"After 20.5 years I was notified may 10th that my services were no longer needed. Last day was may 11. Of course no one mentioned it to my client.
8 weeks severance pay, zero retirement benefits."
Wait, is this possible? Is severance now really this low? Eight weeks fro over 20 years of service???
May 11 was my last day also. I had almost 33 years in between EDS/HP/HPe/DXC. 8 weeks severance. ($14k).
@2drh The answer is 'whatever amounts were specified in their contracts' - of course this will be higher than that received by most "ordinary workers".
Yes @TaxY8tA-2jea of course the final salary pension was going to close, I just think the indecent haste they did close it, 2+ years earlier than they needed to, the lack of compensation to staff, and the complete lack of understanding why it would upset staff is what shows how bad DXC are.
Two things @TaxY8tA-2lrp
1 The Works Council aren't deliberately useless they just have no power, the people on it that I've spoken to are decent people, far better human beings than anyone in HR
2 Good luck reading the new policies, in typical nonsensical DXC fashion they told us there are new policies today but we can't read what they are and so work out whats changed until the 1st June. So not only was the email completely pointless but there was no need to send it as high importance, it's irrelevant for 2 whole weeks.
Just got an email that a UK HR policy review has taken place. They apparently have consulted the work council... Who are useless... Looks like some time needed to review what more has changed to erode our rights in the UK.
There is no doubt DXC is not a good company, for either employees or customers. But this company is just carrying on the rip off ways of it's antecedent companies all of which treated employees and customers like sh--e for years before, under Whitman et al.
The real question should be then how much severance was received by Mike Nefkens and Nick Wilson when they left DXC. Clearly much more than the ordinary worker who is slaving their guts out for the company good.
Axing the final salary pension scheme was always going to happen.
The only UK private companies you will find where you will find this hasn't happened yet are ones with almost a hundred percent union membership. The others, its history.
Its a financial risk the company doesn't want on its books. On the other hand its a good benefit for the employees... but the only way of preventing the closure was high Union membership.
But we don't have that.
Funnily enough, Unions have their benefits when it comes to exploitation by evil bosses.
True @TaxY8tA-2zfk we were in a good position with the EDS Pension scheme in the UK and in an even better place when HPE dumped enough money in to it so that the short fall was covered and it was fully funded for 3 years, with a stated goal of DXC not having to worry about pensions for 3 years. However with in 8 months greedy Mike and his incompetent HR cronies had shut it down, without a thought to staff. They couldn't even understand why staff reacted so badly to their decision. Of course it was only their first step, now they are doing the same to the EDS pensions in Ireland, next ??
Do it bit by bit in secrecy and before anyone realises they've stripped the company of all staff benefits.
I joined the EDS Pension Plan in 1999 in UK. I remained in this final salary scheme until 2017 when I left HPE on WFR. Between 2008 and 2017 even though EDS was taken over by HP we remained in the EDS Pension Plan. I guess there are different rules for different locations.
There was an EDS pension plan that was frozen years before EDS got into trouble and sold themselves to HP. If you ever worked at EDS, you may have a small forgotten EDS pension with a trust fund that is still paying out. www.edsalumni.com
You can well understand, the company is neither interested in you nor the Client. DXC management is only interested in making a larger profit, whether you are there or not
is anyone researching an age discrimination lawsuit? So many of us are at the 20+ year mark that were let go, it sure seems suspect. 1 day notice, 8 week severance, very little follow up on programs to help us transition. Dedicated to a client that was not informed of the layoffs and no one to transition client work to either.
I stayed as long as I did for a number of reasons. I had a long track record of success, was well respected by my peers, management and the client I was working for. Got to work in all sorts of interesting locations all over the world, and other than the lack of raises, was reasonably well compensated. I could pretty much set my own hours, came into the office when it suited me, and so on.
Jumping ship to a new position meant being the new guy again (which after 22+ years wasn't something I looked forward to), plus meant giving up my Severance safety net. Having 5 months of salary 'in the bank' counts for a lot of peace of mind when you have a mortgage, car payment and family to care for. When you are the main breadwinner, it can be very hard to make the decision to jump...there is a significant risk there. I never felt I was 'next on the list', but seeing other people who I felt should have also been fairly safe get their marching orders, that feeling of security eventually eroded to the point where I just didn't have any confidence in being there the next day.
Ultimately, the constant "Sword of Damocles" environment around WFRs was a big drain on morale tho, and when the final changes to the severance and 401k policies, the equation finally shifted to where I felt I really had little to lose. I got a new position working for an ex-coworker I really respected, took a 10% raise to move, and the new position has better benefits, a real pay-for-performance plan, and bonus policy that actually rewards employees for doing the right thing.
I miss the people I used to work with - and still stay in touch with a lot of them. Some are still with DXC, some just trying to stay off the radar until they can retire, some determined not to screw their clients. None seem to be happy with the company, but everyone's situation is different...I wouldn't say any of them are desperate or overpaid, just that for them, the equation still tips in favor of staying.
EDS converted from a defined benefit (pension) to a defined contribution (401k) on July 1, 1998. They spun it like it was good for the employees because now we could choose how to invest our money instead of the company, which had a department of trained investors. This put the risk onto the employees, and is something that Wall Street loves. They guaranteed that when we collected our pension, it would be worth no less than it was on July 1, 1998! As a result, my projected pension is now worth 2/3 of what it was on that date. When HP and EDS merged in 2008, the pension was frozen on December 31.
"I swear, if they'd spent as much effort into developing and rewarding their employees as they did in figuring out ways to bilk them out of a few dollars, they probably wouldn't be in the mess they are now."
You are 100% correct. I could not have summarized it any better.
I forget the exact timeline, but as I recall, it went something like this :
A few years after EDS was bought by HP, HP stopped contributing to the pension, preferring the 401k route. Then HP split, with all the manufacturing/product side going to HP Inc, and all the Services types going to HPE. As pretty much all the EDS people were services types, they vast majority ended up in HPE. The Pension however, stayed under HP Inc. HPE then said that as you were not employees of HP Inc, you would no longer get years-of-service credits toward your retirement age from that point, essentially doubling the amount of time required to reach pension eligibility. They've also re-worked how they calculate interest accumulation so that they don't have to pay as much into it any more.
In addition, they also changed the 401k match amount and frequency - so that now they only match at the end of the year...assuming they haven't laid you off by then.
I swear, if they'd spent as much effort into developing and rewarding their employees as they did in figuring out ways to bilk them out of a few dollars, they probably wouldn't be in the mess they are now.
@1qqz "I do not understand why employees stay...Desperate or overpaid?" In many cases it is not that simple. People stay for many reasons; most are aware of the DXC downsides but life at DXC continues to be acceptable for many.
If some of those years were at EDS, there may be a forgotten EDS pension. www.edsalumni.com
I do not understand why employees stay. Toxic environment. Desperate or overpaid?
"Bottom line, they don't want you to stay if you are a long-term employee. You are too expensive, and anything they can do to make you quit, or reduce their cost for letting you go, just makes their bottom line look better. Look at the EDS Pension contribution farce for another prime example."
@TaxY8tA-irl Can you expand a bit more on that point about the EDS Pension contribution farce??
shame ... utter shame
Depending of your location that maybe all. Good luck to you.
Companies today give a squat about employees. The select few at the top take care of each other while the lower levels get pissed on. If you like to get pissed on stick with DXC. Guess you don't believe until it hits YOU. It s---s but thats life. I found the more control of my life I have the more success that I receive.
It's been that way for the best part of a year in the US at least. One of the many reasons I quit at the end of 2016 after 22+ years. At the point my 'severance' dropped from 20+ weeks down to a maximum of 8...there wasn't really any point staying.
Prior to that, I'd had the mental cushion of 4-5 months to find a new job should I get WFRd. All of a sudden, that was now barely 2. I started looking right then, and jumped ship.
Bottom line, they don't want you to stay if you are a long-term employee. You are too expensive, and anything they can do to make you quit, or reduce their cost for letting you go, just makes their bottom line look better. Look at the EDS Pension contribution farce for another prime example.
In the US? Absolutely. Had the person been there 19 years, I believe they would have gotten six weeks. One day's notice and healthcare is shut off at midnight that Friday. Yet another sign of how much "DXC Cares" https://blogs.dxc.technology/tag/dxc-cares/