Thread regarding Pearson PLC layoffs

Severance for employees who are laid off

I decided not to wait for them to tell me that I am no longer needed and I left this place. I am pretty sure that I made a good decision. I'm interested in how generous was the severance pay for those who were laid off?

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| 2923 views | | 5 replies (last January 26, 2024)
Post ID: @OP+1lSdamaB

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As of April 2023, the severance is no longer x number of weeks for each year you worked. There is no severance policy, just a statement of intent that says based on title and tenure. Such a joke - they don’t really base it on tenure. People who worked 20+ years go 12 weeks and so did people who worked 2, 8, 11 years….all got 12 weeks. Those in higher positions got 20 weeks.

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Post ID: @4Thse+1lSdamaB

Pearson is the worst paying company in existence. "Directors" making $150 what a joke. That title should make $300 anywhere else. DMs suddenly got a pay raise but undeserved. The reps do nothing these days and just beg for help.

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Post ID: @ejzh+1lSdamaB

What a callous question. As someone who was laid off, I hardly feel lucky for losing a job right before a recession and right before FAANGs laid off thousands of people. A couple of weeks of pay does not make up for the complete loss of financial security.

It is absolutely brutal out there right now, and many employers and hiring managers have an incorrect notion that getting laid off meant you were underperforming. In my case, I was not, and in most cases, it's mostly random.

Getting laid off is one of the most stressful events someone can go through; it cuts your life expectancy and results in a greater likelihood of having a serious health issue in the YEARS following it. But sure, I got some paychecks, lucky me.

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Post ID: @1dxg+1lSdamaB

I have been interviewing and some of these companies are asking if there are any gaps in employment. The layoff does make things tricky. But everyone who was laid off can spin it as the company was sold. I wish all those who are gone all the best because you are amazing workers. Pearson is just a dumpster fire!

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Post ID: @1rcs+1lSdamaB

Severance for me was 3 weeks for every completed year at my salary.

Anybody with more than 17 completed years got a max of 52 weeks severance.

As promised, I got my 2022 bonus even though I didn't work the full year. The bonus has never been anything spectacular. We could never figure out how it was computed. Then the taxman took 40%.

Severance for salary is withheld at the highest rate possible and you can't adjust it via W9. The Feds and State take out a LOT of money now. I guess I'll get most of that back next spring.

Pearson pays 80% of the COBRA for the severance period. I have to pay the other 20% out of pocket every month.

They let us have access to RightEverywhere, which is a job search thing run by Manpower. It's a waste of time. You're better off hiring a resume consultant. Or just watch the "A Life After Layoff" guy on YouTube. He's good.

Depending on which part of the company you're with, you'll likely discover that Pearson has been underpaying you compared to the local job market.

I knew I was being underpaid, but I justified it. I can't get into the details why I didn't jump ship earlier.

Since February, there have been a lot of new jobs in my field in my area, and it's just a matter of time before I land one. I don't even bother with remote positions, of which there are many.

Everything I'm applying for and getting interviews on is paying 40% or more than my Pearson job did as W2 and 50% or more as 1099. If I land something at that rate, I am certain I'll be making way more than my previous manager did, or even the director, the people who picked me to go.

Don't worry about not getting a severance package. If you can monkey branch to a new gig outside of Pearson, even for the same dough, then do it.

Getting laid off is a huge mental strain. Even if you're financially secure or are transitioning to retirement, it's a major stress event. It can lead to depression for many, or it can trigger things like shingles in people over 50. I've had my ups and downs, but I have stayed very very busy so far, and that helps. Get out in the sun and go for a walk every day, if you can. Volunteer. Do something productive.

Here's one more thing that helped me:

The Tibetan term bardo, or “intermediate state,” is not just a reference to the afterlife. It also refers more generally to these moments when gaps appear, interrupting the continuity that we otherwise project onto our lives. In American culture, we sometimes refer to this as having the rug pulled out from under us, or feeling ungrounded. These interruptions in our normal sense of certainty are what is being referred to by the term bardo. But to be precise, bardo refers to that state in which we have lost our old reality and it is no longer available to us.

Good luck with your new job!

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Post ID: @fro+1lSdamaB

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