I think they are counting on a lot of people in their 30s and 40s to see the writing on the wall and to intensely job hunt and find new jobs. That will count for their hopes for attrition and will be part of the 3200 jobs they want to get rid of by 2020. They also hope that a lot of people will move up their retirement dates and not wait for the humiliation of being canned even though it means a severance package
Think that the OP ( @WTkaah2-4rps ) is right about this. Decided to repost this.
I think they are also counting on people in their 50s and 60s leaving.
You only have a non compete if you signed one.
Still, ignore it if you do, it won't be enforced.
You almost certainly do have a non compete. It is standard. I also know a lot of people that have left to competitors, I haven't ever seen it enforced, which makes it stupid to maintain since it just stops some people from getting certain jobs at places which care about such things.
How do I know if I have a non-compete clause? I probably don’t as I have co-workers who moved to competing firms.
Great point on the non competes. Unless you get 12 months of severance (only VPs and 20+ year employees get this) you are basically unemployable and unpaid for one year. I’ve been applying for jobs recently and every company in the industry asks if you have a non compete. You have to disclose that you do, even if it is unenforceable. This basically disqualifies your application. So, TR is stuck with me (working half a-- and unmotivated) until I find a suitable job outside of the industry. This s---s big time.
If that is the strategy, they should do a general release of people from non compete agreements, only keeping them in place for the few where it makes sense. I know instances where that has kept people from moving on, people that TR would be happy to have leave without severance.
Sadly, I agree with you.
I completely agree with you. I will never submit my retirement papers and will wait for the large severance package. I do know of several managers who had already submitted their retirement papers a few months before this happened and one of them told me privately that he’s kicking himself for not waiting. I do agree with the author though that management is hoping that a lot of people who are still relatively young will get the message and leave on their own so they do not have to pay them any severance.
"not wait for the humiliation of being canned even though it means a severance package"
These severance packages can be in the six figure range, especially if you factor in the bonus that gets paid at 100% (when was the last time that happened?). I'll eat a lot of humble pie for that kind of money. But it doesn't have to be humiliating at all, really.
In my case, my boss called me to a non descript meeting on a random floor that was being remodeled (that's how you know what the meeting is about). So, I went to that meeting with everything I wanted to take home for good. Didn't sign anything right there, had a lawyer review it, then signed. I stayed on for a couple weeks, transferred some knowledge, tied up loose ends, and said goodbye to people I'd known for years. All in all, a quiet peaceful death, so to speak. I had a good time there, learned a ton, and met some really great people...a lot of whom left before I did.
15 years ago, there was a vision about what Thomson was going to become. Looks like The Family's had a change of heart; the world changed faster than they could realize that vision. I expect the rest of the enterprise to be spun off by 2022.