I was laid off last QTR but still keep in touch with friends in Senior management. I was a top performing principal sales consultant in enterprise field sales, so I was quite surprised when I was tapped to be let go. I was in the middle of a cloud POC at a major customer as well.
I was extreemly curious as to what moronic logic was used and I finally found out how it works. Those who were in the know that recently left filled me in. It all goes back to an employee satisfaction survey a few months back. One of tge questions was "are you likely to leave in the next few months?" I answered "no"
Here is the process. I only had 4 years of service, I was over 40 in field sales and not likely to leave by the end of the QTR.
I also learned there is a list of names for the next round, this list was compiled in march of 2017 with no feedback from management.
If your name is on the list there is nothing you can do. Performance reviews mean nothing, deals you are working on regatdless of success mean nothing.
If you are over 40 odds are you are on the list. If your severance package is significant they are trying to get you to leave voluntarily. This means new significant cuts to pay and benifits. It also means no matter what you will be eliminated over the next 3 QTRs.