There have been many posts indicating that Cisco is targeting employees based on age. This is illegal. In California, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing DFEH is the state agency charged with enforcing California’s civil rights laws. The mission of the DFEH is to protect the people of California from unlawful discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations and from hate violence. If you live in California and feel like you have been unfairly targeted due to discrimination, you may want to check out the DFEH website: http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/. You do not need to engage an attorney or encur any fees in order to take advantage of the help offered by DFEH. For employees outside of California, it is highly likely your state has a similar agency or commission where you can file a complaint.
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I was LR'd a few months ago after 16 years. Best thing that could have happened. I am in my 50's and was curious if it had to do with my age. In the separation package there was a whole section with a list of the positions eliminated and the ages of the people in them. The ages were all over the place and I am sure it was done to prevent age discrimination lawsuits. I don't feel it was about my age.
The package was good, and even though I found an internal position, I chose to take the package and leave. I found a new gig almost immediately and never put my resume on the street. I miss working with the people I have for the last 16 years, but life goes on and we stay in touch. Cisco owes me nothing. Having that experience and leaving in good status has made the transition extremely easy. And they handled it very well, with great regard for me and my family's well being.
dont see this as a problem at all. We are in-sync with our society. A man replaces his spouse with younger woman. .. for the same reason. Lets stop cribbing., and move on to a place where we are appreciated.
age discrimination is rampant in corp america - this site is littered with #agediscrimination cases (follow the hashtag for examples)
@gxc - here is that article
http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2016/06/intel_layoffs_skew_older_spotl.html
People over 40 were two-and-a-half times more likely to lose their jobs in this spring's layoffs than Intel employees under 40, according to data Intel provided to employees in compliance with the federal Older Workers Benefit Protection Act and obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Why this matters? Many older workers need to work until they reach their full retirement age. If you start using your retirement fund to live on when you are in your early 60's you won't have any money left if you live until you are 80 or 85. Everyone is in a different financial situation especially if you are still married and your spouse still has a lucrative job. It isn't easy for the older worker to get hired for any job but especially a professional position. Most companies prefer to hire the younger worker.
Of course it's hard to prove and Cisco has armies of lawyers making sure that you can't. That said, at least in some cases it is not impossible - it just takes a lot of time and work. For example, if there has been a pattern of discriminatory behavior by your manager before the layoff, that will help your case. You may want to consult with an employment attorney to see whether you have a reasonable shot. There is rarely an obvious smoking gun such as a manager telling an employee they are too old but that should not necessarily deter you. A preponderance of more indirect evidence can also make a case.
Companies get away with age discrimination because we let them. I personally am happy to see Cisco spend all those $$ they "save" on opex defending themselves against age discrimination claims.
It's very difficult to prove. Check out some of the postings over on Intel @ the layoff.com. The Oregonian even published data on how much Intel's laid off employees skewed older. The problem is that the average age in most of these companies skews older and they all use BS excuses like poor performance, job role elimination, job consolidation, etc. to make their case.
Good luck proving it.
My many years of experience at Cisco convinced me that they have getting away with age discrimination down to a science.