Thread regarding AVEVA layoffs

If 100% in office, how is that going to work for people who live hours away from an office or are in a location where they closed the office? Another method to get people fired?

But why would you want to stick it out at AVEVA? Ask yourselves: is it because we can’t get a better job somewhere else? AVEVA doesn’t pay that well relative to industry peers, their strategy is lacking to say the least, and heck: they don’t event give employees RSUs or other forms of compensation besides a measly once-a-year bonus, all the while other companies pay quarterly bonuses on top of yearly bonuses… and now full RTO by year’s end?? Any “coder” or leader worth their salt would be looking for jobs elsewhere and the talented ones would find jobs at Microsoft - since AVEVA is a Microsoft shop - or any other S&P 500 company. So again, ask yourselves: why would you stick around at AVEVA knowing what we know about layoffs, lack of clear strategy, a broken culture with poor management, and full RTO?

Thanks for the heads up on 100% in-office requirement that'll be coming later. Enjoyed my hybrid work arrangement a lot and was part of the reason I stuck around here. I am someone who always goes into the office 2-3x each week as well.

I will be leaving this company as soon as I have something else lined up. Not going to bother focusing on work but instead interview prep. I guess this is what they want though. Oh well, plenty of hybrid companies that actually pay salaries in line with the current decade.

Cheers

I really hope HR people are impacted as well. My personal experience tell me that they are the most useless employees.
The funniest thing are the remote HR that tell you to go to the office.

I see we have a couple of dinosaurs in here posting their anti remote worker sentiment. Tell yourselves that's the reason for the layoffs, if that makes you feel better as a relic from times gone by.

Let me tell you that the remote workers on my team are some of the most experienced, valuable and hard working people I have ever worked with. But sure, let's ignore their tangible impact and assess their value purely based upon how much they are chained to a desk in a corporate office each day!

The irony is that such archaic thinking is far more damaging to company productivity than remote workers could ever be. If we want to be considered a modern day company who can attract the best talent, we need to embrace the future and rid ourselves of such ignorant mindsets!

Hmmm..... I remember back when FLEX was first mandated and CH was the CRO. He said, "We have to swallow the fish" - referring to the fact that times will be skinny while ARR was building up and the perpetual "sugar hit" is no longer. Then the fat part of the fish will finally come. That was 5 years ago. I think we all know now that the fish is an eel........ If CH was truly strategic, AVEVA should go back to selling perpetual Enterprise Agreements again, netting $3-5M per deal again. Stop fishing around!!

The global meeting this Friday was a joke, every C-level executive was there just blaming each other. On the bright side, the wave of layoffs is over. However, a major restructuring is coming, with cost-cutting measures across the board. Remote work will be banned, and everyone is expected to return to the office. They’re aiming for 100% in-office attendance by the end of the year, starting with LATAM and APAC, according to the presentation.

What’s the impact of the layoffs to R&D San Leandro California?

This was inevitable . The company has been bloated for a while with management layers piling on with all the acquisitions. Hopefully this helps with faster decision making and being more agile !

What's with the anti-remote sentiment? This company (and its various forms) prior to COVID had remote positions and hybrid arrangements. Also let's not forget how globally distributed we are due to acquisitions over decades, resulting in many of us working colleagues across the US, India, EU daily while sitting in an office with NONE of those people ever. Yet you're fine with us coming into an office to sit on teams calls all day hmm.

I'm not sure what "primadonnas" or "fiefdoms" the post below is referring to. Also, none of the company communication made me think these layoffs were performance-based.

With regard to the previous post, which product lines have been eliminated?

I'd like to share my perspective on the recent layoff.

Overdue Changes
This layoff, while unfortunate, was long overdue. The company has needed a wake-up call for some time. We've had too many individuals coasting along—avoiding in-office work, doing the bare minimum, and facing little accountability.

Difficult but Necessary Decisions
Layoffs are never easy, but they are sometimes essential to ensure the long-term health of the business. Aveva has been investing heavily in products that, frankly, don't contribute meaningfully to the bottom line—a consequence of our growth through acquisitions. Strategic cuts in both product lines and headcount are sometimes unavoidable.

Cultural Reset
We've also had an issue with "primadonnas"—individuals from acquired companies asserting undue influence. I'm encouraged to see recent steps being taken to address this and restore balance within the organization.

Breaking Down Silos
Too many internal silos or "fiefdoms" have persisted, resisting change and clinging to outdated methods. It's time to move forward together. We now have leadership committed to steering us into a stronger, more unified future, but that requires alignment across the company.

I understand that layoffs are painful. But this is a business, and each of us is ultimately responsible for our own career path. If Aveva no longer aligns with your goals, it may be time to seek new opportunities. But if you're staying, commit to the mission, contribute fully, and be a true part of the team.

6 months salary would be considered good in the USA I am wondering if any US colleague can chime in.

I think the Severance package depends very much on the country you are based in. I´m based in Germany, was working for 10+ years for these a--holes and was offered 6 months salary (the taxes would cut it to around 40%) and a 6 month coaching at "Outplacment Services" (no idea what that is about).
In other words - Severance package is another big F U

CH can start his next book, How to Run a Company into the Ground.

1. Start with not understanding what products make any revenue
2. Not knowing or understanding your customer base
3. A straight 10% reduction of top earners (generally top performers)
4. Firing institutional knowledge
5. Firing sales people with 20M pipeline (because that $20M is not work the $25K extra we pay you)
6. Ki-ling interfaces to collect data and own data
7. Giving your data to Databricks because why would I want to control the one customer item that makes us valuable?
8. Spending $7M+ on a sales conference
9. Having 2 User Conferences in 12 months
10. Hiring Yes People into ELT roles

I'm trying to prepare for future waves myself and already looking at leaving this place, but surely there is someone out there who can fill us in on severance details? For those impacted do you just not know what severance is yet or is there none? Surely someone out there can chime in on this.

Leadership says while there are currently no plans for further layoffs, they can never guarantee there won’t be further layoffs. I wonder who will be next.

Any news on the Severance package? Gotta plan for an eventual Round 2.

I'm guessing that LATAM have different laws and procedures on layoffs that they had to follow? If not then it was known to be coming and perhaps they still had to identify who to impact. Someone called out earlier in the week in this thread that they were coming for LATAM.

Some of the LATAM support team is being laid off this morning. I thought the layoffs were already over. I'm really concerned. Have you heard anything?

Which ELT member typed the below post? You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. That's all I'm gonna say. Talent bolts out the door once they get experience.

It's well overdue. Goals have not been met, deliverables are dripping, no accountability. People don't even come to an office. Many coast and deliver nothing for days on end. Management accepts that. Now we all pay the price. It's not about who's liked, but about overall performance and productivity which are very low. Sad that great people pay the price too.

Wise words of advice for those who are going down a rabbit hole of thoughts:

1. The sooner you realize it had nothing to do with you, the sooner you’ll stop trying to win their game. It was out of your control.

2. The only guaranteed way to never get laid off is nepotism (be a relative of the CEO or ELT) or work for yourself.

3. I know people who dedicated decades of their lives to companies only to be sacked without notice by their employer.

4. Employers show no loyalty to employees, why should employees have any loyalty to their employers?

I thought their core company values included trust…

Are they not giving severance?

They fired someone that has an auto immune disease, a horrible one. How can they sleep at night?

Every internal survey they ask us if we feel that upper management is is handling things well and if we are moving in the right direction. Every survey I said no.

Too many acquisitions. Too many forced integrations. Too much push for the new with too little support for what got the company where it is. I work for the Wonderware division and I feel like we have been lost and forgotten, especially with the recent OSI acquisition.

And don't get me started with the AI nonsense that they have been trying to push on us.

It seems like my husband was chosen at random for the chopping block. HR and his manager said it had absolutely nothing to do with his performance. He was actually just recognized for doing a great job with a customer. My husband is well liked and it will definitely be a hit to the morale in his department. Sad that they seem to only care about the bottom dollar and not keeping good and loyal employees. This will backfire for them. They do not deserve my husband.

Wtf - no severance in the past? Pretty cruel.

With the current world economy, I don't believe they will stop at 10%. This might be just the first wave of layoffs. Hang on tight, friends, and good luck to us all!

Just found out my manager was laid off with no announcement made for replacement.

I've noticed this company will just copy whatever the top tech companies are doing in the industry. Doesn't really matter what the situation is. RTO, most recently requiring more office time, layoffs, etc. All things others in tech have already done this year.

They just blindly copy. Everything except the compensation packages of course.

Acquisition Team got hit, including a few VPs.
Also IT, Presales, R&D.

CH and his greed driven ELT minions are getting some heat and I think there’s an argument to be made about accountability when you lay off 10 percent of your employees because you got your strategy wrong.
A company’s employees should not be primarily responsible for bearing the burden of a company’s mistakes. Ultimately, it is the CEO who made the decisions that led the company to this place, and yet, it’s not the CEO who is held accountable.

Had another call with HR today and pointed out that there might some upcoming issues regarding a handover as:
my team is gone, my manager is gone and my managers manager is gone too :-P

Badly handled as usual from the whole management. Lots of rumors that the cuts aren’t done and more meetings to happened. My senior didn’t have a clue and looked like an id--t on our morning catch up

One of our hardest working and most dedicated team members in IT was let go. Kind of discouraging as he always went above and beyond.

Part of LATAM R&D is about to be terminated. Friday there will be a global C-level meeting. Things does not look good.

Has anyone been informed of the severance packages yet?