Get ready leadership ping pong 🏓 starts
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@tg
"Termination for cause" is Legal jargon for immediate separation from the company based on either performance or a standards of business conduct violation. A standards violation termination is relatively rare. However for performance related (ie: PIP) terminations, happens all the time, particularly in the Tech sector.
The fact that the company has pivoted to PIP based terminations and communicated it internally as part of a new strategy should be cause for concern for every single employee (other than Sr. Leadership..who have custom contracts..they will almost always get a big payoff if they leave quietly). Don't think because you got a high ranking on your last PE you are exempt. If you are on the list they will find a reason. Sometimes your 'goals/objectives and metrics' will change all.of the sudden (another red flag).
If you 'all of the sudden' are put on a PIP..your days are numbered.
This is literally the most obvious and legal signal being sent that they want to layoff people (especially in the US) without severance. Technically they don't even have to pay 2 weeks on PIP terminations..they only have to pay you through the last day you worked. Also if you live in the US there are only a handful of states that require a company pay you for unused vacation (I know two are Nebraska and California). You may want to find out the other states..to see if you will even get unused vacation.
The writing is clearly on the wall for employees who see it..get out now.
The reorg is every Monday at OpenText.
@ts Stuff your AI slop up your OpenText exit chute.
"Termination for Performance" is currently the primary mechanism OpenText is reportedly using to reduce headcount without triggering WARN acts (in the US) or paying common-law severance (in Canada/UK).
Here are two specific email templates tailored to protect you.
Crucial Advice:
• Do not resign. If you resign, you lose unemployment benefits and leverage. Make them fire you.
• BCC your personal email. Send these from your work email but blind-copy your private address for evidence.
• Customize the brackets.
Template 1: Responding to a "Sham PIP" (AI/Efficiency Focus)
Use this if: You have been given a PIP with impossible goals like "Adopt Aviator," "Reduce coding time by 50%," or generic "lack of initiative" claims.
Subject: Clarification of PIP Objectives & Resource Request – [Your Name]
Dear [Manager Name] and [HR Contact],
I am writing to formally acknowledge receipt of the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) dated [Date].
I am fully committed to my role and to the success of [Team Name]. However, after reviewing the specific objectives outlined in the document, I am concerned that several targets rely on tools, training, or permissions that have not yet been made available to me.
To ensure I can successfully meet these expectations and avoid failure, I am requesting the following clarifications and resources:
- Regarding "AI Adoption/Efficiency" Targets:
The PIP requires [e.g., "a 30% reduction in workflow time" or "daily use of Aviator"].
• Constraint: I have not received formal training on [Specific AI Tool] for this specific workflow, nor have I been provided with the verified use-cases to ensure compliance with company security policies.
• Request: Please provide the specific training modules and the authorized "standard operating procedure" for using AI in this context so I do not violate security protocols. - Regarding "Ticket Deflection" [or other vague metrics]:
The PIP sets a goal of [Metric].
• Constraint: This metric appears to be dependent on external factors (e.g., client volume, incoming bug reports) rather than my personal output.
• Request: Please clarify specifically which personal actions I can take to influence this number, given that I cannot control incoming volume. - Objective Measurability:
Objective #[X] states I must "demonstrate improved technical fluency." This is subjective.
• Request: Please define exactly what "success" looks like for this metric in quantifiable terms (e.g., "Complete X tickets per day") so we are aligned on the outcome.
I am eager to start this plan immediately. Please let me know when the training resources mentioned above will be available so I can begin working toward these targets.
Regards,
[Your Name]
Why this works: It creates a "paper trail" proving that you asked for help and were denied. If they fire you for "performance" after you requested training they didn't provide, their legal argument for denying severance crumbles.
Template 2: Responding to "Forced Relocation" / RTO
Use this if: You were hired remote (or have worked remote for years) and are suddenly told to report to a hub (Waterloo, Reading, Alpharetta) to force you to quit.
Subject: Urgent: Discussion Regarding Changes to Employment Terms – [Your Name]
Dear [Manager Name] and HR,
I am writing regarding the recent directive requiring me to report to the [Location] office effective [Date].
I want to clarify the terms of my employment to ensure there is no misunderstanding:
- Established Arrangement: Since [Year], my role has been performed remotely from [Your City]. This arrangement was [explicitly agreed upon in my offer letter / established by X years of precedent] and is a fundamental term of my employment.
- Feasibility: As you know, I live [Number] miles/hours from the [Location] office. Relocating or commuting this distance is not feasible and represents a material change to my employment agreement.
- Intent: I remain ready, willing, and able to perform my job duties from my established remote location, exactly as I have done successfully for the past [Number] years.
I am not resigning. I am simply stating that I cannot accept a unilateral change to the location of my employment that makes my continued employment impossible.
Please confirm that I should continue working from my home office as per our established practice.
Regards,
[Your Name]
Why this works: It uses the legal keywords for Constructive Dismissal ("material change," "unilateral," "fundamental term") without explicitly threatening a lawsuit yet. It prevents them from claiming you "voluntarily resigned" (abandonment of job) by refusing to show up.
A Final Strategy on "Signing" Documents
If HR pressures you to sign a PIP or a warning during a Zoom call:
- Do not refuse to sign (this can be fired as "insubordination").
- Sign, but annotate: Next to or below your signature, type or write: "Receipt acknowledged only. I do not agree with the facts or metrics presented here. See email dated [Date] for my formal rebuttal."
@tg If you fail a PIP, you can be terminated "for cause" (performance). In many jurisdictions, termination for cause does not require severance pay, whereas a layoff (termination without cause) does.
@na " It is often classified as "termination for performance" rather than a layoff to save on severance and avoid bad PR."
why would a termination based on performance save severance? Isn't severance not provided only when someone is fired? The company has to provide severance for some other type of termination.
@rv Can confirm - came over from an acq. - technical pre-sales/eng delivery. Hunted and closed a $14M deal and a $1M deal - both new logos. Was hit in '23 after great perf reviews, heard it was just due to salary and bonus being too high. Name appeared on a spreadsheet in some group that reviews costs. Simple as that. Director and his VP wasn't even told until the day of 15m call.
Kinda a sh---y way to manage a company, but is what it is. Big lesson is pay attention to how the larger company moves inside. If different people complain about the same thing over years, take them at their word.
There are still great people there but so much organization, technical and culture debt from years of neglect, there really is no business there other than existing contracts that will bleed out over time.
Having worked at the company for nearly ten years, I can confirm that for the past five years or so, every April we have lost a small number of employees rated as underperforming.
We have also seen the departure of several senior staff whose salaries were considered too high, as well as a number of managers with fewer than ten direct reports.
Ireland is also becoming a hiring hub it seems
Here is exactly what is moving where as of early 2026:
Manila, Philippines (The "Operations" Hub)
Primary Focus: Customer Support, Renewals, and Shared Services.
• Renewals & Sales Ops: This is the #1 destination for the Renewals roles. The company is actively hiring Renewal Specialists and Commercial Support staff in Makati (Metro Manila) to handle high-volume, low-complexity renewals that were previously done in North America.
• Technical Support: Support for consumer products (Carbonite/Webroot) and "Tier 1" enterprise support is being consolidated here.
• Finance/HR: Back-office functions like Payroll, HR Operations, and Accounts Receivable are heavily concentrated here.Bucharest & Cluj, Romania (The "Engineering & Deal" Hub)
Primary Focus: R&D, Deal Desk, and Revenue Operations.
• Micro Focus Heritage: Romania was a massive hub for Micro Focus. Instead of closing it, OpenText is expanding it to be a primary European engineering base because the talent cost is lower than in the UK or Germany.
• Deal Desk: Critically, "Deal Desk Manager" and "Revenue Operations" roles are being hired in Bucharest. This suggests that the approval and structuring of sales deals (which used to sit with local sales ops in the US/UK) is being centralized here.
• Engineering: This is not just for maintenance; they are hiring for Cloud and AI engineering roles here, replacing expensive R&D headcount in Waterloo and Silicon Valley.
Summary of the "Shift"
• If you are in Sales Ops/Renewals in the US/Canada Your role is likely moving to Manila (for processing) or Bucharest (for deal structuring).
• If you are in Engineering: Your role is likely moving to India (Bangalore/Hyderabad) or Romania (Cluj/Bucharest).
@na Good post. Thanks for sharing.
Understanding that the madness has a method is helpful. I can understand why the foolish and gullible would think this is a great plan and will help long term. They're dead wrong, but this approach does make sense from a certain point of view. An amoral and unethical point of view, but that kinda goes without saying with corporate overlords.
@na
Lets call it what it really is:
A layoff without having to pay severance. They are framing it this way so they can use a 'for cause' justification for termination (and bypassing the WARN act).
This is both a desperate and chicken sh*t move.
I would expect nothing less from OT Leadership.
This is yet another example of their blatant disregard for human decency..not to mention utter disrespect for loyal and some longer tenured employees.
When (OT Leadership) shows you who they really are by actions like this..Believe them!
Get out now!
Who was this sent to and when
The "Q3 Efficiency Audit" has been announced not a reorg. It is the standard "mid-year" operational review that happens every January at OpenText, but this year it has sharper teeth due to the active Business Optimization Plan.
Here is specifically what this "audit" entails for Fiscal Q3 2026 (January 1 – March 31):
The Fiscal Context (Why Now?)
• Fiscal Calendar: OpenText’s fiscal year ends June 30. We are currently in Q3 (Jan–Mar).
• The Target: The company promised investors ~$550 million in annualized savings by the end of Fiscal 2027. They committed to realizing 50% of those savings in Fiscal 2026.
• The Checkpoint: January is the "halftime" check. Finance and HR audit every department to see if they are on track to hit that savings number by June. If a unit is behind on margin targets, they cut expenses (people) now so the savings show up on the Q4 balance sheet.What "The Audit" Actually Looks Like
Unlike the mass layoffs in August 2025 (which were broad and structural), the Q3 audit is surgical and performance-based. It typically manifests in three ways:
• The "Performance" Purge:
• Instead of a mass layoff (which requires WARN notices and press releases), managers are pressured to strictly enforce performance metrics.
• If you are on a PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) or have low utilization (Professional Services) or low renewal rates (Sales), this audit is when they "clean up the books." It is often classified as "termination for performance" rather than a layoff to save on severance and avoid bad PR.
• The "Span of Control" Review:
• HR reviews management layers. If a manager has fewer than ~5–7 direct reports, the audit flags that team for consolidation. The manager role is often eliminated, and the team is moved under another leader.
• The AI "Baseline Expectation":
• A specific directive (initiated under former CEO Mark Barrenechea and continuing now) requires department heads to justify headcount against AI capabilities. The question asked during this audit is: "Can an AI agent or the 'Business Cloud' automation handle this task?" If the answer is "maybe," the headcount is flagged for non-backfill or elimination.Who is Under the Microscope This Quarter?
Based on the current strategy ("Shrink to Grow"), the audit is focusing on:
• Cost of Sales: Pre-sales engineers, deal desk, and renewal ops. (Goal: Lower the cost to book a dollar of revenue).
• Professional Services (PS): The audit reviews "billable utilization." If you are a PS consultant "on the bench" (not billing clients) for more than a few weeks in Q3, you are high risk.
• Legacy Support: Support teams for products designated as "harvest" (no new features) are being audited to see if tickets can be routed to low-cost regions or automated bots.
The "Q3 Audit" is effectively a stealth layoff mechanism. It allows the company to trim headcount by 100–300 people globally over a few weeks without triggering a headline event, ensuring they hit the margin targets promised for the fiscal year-end in June.
Reorg has been announced.
feels like most of this website is just fear mongering.
It's already Monday and there has been no Reorg