Thread regarding Paramount Global layoffs

Yeah what happened to the "lists" of 25% of people who could stay remote?

So I guess this post was a load of bullsh-t then.

I love our ceo, he was great in that airplane movie

@1y0 I don't think anyone really knows anything ;)

Does anyone know anything about international offices and if they will follow the same structure?

@x7 yeah but mandating to RTO when an office is not near by is effectively getting laid off. I just want this uncertainty to end so I can concentrate on doing work. Saying RTO is to increase productivity is disingenuous at best and a flat out lie at worst.

@wr They wont let them go. They will just mandate they move closer to an office or take the package.

@w5 Yes, I have three high performers who are domestic and not near an office at all. If we let them go in April, we are in an insanely tough spot.

My VP has not said a thing either.

@v5 do you have people on your larger team that are domestic and not near an office? If you do, and nobody talked to you yet your manager must have done it for you as they are more senior.

I'm in management. Nobody has told me anything about Phase 2. No emails, no talk of it at all.

@jn Just work from home . Dont tell anything unless asked

So how is everyone getting away with staying home on Fridays? Place is a ghost town. Cafeteria is 10% of what it is during the week. Neighbors on my floor arent in. What excuses are they giving?

@hr Thank you, we only know that Phase II for International is going to happen (at the moment we're still hybrid/remote), and the only officially confirmed information we’ve received from our managers is that RTO won’t happen in Q1. Beyond that, we haven’t been told anything, and the uncertainty is really difficult.

@hs thank you, so they will send out the Phase 2 email in Mid-April and managers will say if you received an exception at the same time?

Is it still just 2 weeks pay per year of employment rounded down?

Update: Apparently I got it wrong…Severance will still be given in April but you have UNTIL the end of April to accept/deny the package (2 week turnaround) I was under the impression that you have until July to make your choice.

This is even more critically short of a timeline and somewhat the same as Phase I

Hopefully you this helps you decide your next moves sooner. Have a good weekend and stay strong!

@gz I never got confirmation if that was the case but I will double check and update this thread here but I gotta be honest, why haven’t your managers confirmed the existence of Phase II?

This is a big deal that will upend our daily workflows for the reminder of the year.

I hope everyone here is told sooner rather than later

Thank you @OP! Any idea if this applies to international offices as well?

Layoff bloodbath happens before any of this RTO phase 2 nonsense

@dp I should have told my boss I live in Jersey. They have been remote every day for weeks because of the train construction. Pity the poor people from Jersey that have to sit in traffic. Wah.

@dm Remote needs to feel the pain for the rest of the workforce to stay compliant with RTO. If they let most of the remote staff stay remote, the RTO folks will be doing hybrid 2-3 days a week and big brother wont do a thing about it.

@dm because they are a troll providing nothing. “ReMEeMbER my pOsT” that has no info other than what is commonly known about an April announcement.

@dk this is less than useful, you’ve given no details whatsoever and dismissed the only post that has provided info in months. When will it be announced broadly? Why would we be happier - better severance, more exceptions?

There is no way only a handful of people know about a massive RTO/severance plan weeks out.

@dg Sorry, I cannot. Only a handful of people know, and I am not risking my job. Just wait and see, and remember my post.

@dg they don’t know anything

@db please just say what the actual plan is then, being this vague isn’t helpful.

@OP WARNING THE ORIGINAL POST IS 100% false. They are providing the original Phase 2 RTO plan, but it has changed significantly in the last few weeks. I am shocked anyone in management would provide this false information. You will know by mid-April and maybe earlier. Remember my post. You will be happy.

@bh Itll probably be like phase 1. You had around 2 months or so left after you took the package. So my guess is decision needs to be made by July and last day would be Sept 1st.

@bh darn if i had quit 2 months later i would have had a severance package :(

Basically, people would have to accept the severance offer by July, and their last week of work would be the end of July, is my assumption

I just know the months when these things are happening, not the actual numerical dates

I lead a dozen people and no one has told me about details for phase 2 even though many of them are far from offices. Seems like inconsistent comms which is not a good sign.

@ap pretty sure that has nothing to do with it. I’ve heard September for a few months now

My manager stated that no one near (whatever that means) an office is eligible for an exemption. Only people no where near one. I also hear they will be opening some satellite offices where there is high remote employee concentration, so those locations also won’t be eligible for exemptions

@OP can you clarify what "July must accept severance or not" means? it sounds like even if you accept the package right away, you're still expected to stay until july? i don't quite remember what happened for phase 1 people.

I'm on the CBS Streaming side and our superior said this was company wide. The notice is appreciated as people need to figure out if they have to start moving or not.

As of now, my superior will be, weirdly enough, interviewing people to see if their situation is worthy of staying permanently remote or not. But this is a formality as the decision was already made weeks ago aka "the list" all managers had to provide to leadership regarding people that should stay remote or not.

Think of these special people staying remote as the bottom pieces of a Jenga set... if you remove them the whole Jenga pyramid falls apart aka a lead developer, for example

@az Someone said it was 25% of current remote can stay remote so its probably more than .05% Although I think it will be mainly tech. Someone in the threads said 60% of network and tech is remote. Ill bet 50% of them are able to stay remote.
Im sure there wont be anything "fair" about the process.

@at if you haven’t be asked or given any details your boss must have done it for your team. The odds for an exception are like .05%.

Ha those packages better be "generous" to move to NYC or LA. Imagine, you live in the sticks out in Georgia or Tennessee and get offered a package to move to the belly of the tax beast in socialist NYC and NJ with 1/10th of the property you had in a rural or lower taxed area.
Good luck with that.

Other threads have referenced an “exemption list.” Does anyone know the criteria for this? Certain level/title? If I haven't been given the opportunity to designate any of my remote employees as exceptions, should I assume this option won't be made available to me at this point?

september is when they need to close the WBD deal by unless they want a per share fee added on..

Thank you! Did an Executive relay what was told early? Seems odd they’d announce w/o having the severance offer ready.

Any indications on when the wider announcement will be and what severance will look like?