We just had a massive layoff and I'm one of the lucky ones who survived it. I'm not sure how good it was to survive this RIF exactly, because this place is just not pleasing but I still have a job. I can't help but feel massively saddened by it all. I don't define myself by work because I practice the doctrine of work to live, not live to work, but still it feels like a heavy and piercing chest wound. Especially since I was one of the coworkers that helped in the planning for the actual layoffs. We knew months in advance and maybe I will feel better unloading my guilt on this website . I'm beholden to all of you to share the truth to those that are no longer with us. Here we go you all. First, I DID know and helped craft the plan on these RIFs with my direct report and I am immensely sorry to all of you. I feel especially guilty even if this wasn't my first time I was involved in a reduction of force. This project was emotionally disturbing & draining because it was constructed with so little concern for our coworkers. It was if we were in zombie land with everyone going through the motions without any regard to our coworkers and their families. Please don't blame our CEO. She is a pleasant person that is making a mistake in trusting in her old friends. When she the led the legal office, it was a different law crew. When she was their direct report, the team aimed to do things the CDW way and they were totally transparent. The legal coworkers now play follow their leader and they cast descency to the wind. They stick their nose in every other function with a phony bologny smile & soft voice all while acting like company gods. The accepted idea to have us use up our vacation in advance to avoid paying our coworkers' vacation pay owed to them during the layoffs is just one example of what the legal group here okayed but there are other such examples. Another instance is what we heard from a Gsoc leader. When we had a breech that exposed customers' data he gave counsel that we should notify those that were victims and he said he was silenced in a meeting by an executive he thought was trustworthy who told them to hide it and hush. Tom and John would have never condoned that if they were in the big chair. Finally the names of many who were gonna be part of this RIF were leaked to coworkers . How and why? A coworker called me to ask if it was true that he was on a list to be let go and I told him it didn't exist. Nauseating! The guilt is real & I deserved to be as sick to my stomach after I fibbed. I'm filled with regret & ask for your pardon.
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@OP+1vnxrC32 thank you for confirming what enough of us who were laid-off knew.
As for Chris Leahy, it is not nice to sell stock while you plan a layoff. She is looking out for herself. If she is that great of a CEO she can take an example from CEO's who take a pay cut and line-out their exec leadership.
Frankly all the CDW c-suite who has automatic sells and sells prior to layoffs have positioned themselves to benefit first without regard to those who actually need jobs to feed their families, pay for medical and other life essentials.
Chris Leahy sold most of her stock, she is set for the rest of her life. Sona Chawla and Chris Corely also dumped much of their stock knowing fully well they are benefiting from forecasting information within the company. They know CDW is not likely to recover at all.
@dzlq+1vnxrC32 the post is not 'sketch'...the OP is correct. The method used is a part of FIFO and LIFO. FIFO is the tenured people who likely have greater pay and the LIFO people are those with the shortest employment. Just search layoff + lifo fifo. Then there are the people with or without tenure who's job are consolidated by someone junior to them.
Yes, same applies with coworkers that aren't in sales and make more money. Admins, managers, warehouse, office jobs, or in IT or any other job. They make more and can be replaced by employees making less money. That is where unions come in. They protect fairness.
Sports is a perfect example prior poster. Perfect but the corporate world does it more. Same with getting rid of a good coworker and keeping another and having the position not be replaced and spreading the work out amongst many and not back fill it. You have saved a position and benefits of a "highly compensated employee" and now move forward without it and everyone else picks up the slack. Wake up team members before it is too late. The next wave is coming. Protect your families. They depend on you.
The coworker that thinks it is sketch must be young and new to corporate America. Those that have biggest sales accomplishments make more so letting them go and bringing in a new person for half the cost who you don't have to keep paying a larger salary and commissions is something many sales organizations have been doing. Sh-t, look at sports, sometimes you get rid of the star player in their prime to rebuild for the future and save money and hope a younger person can do the same for less. It is business. And sometimes, they think "new blood" will help. So you let them go and keep some to create balance and the underperformers because they su-k. It isn't sketch. It is business young person. I have done it at other companies to my teams.
This post is sketch. Why would you post something like this? Also feel like you’re leaving us hangin… give us the reason why tenured reps were let go. Those who were performing.
Based on all the posts I saw on LinkedIn and how it was tenured vets to folks there for just a couple of years, I was Hella confused. But based on myself, having had no performance issues the entirety of my tenure, me and mine speculated that I was making too much money. Good to know that we weren't totally off base with those thoughts. To whomever provided that clarification, thank you. Truly. It helps stop some of the spiral.
I heard that the higher performers and the coworkers that were with the company the longest make the most in salary and bonus - medical costs and can be substituted by less expensive coworkers or new hires. They discussed consolidating two jobs into one where possible or moving their tasks amongst the remaining coworkers and not replacing the roles. Their are discussions of jobs being outsourced to countrys like India. Their were coworkers sprinkled in with performance history but not enough to terminate them at the time. You would know if you were one of those coworkers if you had a history of being counselled. Their were also newer coworkers placed on the project list. Their are Managers and Directors that were let go the last two weeks. Their were discussions of our distribution centers converting to robots and technology do the work of most of the coworkers. They called it auto-motion and said many companies have it with accelerated margins. They fear that coworkers in VH and LV will hear about the meetings and unionize and derail it before it is wrapped up. We on the inside do feel guilt. We lost good friends as part of this . None of you did anything wrong. Its what our EL is doing to elevate profits and executive wealth.
None of this means anything if you’re not willing to tell us all the WHY? Why were certain high-performing individuals targeted?
Why were folks with 10/20/30 years let go after eating/sleeping/breathing “The CDW Way” bullsh-t tagline for so long? Why does leadership feel they can let go of such talented coworkers without giving them a reason?
The cowardice of the executive team all the way down to manager level is mind-blowing. Give people THE EXACT reasons why they were let go. Anything less than that is just plain cruel, and I know for fact has caused some colleagues I knew laid off this past round some serious anxiety and stress because they had no idea WHY.
What a pathetic, self serving note. If you really feel guilty and want true forgiveness make it right and tell us what the criteria was and if there was discrimination or some other recourse. But you won’t. You are too self absorbed.
What was the criteria for the RIF because as someone who got blindsided, I'm still reeling from the fact it happened to me. Dying to know what I did wrong or if I didn't do anything wrong, how did I end up on the chopping block?
Is this about the October 2nd RIF or was there another one during election week?
- If there wasn't one, there will be. These lefty "leaders" will blame Trump for everything going forward.
I assume they mean October. I think I know the person that called in to find out if he was going to be let go. He was on an emotional roller coaster. He was told he was and then no and then they did it. There were some lay offs after the 1 day of lay offs but they were smaller onesy twosies of managers on different days of the month. So we are all still on pins and needles. At this point, I am hoping they call me and that I get a severance. I haven't used up my vacation so they would owe me cash for that too. I can't focus wondering if I will be next and they are heartless to do this so close to the holidays. I won't spend that much on my kids holiday gifts.
Is this about the October 2nd RIF or was there another one during election week?