The team will obviously ghost you
The manager won't risk anything and he or she will refuse to provide references if asked.
How do you guys solve a problem like this ?
As far as I am concerned I downloaded the last performance review PDF from workdays. That should suffice. I will provide the next employer with that document and with my current manager phone name.
I can't wait for him to say something bad, because the paper says something else.
Remember this isn’t personal and front line management has very little to say about it, they are just given a headcount number by some bean counter.
This su-ks no matter which side of the table you’re sitting on, it just su-ks significantly more on one side than the other. No manager ever enjoys having to have these conversations.
As for references, most managers are only ever to say “this person worked for me from this date to that date and was let go as part of a restructuring”.
Well Cisco asked for them when they hired me and it was not like decades ago.
References haven’t been a thing for several decades. Nobody will give you one.
I don't think my manager would ghost me and I would ask. However, a real key thing to ask is this--
If I were to use you as a reference, what would you say about me as an employee?
This is of course their choice and if they say no, then they say no. Most verifications for employment do not include references and most employers simply verify your title(s) and dates of employment with the company. Most companies will not tell another company if you are rehirable or what your performance was like as this can cause liability issues.