I was laid off from UP in September of 2015 and received a packet in the fall of 2017 offering a voluntary lump sum payment of my pension or a monthly annuity effective November of 2017. If I chose the lump sum option, then I could have rolled it over to an IRA or a retirement plan in lieu of taking it in cash form.
The amount was laughable and so I never responded. The HR service center ultimately reached out to try and sell me on their wonderful offer. I responded that the railroad already screwed me enough by relocating me to Omaha and then laying me off a few months short of qualifying for railroad retirement. To anyone reading this post who is still employed by UP ... if you do get laid off, don't waste your time on recruiters and don't delay! Update your resume, apply for jobs directly on Indeed, reach out to the Omaha Chamber of Commerce, buy a new suit, and say some prayers. It took me about 5 weeks of applying for dozens of jobs but then I received 4 great offers. I accepted a job that enabled me to move back to where I relocated from and work remotely.
My management team actually cares about me as a person, and our CEO and executive team took voluntary pay cuts and laid off from the top-down this year to help save as many jobs as possible for their 126,000+ employees. I am also performing all aspects of the SDLC process myself and delivering in one month what took 3 IT departments at UP to deliver in a year. Take this as a nudge from God to better yourself by finding a better job at a better company and expanding your skill-set ... because you will.
I read a post on here about calling in on the 13th to avoid the walk of shame. Please! Walk out of there with your shoulders back and head held high! This isn't due to any fault of your own. Chances are high that you are in your 40s or 50s and make too much money because you are a high performer who earned an advanced degree and worked your way up through merit. In other words, you are a worthwhile employee that other employers would be happy to hire. On the other hand, look at the employees that UP has chosen to retain and protect. Liars, cheaters, back-stabbers, adulterers, procrastinators, and those who don't deliver what they promise to deliver. You may need to look outside Omaha, however, as I'm not sure how many more laid-off UP employees the local community can absorb.