#layoffs

As it turns out, that career path was just a revolving door disguised as opportunity. You blink, and the next round of layoffs wipes out another crew. It’s too bad we all bought into the stability myth. All of us should’ve seen the writing on the wall much sooner.

I know people who were laid off from other companies more than six months ago who are still looking for a job. Is the money that will be given to laid off employees really going to be enough to cover such long periods of unemployment? And on that note, does anybody know if you can get unemployment along with severance?

Seems Senior Management is in office this week. Have any departments been advised of their last day yet?

Morale is in the toilet, it takes teams 10x as long to build anything meaningful in tech. No good requirements from business to even build anything. We continue to invest in things that are failing or aren't even thought through. It's just been a bunch of 32 plus managers trying to meet their goals to get big bonuses by being yes men and not innovating anything, laying people off to pretend to have profitability. Now we are seeing the fallout from these decisions. Optum used to be a company I was proud to say I worked for. But I have little faith, even my own manager is having a hard time getting us motivated. Fear will only motivate the masses for so long. Then people stop caring. The Indians are not gonna put up with this either, Optum is one of the lower paying employers in India too and they all know it. What IS the long term plan guys? Do you all think past the next earnings report? Because these decisions are not made by a company who is seeking long term financial gains. Good strong companies treat their employees like gold, not trash. The job market will change, the Indians will go to Humana or some other healthcare company that treats them with respect, and the Americans will be done with you. My advice? Invest in your long term employees. Especially considering that many of us have so much domain expertise that will put your systems in harm's way if you lose us.

Has anyone consulted legal counsel regarding their recent layoff? Recommendations?

680 job applications later and only 15 interviews in 6 months ( yes the job market is horrible) I finally was offered a job. I strongly recommend if you are still there to be looking as it can take longer than 6 months right now.

Oh and it's 40k more than I was getting at Cargill who said how competitive they were.

Ha

Has anyone else heard that rumor from Oregon about more layoffs coming in mid-November? I’m trying to figure out if there’s any truth to it. The only thing I’ve actually heard from people I work with is that some teams are merging and a few folks are being moved around. That could easily explain some of the chatter.

So when I saw a Reddit thread claiming that a supervisor told a tech “more layoffs are coming,” I wasn’t sure how much weight to give it. There’s been so much speculation lately that it’s hard to tell what’s legit and what’s just people trying to fill in the blanks. Has anyone heard anything?

Using only my reasoning capabilities based on the scenario described—a company hiring a CEO with a track record of selling off companies, followed by mass layoffs and a company-wide voluntary layoff—it is a strong indication that the company may be preparing for a significant reduction in size, restructuring, or even an exit strategy through a sale or winding down of operations.

Here is a breakdown of why these actions collectively suggest an exit or major strategic shift:

## 1. CEO with a Track Record of Selling Companies
Hiring a CEO known for divesting or selling companies (often referred to as a "turnaround" or "special situations" CEO) suggests the board or ownership has a specific mandate:

• Preparation for Sale: The CEO's expertise might be used to make the company more attractive and "lean" for potential buyers.
• Divestiture of Assets: They might be brought in to sell off non-core or underperforming parts of the business.
• Maximizing Short-Term Value: Their focus is often on streamlining operations and finances to maximize shareholder return in a shorter timeframe, often leading to an eventual sale.

## 2. Mass Layoffs and Voluntary Layoffs
Layoffs are a key tool for cost reduction and operational streamlining, but the combination described is particularly telling:

• Mass Layoffs (Involuntary): This is a quick way to drastically cut the largest operational expense (salaries and benefits). It signals a severe need for cost savings and often a reduced scope of future operations.
• Voluntary Layoffs (Buyouts/Early Retirement): This is a softer, but still expensive, way to further reduce headcount and often targets long-tenured, higher-salaried employees. It confirms the company needs to shed staff beyond what the initial mass layoffs achieved.

## Conclusion
While the company's stated goal might be "restructuring" or "achieving profitability," the pattern of actions—bringing in a specialized CEO and implementing aggressive, two-phased workforce reductions—is a textbook sign of a company significantly shrinking its footprint or actively moving toward an acquisition or complete exit from the market as an independent entity.

It is less about mere optimization and more about surgical preparation for a change in ownership or a drastic simplification of the business structure.

You're identifying a pattern that often does signal a wind-down or exit strategy. Let me think through what these elements typically indicate:

CEO with M&A/divestiture background - When boards bring in executives known for selling companies or business units, it's usually deliberate. They're hiring for a specific skill set.

Mass layoffs followed by voluntary programs - This sequence is particularly telling. Aggressive cost-cutting followed by voluntary programs suggests they're trying to get as lean as possible, often to make the company more attractive for sale or to preserve whatever cash remains.

The combination - When you see these together, it often means:

• Preparing for sale (buyer wants low cost structure)
• Maximizing short-term profitability before exit
• Managing decline while extracting remaining value
• Positioning for bankruptcy/restructuring

However, there are some scenarios where this isn't an exit:

• Severe turnaround attempts (though success rates are low)
• Private equity "right-sizing" before trying to grow again
• Desperate survival mode with no clear plan

But you're right to be skeptical. The pattern you're describing - especially the CEO's background combined with aggressive workforce reductions - is textbook pre-sale or wind-down behavior. Companies in genuine growth or innovation mode don't typically hire "sell-off specialists" and then hollow out their workforce.

The voluntary layoff following mandatory ones is particularly concerning. That often means either the first cuts weren't enough, or they're trying to reduce severance costs by encouraging people to leave on their own terms.

Is this hitting close to home for you or someone you know?

I wouldn't necessarily agree that such actions definitively mean a company is "exiting" (e.g., being sold off, liquidated, or shutting down entirely), but they do often signal a strategic pivot toward some form of exit or major restructuring. Let me break down my reasoning step by step, based on common business patterns I've observed in corporate turnarounds and private equity plays.

### 1. Hiring a CEO with a Track Record of Selling Companies

• CEOs like this are frequently brought in as "turnaround specialists" or "exit architects." Their expertise lies in optimizing a business for acquisition, merger, or IPO rather than long-term organic growth. For instance, they might focus on short-term value extraction, such as divesting non-core assets, streamlining operations, or improving profitability metrics to appeal to buyers.
• This doesn't always lead to an immediate exit—it could be part of a genuine effort to stabilize a struggling company. However, in mature or distressed firms (e.g., in tech, telecom, or manufacturing sectors), it's a red flag for potential sale. Private equity firms or activist investors often install such leaders precisely because their playbook involves preparing for a flip.

### 2. Mass Layoffs Followed by Voluntary Layoffs

• Mass layoffs are typically cost-cutting measures to reduce burn rate, improve margins, and make the company leaner. In the context of a new CEO with an exit-oriented background, this can be about "rightsizing" the workforce to boost EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), which is a key metric buyers scrutinize.
• Voluntary layoffs (often called voluntary separation or buyout programs) are a softer approach: offering severance, benefits continuation, or incentives to encourage employees to leave. This minimizes legal risks, preserves morale among remaining staff, and achieves headcount reduction without the optics of forced terminations. It's common in pre-sale cleanups because it sheds "excess" personnel while avoiding wrongful termination lawsuits.
• Together, these steps can indicate distress (e.g., cash flow issues or declining market share) but also deliberate preparation for an exit. By lowering ongoing expenses, the company becomes more attractive to acquirers who want a plug-and-play operation without immediate overhaul costs.

### 3. Does This Always Mean an Exit?

• Not necessarily. Some companies use this playbook for survival and rebirth. For example, a firm might hire such a CEO to execute a "Chapter 11-style" restructuring (even outside bankruptcy) to emerge stronger and independent. Layoffs could be part of adapting to market shifts, like automation or economic downturns, without any sale in mind.
• But often, yes—it leans toward exit. In many cases, especially with private equity-backed companies, this sequence is a precursor to a sale. The CEO's track record acts as a signal to investors and potential buyers that the company is in "harvest mode." Historical examples (without naming specifics) include telecom or software firms where similar patterns preceded acquisitions by larger players or asset stripping.
• Key factors influencing the outcome:
  • Company stage: Mature companies with legacy products are more likely to be exiting via sale than startups.
  • Market conditions: In a buyer's market (e.g., during economic booms), this setup facilitates quick flips. In recessions, it might just be belt-tightening.
  • Board/investor dynamics: If the board includes PE firms or activists pushing for returns, an exit is probable.

In summary, while I don't fully agree it's a guaranteed exit—business is full of exceptions—these moves collectively suggest a high likelihood of positioning for one. It's a pragmatic strategy to maximize value before handing over the keys, rather than a death knell. If this is about a hypothetical scenario, watching for further signs like asset sales or debt refinancing would clarify intent.

The next round of the Layoff Lottery will be happening within the first couple weeks of November. I wonder who will be left standing, and who will regret not taking the Voluntary Layoffs.

BNY Mellon employees are voicing deep concerns about layoffs, offshoring, and leadership transparency. Sentiment ranges from frustration and distrust to resignation and strategic exit planning.

Below are current results of the Top 15 employee concerns, associated employee sentiments and reactions to leadership responses. These are actual results (with a hint of humor) based on current internet discussions and reports from multiple sources.

Top 15 Concerns & Sentiment Breakdown:

1. Offshoring to Pune, India
   📉 Employee Sentiment: Betrayal, anxiety, and the creeping suspicion that their job just got a one-way ticket to another time zone. Frustration, betrayal, fear of redundancy.
   🎩 Leadership Perception: “Global talent optimization.” Translation: cheaper labor, dismissive of U.S. talent, fewer complaints, and better PowerPoint formatting. Cost-driven, efficiency-focused; perceived as dismissive of U.S. talent.

2. Forced Ranking & Performance-Based Exits
   📉 Employee Sentiment: Hunger Games meets HR. Everyone’s a “low performer” eventually. Anxiety, distrust in fairness.
   🎩 Leadership Perception: “Driving a high-performance culture.” Also, a great way to trim headcount without calling it a layoff. Justified as "performance culture"; seen as opaque and arbitrary.

3. Closure of Wilmington & Other U.S. Sites
   📉 Employee Sentiment: Shock, grief, and a sudden interest in Zillow listings in Delaware. Anger, helplessness, lack of relocation support.
   🎩 Leadership Perception: “Strategic footprint realignment.” Bonus points for announcing it via Teams chat at 4:59 PM on a Friday. Framed as strategic consolidation; perceived as abrupt and lacking empathy.

4. AI-Driven Role Elimination
   📉 Employee Sentiment: “I trained the bot that replaced me.” Skepticism, fear of being replaced.
   🎩 Leadership Perception: “Innovation at scale.” Also, the AI doesn’t ask for raises or take mental health days. Promoted as innovation; seen as lacking in human impact planning.

5. Unequal Salary Increases
   📉 Employee Sentiment: Analysts got a 20% bump. VPs got a “thank you” and a free meditation app. Frustration, betrayal, perceived favoritism.
   🎩 Leadership Perception: “Market-aligned compensation strategy.” Also, “We’ll circle back on that.” Leadership disconnected from frontline realities.

6. Lack of Transparency in Layoff Criteria
   📉 Employee Sentiment: Rumors, paranoia, and Teams channels named 'Who’s-Next. Distrust, rumors, emotional exhaustion.
   🎩 Leadership Perception: “We can’t comment on individual cases.” Also, “Please refer to the FAQ we updated 3 minutes ago.” Avoids specifics; messaging seen as evasive and legally sanitized.

7. Decline of Pittsburgh as a Growth Hub
   📉 Employee Sentiment: Nostalgia, resentment, and a sudden uptick in LinkedIn activity. Disappointment, strategic exit planning.
   🎩 Leadership Perception: “Decentralized innovation.” Also, “We’re excited about our 3 strategic growth centers and lower cost, consolidated real estate holdings.” Quietly deprioritized; perceived as abandoning legacy locations.

8. Severance Inconsistencies & Unemployment Eligibility
   📉 Employee Sentiment: Confused, lawyer-curious, and Googling “constructive dismissal.” Confusion, fear of financial instability.
   🎩 Leadership Perception: “We’re following all applicable laws.” Also, “We appreciate your service.” Legally cautious; seen as ethically indifferent and inconsistent.

9. Culture of Waiting for Retirement or the Next Cut
   📉 Employee Sentiment: Zombie mode. Badge in, badge out. Resignation, disengagement.
   🎩 Leadership Perception: “Voluntary attrition is a natural part of transformation.” Also, “We’re building a future-ready workforce.” Not directly addressed; perceived as passive acceptance of attrition.

10. Global Workforce Imbalance & Morale
    📉 Employee Sentiment: U.S. teams feel ghosted. Offshore teams feel ghostwritten. Fractured teams, resentment across regions.
    🎩 Leadership Perception: “One global team.” Except some teams are more 'global' than others. Framed as global optimization; seen as favoring offshore growth over U.S. retention.

11. Leadership Communication Style
    📉 Employee Sentiment: Corporate Mad Libs with a side of gaslighting. Cynicism, fatigue.
    🎩 Leadership Perception: “Transparent and empathetic.” Also, “We’re listening.” (But only to shareholder sentiment, not you.) Polished but vague; perceived as disconnected and overly scripted.

12. Strategic Ambiguity in Transformation Plans
    📉 Employee Sentiment: “What are we transforming into, exactly?” Confusion, lack of trust.
    🎩 Leadership Perception: “Agile, resilient, and future-focused.” Also, “That's a broken sprint and we may pick that up in our 2026 PI-3 planning.” Buzz-word heavy; seen as lacking clear direction or accountability.

13. Declining Internal Mobility
    📉 Employee Sentiment: “Apply internally” = “Apply to be ignored.” Hopelessness, stagnation.
    🎩 Leadership Perception: “We encourage career growth.” Just not here. Or now. Or for you. Not prioritized; perceived as undermining career development.

14. Performative Wellness Initiatives
    📉 Employee Sentiment: “I lost my job, but at least I got a free access to Spring Health's mindfulness self-help app.” Eye-rolling, sarcasm.
    🎩 Leadership Perception: “We care deeply about your well-being.” Especially when it doesn’t cost anything. Promoted heavily; viewed as superficial and misaligned with actual stressors.

15. Erosion of Institutional Loyalty
    📉 Employee Sentiment: “I used to bleed for BNY Mellon. Now I just bleed.” Exit planning, emotional detachment.
    🎩 Leadership Perception: “We’re evolving our culture.” Into what, no one knows. Possibly a chatbot. Not acknowledged; perceived as collateral damage of transformation strategy.

Summary Themes:

• Strategic Distrust: Employees feel decisions are driven by cost-cutting, not stewardship.
• Emotional Fatigue: Layoff cycles and vague transformation language have worn down morale.
• Leadership Disconnect: Senior leaders are viewed as detached, evasive, and overly polished.
• Exit Momentum: Younger and mid-career professionals are actively seeking roles elsewhere.

In summary, BNY Mellon's transformation strategy is widely perceived by employees as a cost-cutting campaign disguised in corporate jargon, marked by offshoring, opaque layoffs, and performative wellness. Leadership is seen as detached and scripted, while morale erodes under forced rankings, AI-driven exits, and strategic ambiguity.

What do you think? Please share in the comments.

I'm kind of thinking it happens soon. Oracle is laid off so many talented smart people, they've terrified the remaining people with talk about how AI is going to replace them or they're going to get laid off, and they're driving away any kind of decent talent from ever applying...

it turns out being a greedy psychopath a--hole id--t is really expensive

Molson Coors Beverage Company will eliminate around 400 salaried positions across its Americas business unit by the end of December, the company announced today in a Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

https://www.brewbound.com/news/molson-coors-to-eliminate-400-jobs-by-end-of-december

It looks like Mike is throwing everything at tanking results so he can have easier numbers to beat in 2026. He can blame Frank and Bob for everything in 2025. That is why the Board should of never brought in an outsider. Guy or Bob Hau should of been Frank's successor for exactly this reason. Meanwhile, shareholders are left holding the bag. Doyle and the Board should all be replaced. The only job of the Board is to get succession right and this is a F-!!

We’ve all been running ourselves into the ground here. No one can keep doing the work of two or three people forever.

As an OI worker nobody has really said or heard anything at least in my little corner, albeit my team has never had layoff whispers or issues since I've been here, so now I'm really curious since OI has been mentioned a lot here.

Isn't OI quite a big sector? What kind of roles are we talking here?

Trying to figure out what to do and what to focus on. Thank you.

good luck folks!

what wonders private equity does for a company. the IPO is a failure will employees be let go?

Just waiting to get laid off what are you guys doing?

Quality appears to be suffering. Non-production level code is shipping.

Was QA and testing replaced with Copilot?

https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/20/microsoft_bug_keyboard_mouse/

Comcast has a cyber attack today. All 6 petabytes of minio data was deleted. People are checking if it was retaliation for the divisions layoffs.

Looks like rumors were true all those people will be laid off.

https://www.advisorhub.com/exclusive-stifel-to-sell-indie-brokerage-unit-to-equitable-advisors/

I am thinking that all functions will be outsourced except those that are required to keep the network running and some bean counters. Eliminate overhead by eliminating headcount, make all stores reseller locations, no inventory carrying costs (already in progress), shut down real estate, outsource wireline techs, eliminate internals sales and offer a commission based structure to external companies selling on our network. Oh, and free up billions by not being involved in Formula 1, which is only around because Lowell liked race cars and execs like the VIP treatment at races around the world.

This is not going to be a regular rearrangement of deck chairs, something big is coming and I imagine it is not specific to VZ. Other Telco's will need to do the same thing as the wireless bo-m is over and our industry is now nothing more than people jumping from provider to provider to get free phones when their contract is up.

Over the last year MMC has slowly hired on numerous offshore positions and brought people over on H1B visas to pay them lower wages. Now they are laying off a large number of IT employees.

The company is likely going to face serious financial turmoil over the next several years.

I am from legacy tsys which global payments ripped apart after acquiring and got rid of alot of americans to give the jobs offshore. This company is about to take over tsys issuing which global payments su-ked dry and is now dumping. From reading these threads, I now have little hope for my friends who are there. They are all hoping the transitions would be positive.

So layoffs will be next week now? I had heard it was going to be this week, probably Tuesday. I just want this nightmare to be over.

Hey Y’all. Recently laid off employee here. I would recommend hopping on LinkedIn and connecting with as many people as you can. I’m in a job program and they weren’t happy with my 89 connections, they wanted me to have more. Even if all you Target peeps don’t know each other, connect anyway, we need all the help we can get.

Does anyone have the details of when the next round of the co-location strategy layoffs or relocation offers will occur?
Particularly if you are the only one on your team at a site but it is a hub. Thanks

To drive down salaries and increase work hours to 12 hours- Nasscom members resorting to layoffs to force Indian Government to accept exploitative employment practices.
No amount of union activism will help. Selective boycott of top companies by Tech pros - will only work.
Done apply to top 5 IT services firms. Avoid joining and recommending. Staff should refrain from referring new folks.
Spread the work among college grads that IT is not good track any more

Anyone aware of any layoffs in CB? Shaking rn

Massive layoffs about a week prior to Thanksgiving.

Bucket 1 — Already, approximately 35% of health insurance and technology worker’s jobs have been transferred from Americans to non-American workers (e.g., H-1B Visa, Offshored).

Bucket 2 — By end of 2026, AI (artificial intelligence) will replace 45% of the Human workforce, eliminating their life sustaining employment.

The big question, where does that leave you, if you do not belong to one of those two buckets?

Yes, this keeps getting repeated over and over but it is very important persons realize what is going on in our very own country and the repercussions it will have on unemployment and our way of life BEFORE it is too late.

To make a difference, consider writing your Congressman and tell them that you are for American (human) employment. And ask them, “are they?!”

Anybody know of any layoffs Friday? Large scale or individual.

Another big beautiful LR is in the works?!!?? HR is singing their happy songs and internal leadership is buzzing with excitement as they get to destroy more lives just in time for the holidays! Oh happy happy joy joy, but when will Chuck Robbins and his gang of merry Indian H1-B Visa dwarfs get the axe? Instead they get big bonuses and promotions. While American citizens get stomped on again by Cisco.

Penny brought Hoda Kotb in to speak at a conference for six figures while she is laying people off, demoting people, and sending American jobs to India. Where are Penny's priorities? Penny is managing partner to make sure the work gets done. Penny is supposed to be a steward of Edward Jones' assets. How is spending six figures to bring in Hoda Kotb being a good steward of Edward Jones' assets? I am a partner at Edward Jones. She is using our capital to bring these people in. Penny is wasting money while cutting good people who were doing the job needed. Now she is laying people off knowing full well the people left over cannot properly absorb the work of everyone who has been laid off. All Hoda Kotb said was word salad like she said on the Today Show for years. Hoda is fine, she just does not give any insightful points that is relatable to business at Edward Jones. Hoda's "jewel" was "Do not hog your journey....share it with others." Six figures for that pearl of wisdom? How does that inspire a smaller work force to do more work due to Penny's poor leadership decisions of slashing jobs and punishing the survivors to do more work for less money?

I have noticed that paying for the balance of remaining days off is something that they do not like
If you remember there was a strange shutdown in the middle of the year that they forced on us before doing that monster LR like an year ago.

It is highly probable that they will again do it in Jan/Fen and not in Nov.
Any thoughts ?