Does anything else feel really uncomfortable with the mass exodus of upper management (Charlotte R, Swatti G, Hideo E, John O, Sajel) timed with an update to our severance pay and a town hall meeting next week? Combined with the massive increase in goals this year and the push to bring in young talent it feels like another big reorganization is coming. Has anyone heard anything about layoffs outside of the big dogs?
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I think it just means that TR talent is better valued outside of TR if promotions are tied with people joining another company.
I also see a lot of promotions on LinkedIn feed does it mean people left voluntarily?
This just came out: https://www.artificiallawyer.com/2021/04/06/strategy-head-richard-punt-leaves-thomson-reuters/
Who is the “at least another executive” referenced?
Who left voluntarily from recent departures?
Regard the mass exodus of Csuiters—did they all jump ship or were they all let go? Certainly not a coincidence that so many left the same time.
BrPec is a corporate genius. A multi millionaire with many lives. Blame the game, not the player!
Yes why is BrPec still here? Didn’t he create all this mess and underperformance? Why isn’t he held accountable?
Yes why is BrPec still here? Didn’t he create all this mess and underperformance? Why isn’t he held accountable?
I wish BPec would leave. Also some of the law firm leaders who have been with TR for more than 20 years should go.
The mass exodus is happening beyond the C-suite. Many talented sales, marketing, customer proposition people with industry know-how saw the writing on the wall and joined smaller, more dynamic companies. In Legal we are seeing people joining companies like Kira, Litera, BlueJ Legal, among many startups. Also some big hitters left in the last few months.
I'll be listening in meeting for grins tomorrow. I'm leaving
It used to be that when Company (TR) re-hired you you lost benefits. Now, you lose benefits if ANY company hires you in a comparable role.
What is the "new comparable clause"? My 2018 severance agreement said "The Company's obligations...shall terminate if the Company offers you a "Comparable Position" as defined in the U.S. Severance Plan prior to your Termination Date (whether or not you accept such a position). The Company's obligations...also shall terminate at any time you work for the Company or any of its related entities as a full-time or part-time employee, temporary employee or a consultant (including through a third party staffing agency)." How is the new clause different?
So severance at 50% pay for two weeks for every year worked? Is that what it is? And then if HR spy finds out you have a new job, it stops?
Is that what’s going on? Did they also try to say not to worry & as long as your numbers are good, you won’t get laid off?
As an leader in HR told me once in a 'get to know different departments & leads' workshop - HR's role is to support the employer NOT the employee. I was aghast that she admitted it. But, they help managers more than the average worker and they need to make sure the employer doesn't get sued. Makes perfect sense when you really think about it :)
'Comparable' - they would be wise to watch subjective judgment which finally could bring lawsuits against them. They could pretend to be an 'employer' seeking info. However, technically we know that all employers are allowed to do is verify you were employed at the firm. We all know that managers outside of HR are smart enough to locate former supervisors and easily get away with disclosing information they shouldn't. And, this can cause difficulty if the TR acts as a new employer seeking info. on a former employee who has no idea it is being done and no desire to leave new employer. It makes one dizzy thinking about all the scenarios that can mess you up.
Any severance package helps the former employee to recoup some of their losses - pay, cobra or other health insurance premiums...the list goes on. A former employer has no idea what circumstances each fired (let's call it what it is) employee has to cope with. And, that new position may be a temporary contract position w/o benefits.
I was let go and immediately found another position with better better pay. I could dictate my own hours withing reason. I chose not to take the benefits from the contracting firm which gave me a higher hourly rate as a result. We all know that companies let contractors go when it suits them and contracting firms walk away from people for many different reasons.
Be smart about the decisions you make and simply put - don't disclose your new position on LinkedIn or any platform.
A couple of things, HR in TR is arguably the biggest joke in the entire company, that is well known. One thing you can learn from them is that they do everything completely wrong, it has been that way for the last 5 or so years.
I didn't know the exodus was as wide spread at the senior leadership level. Are these folks getting dismissed or leaving for other opportunities? The interesting thing is going to be who replaces these folks, the level below these chiefs is by far the weakest in all levels of TR, so they are going to have to do something bold and innovative to fill these gaps. The folks departing are smart, but what they are guilty of is hiring poorly and not holding their directs accountable for their failures. How this plays out is going to be very interesting, but the next level departures are going to be critical, and how they are replaced. If they wanted a faster ramp, go back in the files and look at the people that have left since 2017 and see if they have interest in coming back. Many left because of what was going on, and since that has been recognized as a flop, might be time to reunite.
For those who ask on this message board, why doesn't HR do something, aren't they supposed to help employees - just think hard about this new "comparable" clause in the new US severance policy. There's still severance, but it sounds like they'll be making the collection of severance difficult. HR can publish all the human interest stories they want. Don't let that fool you into thinking that HR will consider your circumstances.
@hcs+1a26Qwnt - How will they know? Because the moment you update your L**nked *In profile for your new job, you've just told them you have a new position they can consider "comparable" even if it isn't.
Rumor has it that leaders of the customer service, order processing, commissions, data analysis, AR, & sales operations are next to go.
Everything is a complete mess and many of the leaders and staff are not at all qualified or equipped. The employee score and the NPS are dropping. Everyone getting fed up!
I support this. TR needs radical overhaul of those areas and the teams should be based in US instead of the outsourced contractors now.
Does the “comparable position” apply to executives who get the full year severance? How will TR know? They’ll need to hire an investigator to periodically go through the RIF’d list.
@hcs+1a26Qwnt –good question; I wondered the same. Not sure how much access your employer would have to W2s or any other proof.
My understanding is that the only major change is that your severance can be forfeited if you land a "comparable" position within the severance period. I believe it's still 2 weeks for each year with a max of one year's of severance pay. Interestingly, someone in HR has "sole discretion" to determine whether your new position is "comparable." Nice.
I assume that the company will save money because most people probably find new jobs within their severance period and most new jobs will be deemed to be comparable.
Re: @glf+1a26Qwnt it’s not great compared to the previous terms for more senior people (Dir and above) - as far as I know at least
Some replies are confusing. The email states 2 weeks of pay per year of service. How does that equate to the changes aimed at longer tenured employees? Close to a year's severance is not terrible. How does this make it cheaper for TR? What am i missing?
What’s not true? 6 months what? Is 6 months the max severance for C-suite, VPs and Managers alike?
Post from TheLayoff.com
Not true. 6 months
The severance changes are effectively aimed at people with long tenure - by providing little to no incentive to stay beyond the number of years that’s equivalent to the minimum severance amount, especially if you’re a higher tier employee. It also makes it much cheaper for the company to get rid of long-tenured senior managers.
The bottom line is that the new management feels it’s bad for people to be at the company for longer than 10+ years, and wants fresh blood.
Of course none of this applies to the top team, who get 2 years full salary on severance (as per 2020 proxy circular). One rule for them, another for the rest...
But VPs and above get 12 months of severance at 100%, regardless of tenure.
So severance would be 2 weeks per year of service at 50% of your pay? Is that true??
They changed our pensions last year and now the severance package... There is nothing to keep employees loyal anymore.
Mass exodus of upper management in Legal and Legal Product too. Some of them top talent and well-regarded in the Legal industry; all landing in good spots. Maybe they knew this was coming and negotiated exits while the old policy was in place and their market value was high.
Severance cut by approx 50%
What are the changes to severance pay?
Yeah, that email was huge dent to morale that was already low in the first place. In my tenure here I've never seen an email that mentioned a "regular review" much less any changes. Of great concern is "all eligible us employees" - if that doesnt signal "watch your job fly overseas" ...
How would they know if we got another job?