Thread regarding Black & Veatch layoffs

The Layoff Process at B&V

The supervisor is instructed to walk the employee to a conference room where HR is waiting. While the employee is being informed their IT systems access is being locked (in the desktop days the keyboard was removed). Once informed, having received an information package, and having been given the opportunity to sign a exit NDA type document (required to receive a severance package) the supervisor is asked to escort the person to their desk to gather the minimal amount of personal items (keys, phone, wallet, purse) and then escort them out the door. The supervisor or the department head is responsible for having the persons remaining personal items boxed and shipped to their home address. Supervisors are suggested not to clean out the office or cube immediately as to not give a bad impression. In a large workforce reduction event the manager level supervisor lets their staff go over a period of a day or two, then senior management lets the manager go in the same fashion. Directors, AVPs, and VPs are treated slightly differently but are not immune to layoff.

This is a calculated process by design; to mitigate conversations that might result in legal actions later, to mitigate the employee from doing any harm or damage to information or property, and to avoid public displays of emotion which can send other employees into panic. Most often the word has spread days or weeks prior that something is up, security intensifies, and during the process people are parked in their offices and cubes calling out a play by play, person by person using IM.

If you can honestly say you brought it every day, did a great job, and produced success then being layed off has absolutely nothing to do with you and everything to do with how leadership failed to perform. The only exception to leadership failure would be if your position was a direct labor position i.e. tied to a contract and the contract was ended by the customer.

Hold your head high, be proud of what you've accomplished, and be excited to find the next chapter in your career. That and don't live above your means while you are employed so you can ride through bumps like this.

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| 4921 views | | 8 replies (last September 20, 2019) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+10TGQCir

8 replies (most recent on top)

Anyone that gets laid off, it s—s, but honestly be thankful because that place will steal your soul. The new Pres of Power is "streamlining" to make the group look more profitable. It's all about the bottom line. He supposedly did it a Siemens too.
As far as reviews, you can look on indeed or glassdoor and it's easy to pick out the fake reviews. They are always 4 stars, they even sound like they are written by the same person. That company has become a joke. No loyalty, and they are losing client confidence.

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Post ID: @fuvo+10TGQCir

Lastly, if you try to warn potential employees by posting a review on Glassdoor, Indeed, or various other sites (technically a violation of the severance agreement, but it's ok if you remain anonymous), Black & Veatch will immediately suppress that review with "Anonymous" current employee reviews. They may be real, they may be fake. But the ethics of it stink. Over the last 10 years, Glassdoor Review has not dropped below 3.5 EVER! My guess is that a reputation of being a company with multiple and frequent layoffs because of incompetent management is covered up by a very heavy handed advertising and media relations arm. If they put half of the money they spend on fliers and pamphlets into actually keeping quality workers around, there would not be a problem. Some graphics design person promotes B&V as a great company while they layoff hundreds to get an extra penny or two on B&V stock, of which you are no longer a part of the ESOP. After I was laid off, in intense disgust, I suggested a Six Sigma project to make lay offs faster because apparently, they have no intention of ever decreasing the practice. I think they try to apply Six Sigma to the labor force (the bottom revenue generating performers get cut, no matter what the reason). It's absolutely id–tic because eventually everybody becomes an average performer, and you get laid off because you wore the wrong suit or dress. Favoritism and nepotism reign. Eventually they will be bought out by somebody bigger. If you were to stay there, you would become like them. So.. be thankful. The layoff saved your soul.

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Post ID: @atff+10TGQCir

The Kansas Dept of Labor web site seems to defer to the federal WORKER ADJUSTMENT AND RETRAINING NOTIFICATION (WARN) ACT.

It's pretty dry reading:
https://www.doleta.gov/layoff/docs/_EmployerWARN2003.pdf

Some employers will find other creative ways around it. For example they may technically keep employees on the payroll & employed for an additional 60 days, but change their employment status to indicate they are not really working anymore.

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Post ID: @9slc+10TGQCir

They won’t lay off more than 25 people every two weeks or 50 a month because the reporting requirement to the State of Kansas Dept. Labor is 50 layoffs from one location “at one time” (it’s vaguely worded.) If it’s really 200 from OPKS, it’s over the span of several weeks to avoid reporting to the State, and the publishing of a notice of a round layoffs in the KC Star. Trust me, the b–tards have it figured out to where nobody knows. Before the actual layoff they hire temp lawyers and generalist HR people who do the actual terminations. That way they don’t even have to do their own dirty work. And then the let those people go. ... And that puff piece and advertising of being a “diverse” company is only about getting contracts. It’s not because they actually value women or minorities. Because they don’t.

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Post ID: @3mkl+10TGQCir

Report is of ~200 in Overland Park. There definitely were lay-offs yesterday. Possibly continuing today.

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Post ID: @1slu+10TGQCir

Not aware of layoffs this week.

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Post ID: @1hqd+10TGQCir

Any word on numbers/locations impacted by today’s actions?

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Post ID: @cdr+10TGQCir

And be aware that B&V manages resource levels based on contract award and quarterly revenue projections. They used to have a strong division exchange program meaning when one division was down, another doing OK would review qualifications and absorb employees for a short period of time or, transfer of the employee.

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Post ID: @svu+10TGQCir

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