Here's the dirt I know:
- it's was "by function" meaning someone from high up (won't name but know who) was whispering in the ears of VPs what functions they thought should be cut.
- A pretty high level didnt have any say in what happened and just had to deliver the news.
- managers couldn't deliver the news to their teams in many cases and Directors & up had to do it (although even those delivering the news didn't have a say in what individuals)
- Consistently high performers were cut and Cigna lost A LOT of top talent.
- it's not over. There is another cut coming in Julyish time frame. Likely aimed at the managers of the functions that were cut.
Here's what I think about it:
Cigna made a huge mistake. In the current political climate they are taking a massive risk. This administration has been very vocal about how it feels vs offshoring work.
Cigna doesnt pay enough to those it's highering in HIH. That means they aren't getting top talent over there to replace those they cut on-shore.
The top talent cut this past week will probably land a job as Cigna underpays it's top talent on-shore too.
IF they now have low-talent HIH to replace and then there is a block against off-shoring and Cigna has to rehire they are pulling from a much smaller pool as most top-talent will have moved on.
The last thing is how they executed this: getting rid of engineers before managers is the opposite of what basically every other company is doing. Managers in tech generally can't train replacements.
The severance is generous. Cigna may have put itself in a really bad position and time will tell.