose some dolphins in the layoff tuna net who were never managed correctly, but that is the very rare exception. There are also some great people at CDW, but this will never be a talent magnet because of how talent is managed. LCD.
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100%
I was in the latter category.
Even though I was still overperforming, the decline in my compensation made the hours I was putting in and the stress and BS not worth the money anymore.
You know you're lost when sales isn't incentivized to sell more, or even worse, quit altogether.
I left on my own without severance. They can choke on that money for all I care. They can use that money to have pizza parties for the interns since base pay in today's Chicago basically makes them the working poor.
Regretfully I agree and disagree with your post. How many people do you know that got let go in this layoff? I know ALOT.
Many were actually good coworkers who saved the sales reps sc--w ups. Because that was their job to do so. Or part of it. Many who have proven quantifiers that we're achieved or over achieved.
I cried seeing some connections I have know for years be let go. Connections who have educated myself and others on processes and work arounds. All due to sales reps messing up orders, bids, etc.
I still have coworkers I work with on my team that are a not a fit for their roles and still employed. Not possessing the skills and qualifications. Yet they remained.
So if your post is true on letting go based on merit, why are so many people still here that perform poorly? I will tell you why, they are protected. Yes, some individuals here at the company are protected. I work with some of them. I had to work alot of hours to pick up their slack.
Therefore I agree to disagree with this statement, based on my factual evidence.
CDW used to be a sweatshop for sales, but AM's still made money. Since going public, the current CEO has made poor decisions, failed to keep up with newer channel products, and focused only on claw-backs from employees' paychecks.
The best advice I can offer is that if you are young enough and know CDW isn't a long-term option, you need to look elsewhere and hit the restart button. Second, if you are a middle-aged white male with 15+ years of service, you are a dinosaur and in line for a layoff. Stop lying to yourself, working weekends, stressing out the family, you are not living with any work-life balance. That doesn't exist at CDW. Bailout.
@c3 Thank you!
@ce I agree! No matter what anyone says, CDW is just another corporation and does not practice what it preaches! They claim to seek coworker feedback (via Peakon) and encourage coworkers to speak up for one-another, but whenever someone does, it seems to put a target on their back!
@ce 100% Well said!
@OP Whatever helps you sleep at night! May the odds be ever in your favor, President Snow!
@OP I feel like I know exactly who posted this—the same snake who continues to point their finger, throw others under the bus, and not accept accountability for their own failures! It amazes me how this incompetency continues to happen over and over, while those who actually care about their team and do the work are thrown under the bus and sacrificed! Glad you have managed to convince the right people that you are not the problem. What goes around comes around and you will eventually be found out! Good luck!
@en You are the original poster. You faked being a new addition. A writing analyst with the bureau friend of mine analyzed both and validated it. But nice try.
@en if they were under performers they wouldn’t have had a long tenure. Was working the operational side for 7 years. Every year I met expectations. One year I even exceeded it. So yeah I think some of us do have a right to bi--h.
@en
LoL... you funny.
I quit ahead of all this mess. You could see this coming last year with the moves being made.
You think all the underperformers got canned LoL I have some news for you. The same people that caused everything also run how layoffs occur and how coworkers are picked to go. You think they wouldn't mess that up too?!
You still have tons of underperformers and losers there.
Glad I didn't stay for this nightmare. I underperformed my way to enough money that I excused myself from the CDW drama.
Funny how the coworkers that are left think they are the remaining all stars and the dead weight is gone. Personally I considered most everyone there dead weight as I hit goal profitably for years while seeing the majority of people around me get paid more than they should've as they wrecked business.
The smart ones are already gone. You don't wait for the Titanic to fully sink before you jump ship. Guess you still need money LoL should've "performed" better so you're not stuck on a sinking ship.
Happy 4th Everyone. Hope you all find your own personal Independence Day.
You are actually correct, hate to say it. Most people on this board complaining about your post are the underperformers who need a place to bi--h. We cant fire anyone here, so we need these layoffs. Terrible leadership method. Bring on the downvotes!
@OP Ignore this post and just move on. It's not worth our time.
Umm... All the dummies on my team still work there so...
Yeah, I'd be careful with Presidio. A few years back, I got contacted by one of their recruiters for a SA position and she said "John (hiring manager) really wants to speak with you! He saw your profile and was very interested!" I thought it was odd because my domain and specialty is in area Presidio didn't cover, but I thought "Why not?" I got into a call with this guy and he clearly had never seen my resume, never looked at my profile, and had no clue what I did. They're on my "do not apply" list and now knowing that they're owned by PE is a double strike. I know some Presidio recruiters seem to be reading these posts as well so allow me to say: you su-k.
Most of the layoffs I always see the wrong people let go and the ones everyone complains about keep hanging on.
This one felt different. This felt like retribution for anyone who spoke out against GTM and Salesforce rollout being an absolute flop/mismanaged.
You researched each layoff deeply enough to legitimately arrive at that conclusion?
Either you did, which meant that you've spent almost no time doing your actual work, or you are talking out of your a-s.
Which one is it, chief?
I personally know many of the people who were let go, and I can say with a great deal of certainty that they are extremely talented. They include outstanding engineers, architects, and managers who had been with the company for 10 or even more years.
What surprises me most is how quickly you've adopted the cold, transactional mindset that has become so common in corporate America, the idea that if someone loses their job, they must have deserved it, and that if you're still employed, it somehow proves you're better. That's exactly the kind of thinking that allows companies to treat people as disposable.
A little humility and empathy would go a lot further. One day you may find yourself on the other side of that decision, and I hope no one dismisses your years of hard work the way you're dismissing theirs.
What a horrible, uninformed take. My group lost great employees. Our crew is now 1/4 the size it was before we were acquired.
@bj My department lost a lot of leadership. At least one of them definitely needed to go but others were exceptionally well liked and got good results. Worked here going on 10 years and now I’ve never been so stressed. My team has already been running lean this year and now we’ve lost our anchors.
I know this won’t be the last time. Multiple layoffs already this year aren’t going to convince me that this is as “normal” as we keep being told by these empty suit VPs and I don’t trust the new “leadership” of the dept at all so I am quietly preparing myself for what might be coming next.
Then help me understand, if only under-performers are being let go, why sales, profitability and the stock price, aren’t skyrocketing since there is far less deadweight in the company?
There has been so much talent, expertise and experience let go to cover leadership mismanagement it’s incalculable. And the impact of all these changes has not been positive.
Certainly some that needed to be let go are now gone, but don’t think for a second these layoffs over the last 3 years only “fired” those that needed to be fired.
Those coworkers helped deliver quarter-over-quarter growth for years at a company people loved working for.
And those that are left? They get more work, fewer experienced and knowledgeable colleagues to collaborate with, and the fear of asking themselves, “Am I next?”
Lies! Not everyone that got laid off was an underperformer. Keep telling yourself that to feel better about yourself. You will see when you’re next on the chopping block. No one’s job is safe at this company. More layoffs are coming so stay tuned.
@OP
Layoffs like this never happened before Leahy and things ran well.
This is institutional rot from the "HEAD" down to the toes because the top is power hungry and never holds ITSELF accountable.
The "HEAD" had its tentacles all around in various divisions/departments and those tentacles carry out the vision of what the HEAD wants to see the business become.
Isn't it funny that that "worforce" of CDW used to ALL get compensated more, had more benefits, bonuses, happiness, and less stress and internal red tape before a lawyer and her team of outsiders took over. They Didn't Earn It as they didn't earn their place within CDW doing the main work of the business. That "work" wasn't being a lawyer but a team player doing everything they could do from their part to support Sales managing customer relationships and selling/providing them products, solutions, and service (real service as in having your customers back).
It's really not that complicated if you're tenured and have been along for the ride and seen the leadership transitions starting from Krasny.
Funny how you hear Krasny, Edwardson, Richards, and you only hear GOOD things as they advanced CDW and kept the bulk of the TEAM (the overall coworkers who were the heart and engine of the company) together.
Things didn't start rotting until "someone" started wanting to do what mainstream corporate thinkers like to do which is start mass layoffs when their failures get exposed because they never took accountability for their own failures.
The company didn't fail its coworkers...you get figure out who did by just reading everyone else's comments.
This is also why you have a ton of weak management and weak directors and weak VP'S... the legacy good ones all left or got pushed out (because firing legacy top leadership looks bad in the linkedin world and partners aren't blind either).
Bootlickers gotta bootlick
They speak truth. When we are stuck with an underperformer, we almost always try to sell/move them to other teams to get rid of them because firing anyone at CDW is so difficult.