Thread regarding Optum layoffs

There was a boomer in a glass walled office. One day that glass was all covered with sheet paper. the office was stripped of belongings. creepy, like the person didn't even exist. All the lame company certificates, meaningless plastic appreciation trophies and cat mugs were mailed back to the person. One day youre a company lackey, the next day, gonzo. US employment at will. Go capitalism. Lol

My experience was the same as @bhbn+13o4naSu

In employment at will Usa, it’s all about your self preservation and survival. The work family propaganda is typical. Your coworkers are not your families or friends. Leave and don’t look back at that cesspool of brainwashed fools dancing singing and head bobbing to the company beat. No self respect, and these people are parents grand parents. Fools

I was laid off in January I was informed at the beginning of Dec and received a severance. Your team will no longer associate with you give you fake well wishes during this time. My boss informed me in October layoffs were coming and I asked specifically should I start looking or be concerned they say ABSOLUTELY NOT! BUT if I had looked a little deeper I should have known they were lying. They knew all along I was on the chopping block. I noticed my work load getting lighter and less communication. I would even go as far to say some on my team knew. So 4 weeks later I revived a random meeting invite two days out which they never do. I had two days to wonder what this meeting was about I even asked but they wouldn’t respond. So the day of the meeting they tell me my position is eliminated they READ FROM A SCRIPT! Like seriously they are trained in what to say no emotion no nothing. So if you THINK you had a great relationship with your boss all goes out the window and know YOU ARE JUST COLLEAGUES nothing more or less. They even TOLD ME TO BE POSITIVE about it to everyone do not be negative. WTF I was the only one let go on the team and I’m supposed to be positive that I’m losing my job. Absolutely NO ONE reached out during this time. Oh yea they say you can find something else before your last day. The talent acquisition team is a JOKE. No one will help you find anything. I had two times they reach out for interviews only to say sorry we filled it with someone internal and disregard the interview notice. Or they say you are not qualified for a position when you have been doing the same thing in your current role. When you get laid off you will see every role by age and how they were let go voluntarily Placed in another role fired or laid off. I must admit most of the ppl were 45+ which was sickening to me. I admit I was p-ss-d but I didn’t have the energy to sit and sulk. Thank god I had the wherewithal to start looking the day I found out. Whoever said companies don’t interview or hire during the holidays LIED. I had most of my interviews during Christmas and New Years. Needless to say I was totally bummed during the holidays. Fortunately, a week after I was finally let go in Jan I had three offers more pay more benefits. I’m blessed!!! But I say all of this to say if the writing is on the wall do what is best for you and your family because corporate will never care about your well being. Always have more than one iron in the fire. Get those resumes updated TRUST NO ONE. I rather have started looking vs not have anything should you be impacted by the layoff. Funny but not funny to see the heat now on the team I left behind worrying about their jobs asking me for advice now when not a soul offered me help. Funny how tables are turned. Anyway I wish everyone the best again put you and your family FIRST never sit around and wait unless you have a master plan as to why you are going to wait. Take care God Bless!

The team was notified at night. Don’t come in. Mailed things back to us and paycheck. No thank you. Nothing. Just script reading like a robot

The corporation was a cesspool. A septic tank. Toxic and stinking. Leave and live the rest remains life. Stop selling your time for American hucksters and hustlers.

If your boss tells you he/she doesn't know about upcoming layoffs, they're absolutely lying. It takes weeks and sometimes months to process a force reduction with HR, unless it's a policy violation. Layoffs are not spur-of-the-moment things. I was a Director in Optum for decades before being called in the middle of the night and told my job was being eliminated. And was told not to say anything to my team because they were going to be let go as well, and if I said anything my severance would be forfeit. And it was like he was challenging me to argue with him, to yell or make a scene. Nope, honestly was waiting for that moment and my life is so much more stress-free now that I'm out of that toxic swamp of a company.

BH was dumb to let you go. Glad you came back. But be careful bc they could do it again later. Other companies won’t drop you like UHG. Find a better place. Don’t suffer here

I just got “called back” from the December lay off. Starting again Feb 24th, so the March lay offs doesn't seem feasible. I’m in BH licensed.

@3upi+13o4naSu eastern usa

@2xyk+13o4naSu - I can confirm that is the case. Our senior VPs will be visiting next week from outside of the USA.

@3upi+13o4naSu which optum CM group are you with?

senior leaders (New ones since December’s reorg) flying in from out of state for mandatory meeting week of 3/2. All telecommuters (80% of team) in area told to show up. Optum case management.Does not sound good at all. Supervisors have been telling everyone to figure out their next career moves for months... Buckle up it’s about to get even bumpier than it has been...

I was laid off on 2/6 after 26 years with UHC . Always good reviews. My manager was such a coward. He read from a script, would not look at me at all, never said I’m sorry. I have never been more repulsed by a human being as I was watching him blow up my life. He’s the loser.. not me. It would make me sad to lay a person off. A little compassion goes a long way.

Not surprised by these layoffs. Morale in my area is so low that we've been having focus groups where we basically get to b–ch about our leadership.

I am surprised how far the layoffs reached though. They should have been more surgical - specific people and not whole teams.

Norman Wright has a town hall coming up in a couple weeks. We should ask him if there's any truth to the reported s–c-de as a result of last week's round of layoffs.

We should also ask about this upcoming March round of layoffs.

Seriously...let's see how he responds.

Yes Optum was hit incredibly hard on 2/6. Worse then December.

Several Optum groups were hit on 2/6 including mine. We did a major re-org but I see things on the org chart that make me suspect another wave is coming.....

lol theres no layoff in march. op escaped the mental asylum again

Other than being a tax and debt slave, what le the obligation of the country and/or corporation to its citizens?

Check out the UnitedHealth Group posts/threads. It way worse than you know. Layoffs started in May 2019. January was the only month no layoffs (RIF) happened.

UHC was hit hard on the 02/06/20.

Optum you’re next in March to get hard. I can’t confirm the date of the 4th but know for sure another layoff is scheduled for March.

Could anyone imagine living in a country(corporation) w/o Universal health care?! Profits are unpaid wages

Wear a wig. Dance around. Sing the company song. Do skits. Decorate the cubicle. Wear a costume. Say yo. Scream about the company while dancing to happy song. Wear a smily face shirt. Chant. Read the propaganda on the walls showcasing US wage slavery and empty mission statements.

Howdy! I was fired March 2019 for behavioral health. They said my metric low because people opted out and I honored that request bc they didn’t want Program. Got CAPs and harassment for it. Yes non-Licensed folks did opt the member in but I don’t fault them for it because they need jobs too. But I did really hate that authenticating (date of birth and address) were what I did consistently and followed all the rules but yet they claimed I was no longer needed. I honestly did a good job but after 18 years they kicked me to the curb. I do believe layoffs will continue at Optum and have found better jobs elsewhere. So best wishes to all. But know that leadership doesn’t always act kosher or ethical. I was very compassionate with members yet after Superhero no,inaction and 18 loyal years they let me go in 15 min. No severance. So just be sure to know they as a company are about money and are ruthless. I truly feel sorry for those left at Optum. May the force be with you!

You are correct @dqu. I’m afraid and worried for my job. I think licensed people don’t know we are told to not even call it mental health or behavioral health because then they know members will decline. So we are taught to be sneaky. Or to sell them the world acting like BH Licensed people can fix the members lives when they can’t.. We get rated for our opt- ins. As do you all. We are both important on the team. But you are right. BH Licensed staff do matter too. Sorry about that. Just busy looking for other jobs now

@ufm Okay, hold on a moment. You do not do a better job than us Licensed staff. Some unlicensed workers refer Mbrs to the BH program and when they get to us, they don't even know the program was regarding Behavioral health and don't want anything to do with the program. Please have several seats.

Regarding behavioral health, Non-Licensed staff—we are cheaper than licensed staff! It is time to freshen up resume if you have a license.. I know many jobs can be done better than licensed staff and cheaper so hopefully they will keep us! Getting resume ready just in case. Would they really hire offshore people to replace us? Is it just a rumor or what? Does anyone know for sure?

A long time ago I read on this site their (UHG’s) goal was all to make sure ALL US staff gone except for a few token ones. All departments of all types of employees were going offshore. If this is true it’s a race out the door for us all, but a severance would be nice so I know some will wait for March 4. Others don’t have luxury to just jump and must have something lined up first. I truly think behavioral health is going to be impacted so I’m looking elsewhere fast. They do have much duplication between various types of teams and while many of us have large caseloads we don’t impact change as much as they think we should be able to. We aren’t magicians. But we are cheaper than RNs. So there’s that... but yes other managed care companies I’m finding offer better for those who have left Optum. Also, most members who enroll are lonely but have no intention on changing. So it’s a dial-a-buddy program. Every other member declines the program for behavioral health because they don’t want it and don’t feel they need it. Only the sickest of the sick want it. We also are behavioral health. We can’t fix dental or medical claims. Yet they want us to be one point of contact... if we can’t help with that and that is not our expertise. When behavioral health got started here, all kinds of teams were created but many of them do the same things but with different titles. 7 years ago they said they would combine teams. I’ve been seeing more of that as time rolls on. But I wouldn’t be surprised if staff get chopped soon. I hope I’m wrong. But I have a gut feeling other places are better out there. I hope everyone finds better options elsewhere......

If at any point since October your leadership has told you they don't know about these layoffs or whether there will be more, they have lied to you. This information has been circulating since October and probably even before then. At that point, there were 3 waves certain, Oct, Dec and March. There has since been one every month since Oct. I find it nearly impossible to believe that the vast majority of Sr leadership could not know about this given it's time to circulate.

Every bit of evidence points to a March 4th date for Optum. So, ask your leadership before then. See what they say. This will tell you if you can trust them or not. If they lie about this, what else are they lying about? If a leader cares about you as a person and your well-being.. They'll at least tell you they know about it so you can prepare if necessary. Sadly, most won't. Which is unfortunate because for most folks, that small bit of compassion can go a LONG way.

Oh yes i plan on quitting. And because of their horrible policy on pto, i will give them one day notice.

I have been with the company over 14 years. I have never, ever, seen it like this. What more do you need to hear? How much more disrespect and disregard can a set of so called "leaders" show you until you are moved to act? Guess what onshore resources? You are in the exact same boat as the rest of us. You are in the same bullsh** onshore blended rate calculation.

Stop laughing at their stupid, unfunny jokes during town halls. That laughing noise is actually the sound of your self respect leaving your body. This isn't North Korea and Witty is not our "Dear Leader".

If you want to remain an inanimate object to them, by all means, carry on in your current role. I for one have been hitting the job search hard.

I wish everyone luck.

Happy happy smiley shirt dancing singing skits wigs, screaming company loyalty. Then Laid off.

Count me in, after today's nonsense, I have seen enough. Resume will be updated this weekend.

Yo Duhvita!

Are there known departments / businesses that will be affected?

Everyone's goal should be to find a job by March 1st.....you only have yourself to blame if you don't. Let today be your motivation. So on March 1st, if 10,000 people quit in one day, that will send quite the message. This is how you defeat them, and improve your life.