Thread regarding CDW layoffs

I was on Vacation! Not what I wanted to come home to... 20+ years of service and this is how they do me... Zero respect, I used to bleed CDW red.... Now I bleed LAWYER Green $$$$$.... I hope all my customers leave CDW for other resellers. I said what I said! Without me and my co-workers... CDW is doomed..

@a5 Agree we don’t need cr-ppy companies like this, we need to keep the US jobs in the US.

@f6 that's a tax write off.
Do you remember the custom Technoliner that was custom built and on a TV show? That was AFTER the first ever layoffs. Must have been over $1.5M to make and the staff needed to operate and maintain. They kept that for about 10 years until they retired it. Probably in some warehouse somewhere now. Or the F1 racer they sponsored for 4 or 5 years? All tax write offs.

Is there anyone who was let go and under 40?

@a5 Agree

@e5 You're absolutely right: the pace and fluidity of the IT market today are unlike anything we've seen before, and it's putting enormous pressure on even the most established players.

Your point about large VARs struggling to adapt is especially compelling. The traditional models are being challenged by everything from AI disruption to evolving customer expectations around consumption and service delivery. And like you mentioned, some of the most agile growth we’re seeing now is from those highly focused firms led by deep technical minds who are building with clarity around a specific customer problem.

It’s a tough but honest reflection that what once felt like stable ground across our industry is now shifting under everyone’s feet. The challenge—and the opportunity—may lie in rethinking what scale, value, and differentiation truly mean in today’s ecosystem.

Appreciate the insight—conversations like this matter.

@f3 It's not even annual.. this is the second time this year. Quarterly.

@f3 Indeed! How come they are still sponsoring each year RedBull F1 racing Team for around $40 million a year and now the Olympics and they can't keep their people. They must be investigated.

CDW had let this become an annual tradition. This is unacceptable. The repetitive nature of the layoff cycle should be investigated. Layoffs are supposed to be temporary.

@OP meanwhile top execs are posting photos of themselves in India on social media outsourcing the jobs to a cheaper labor market. It used to be a great place to work but they've driven morale into the ground and have zero loyalty to the folks who got them to this point.

@a5 All part of the Evil Globalists.

I don't know why people have any faith in the board. Who do you think is making these decisions? It's working great for them. They're all making money hand over fist while putting long tenured employees on the street.

I am a 20+ year employee, and I have to say that conditions are worsening, but not just at CDW. I know so many former coworkers that left over the years for companies that certainly appeared to be greener pastures (Citrix, VMware, Dell, etc), and immediately experienced similar conditions. I believe the IT market itself, which has always been changing at warp speed, is now so fluid that large VARs really don't know how to adapt. The few I see that are growing organically are ran by former super IT/Software architects, and address a niche market.

Sorry for the layoffs folks. Your next job will be much better. Yes, acquiring Sirius was a terrible decision and has led to a great deal of misery for the company. Not because Sirius was a bad company, but that it was so far from what CDW was: Culturally, go-to-market and customer-wise. Besides getting rid of every high caliber, qualified Sirius executive, which is the CDW way, there was also the most poorly executed integration plan, run by the worst IMO in the history of business. I was at CDW at the time, and in the IMO, “where good careers go to die” was the running joke on the team, and it was ironically true as my CDW career was ended. But at the time, CL was new and wanted to make her mark with something big, so she pushed the deal through despite others warning her against (so i was told). Seems the only people left from Sirius are those who have sunk to the lowest common denominator. Most CEOs would be fired for the waste of 2.5 billion dollars and for what this did to the company culture but the reality is probably the failure has been hidden from the board with fluffy business jargon and a CEO who fits a certain narrative, therefore immune from firing.

@b6 interesting why CDW acquired Sirius in the first place. Since that moved I have only seen that slowly they got rid of every single executive, leader and now employee from Sirius. When I started in Siruis we had multimillion dollar defense contracts for multi year engagements, then when we were moved to CDW, some of this important customers decided to reduced their services. No wonder why this acquisition failed. CDW is not capable of keeping a good culture and keep their customers happy.

Time for a new management. They clearly lack any vision.

Front line sales and a majority of DM's weren't part of the email/news. I had to hear from some FSA's on current projects that that they were let go. About 4PST we get a vague email stating hard decisions had to be made today for the good of CDW. Not sure what's sinking faster moral or sales? The board needs to act swiftly before a previously great company joins DMR mediocrity.

Nothing says mission forward like blindsiding loyal employees over Zoom at 5:30 in the morning... Real classy stuff. And shoutout to the PR team for that expertly vague email. Beautifully crafted to say absolutely nothing while implying it's all totally normal and for your own good.

To everyone impacted, you deserved better than cryptic invites and canned HR scripts. And to those still hanging on: buckle up. You’re now expected to do more with less, smile through it, and pretend your job isn’t hanging by a thread. But hey, at least the shareholders are happy.

Chicago pm team was hit, Manger and couple of Project Managers too. For those of you left good luck, you will need it.

@b6 Quite a few people laid off in what you call Sirius

@OP Have we heard what the impact on CDW Education and Sirius yet?

Any sellers impacted? Or is that tomorrow?

@ak what roles were affected within talent acquisition?

@a4 it sure wasn't from the CEO. It came at 5:30AM as per usual with a cryptic message and at the end it said "if you receive an invitation for an additional conversation today will provide additional details about changes impacting you and the support you will receive through this process. All impacted coworkers in these roles will have time to plan for their next opportunity. We’re committed to providing both time and comprehensive support during this transition"

I was one of the affected coworkers.

@a4 Layoffs have also affected Marketing.

Talent Aquisition was also hit by this reduction in force

@ad Pay kids/newbies fresh out of school less for the same job. EBITA, EBITA, EBITA.

What a Sh!T show CDW has become. Save money but lose good talent.

PMs affected in the security practice. Sirius exVP affected.

It does not make sense that they hired two new supervisors for the PM security practice and they are letting go 20% of them.

PMO lead in the security practice has been one of the worst leads in decades.

@a4 Chris is probably on vacation again.

@a5 There should be a law to ban offshoring, and we should cancel all H1B visas.

So sad.

Entire IT AI team gone which is ironic given how aggressive other firms are in this area.

Just did not want those former Marketing AI experts managing that work. Probably been in the works since the big April 2023 layoffs.

@a3 I hope they will move their business offshore as well. We do not need companies like this in the U.S. Enough of cheap labor! If you cannot produce it here, then move offshore. There should be legislation for this—what % should be allowed to be outsourced.

The email wasn't from the CEO. It's from SVPs from ITS and DV

CDW is saying they will be offshoring many roles!

@a1 you are not wrong, it is unfortunately becoming a regular thing here.

I believe the ITS department is getting hit as they have re-orged quite a bit. Hearing some long time names too. Sad to see so many loyal coworkers getting cut as the rudderless ship continues to flounder in the DMR space.