No one knew the layoffs were even being discussed. I guess maybe we should have assumed, but everything that I had heard from partners and senior managers sounded like things were moving along at the same steady pace as always, aside from now working from home. I know personally, none of the jobs I have been assigned have changed or been canceled since this all started.
A girl in my office was let go (a senior, with the firm 3 years) and the partner she works closest with didn’t know she was one of those being cut until Wednesday (the office managing partner knew further in advance). Around 4:00 Wednesday they put the meeting on her schedule and then the partners promptly logged offline or went “away” because she started asking questions about the purpose of the meeting. Then at 9 a.m. Thursday morning she was let go via Zoom meeting.
Based on conversations with various seniors, managers, and one partner, the cuts were both performance based and industry specialty based, and it was hinted that is was also due to her not actively pursuing her CPA license. Other seniors that I know who were let go also do not yet have their CPA license, so that may be a larger factor. Those of us remaining spent the entire day messaging each other in panic because Jim Powers did not address the cuts or the firm’s plan until 4 that afternoon.
The last communication we received from higher ups in the firm regarding how things were being handled was WEEKS ago. So not only was everyone blindsided by the cuts, but we were left to panic for hours not knowing if we were next or what the firm’s rationale or plan even was. And in his video, Jim Powers mentioned that future salary cuts across the board and potentially more staffing cuts could be coming in the future since so much is still unknown.
I will just end this by saying I thought so much more of my firm before today. This was handled so poorly.