How do the decide who's laid off?

So how do they decide who is laid off vs who stays? I was laid off a couple of years ago (and then came back to a different role, lower pay grade) and there were 2 of us laid off from our team of 5 - I was 48, she was in her 50's; I'd been with the company 17 years, she'd been there 9 years (1 team member that stayed was older than her, the other 2 were in their 40's but younger than me but all had been there at least 7, with 2 of them 20).

With yesterday's layoffs, there were 25 HDP pharmacists let go. I've only gotten 5 names, but of those 5 all of them are in their 50's and closer to retirement than not. 1 of them has been with the company 10 years, the others all at over 18 years.

So are they trying to get rid of older people and/or those with tenure?? And if so, isn't that ageism?

#Ageism #Attrition #EmployeeRelations #Layoff #WorkforceReduction

Comment! It's anonymous!

10 replies (most recent on top)

When I was RIFd everyone on the list was 50+. The one person who stayed was 39.

in IT and was told by my offshore leadership that 28, 29 and 30 levels are being reviewed to go offshore. next two levels appear slotted for h1-bs. i don't care if i'm let go tbh, but feel totally taken in that our gov't allows american healthcare jobs and data to be sent overseas while our costs and denials continue to rise.

Wages an ages. You cost them more in medical benefits as you age. They publish the list of ages because they know exactly the mix, male/female, young/old to keep it legal.

age is NOT a factor but unfortunately, most of those higher in age make higher in wage. When you are told you have to cut $1 mil plus in salaries, wage is always the factor. Also shows who is underpaid based on who was saved. Mostly women

They definitely have a list with the employees ages next to them. Unfortunately I saw it first hand. I don’t know how it’s legal but age appears to be a factor.

Best looking to least best looking!

It is 100% a numbers game. They're looking at salaries saved and nothing else.

The other poster is right. They want to rid higher salaries.

I'd say Yes but when they are focused on ridding themselves of larger salaries those can be mainly associated with tenure and age. RIF'ed earlier this year and I'm 57 and had been with the company for 16 years. I knew it eventually was coming since the last couple of years my manager was making sure there were others that knew how to do what I focused on. The rest of my small team was younger. The others that were let go at the same time that I knew were at least over 45 and had been with the company on average over 10 years.

@OP They send a list of the ages of those laid off to "prove" it's a mix. I'm in my mid-50s and was with Optum for 15+ years when my position was RIFed.

Thread regarding Optum layoffs

How do the decide who's laid off?

10 replies (most recent on top)

Post a reply