Thread regarding FactSet Research Systems Inc. layoffs

It's not a zero-sum game, there are many ways to drive business growth while protecting employees. That shouldn't be a radical concept to anyone.

I'm not against growth. I'm against unrealistic expectations of perpetual growth that is simply not sustainable. Likewise the lack of flexibility - one doesn't need a PhD to know that once the Gaza/Israel situation imploded, we weren't going to meet the guidance that was set long before the war occurred.

It's the same idea of creating a 12-month-long roadmap and then getting disappointed when you didn't meet all deliverables after people left the firm. Setting goals and guidance are very much a point-in-time snapshot.

Another element - if the ELT are true capitalists, fine - then be that way. Don't gaslight your employees into thinking you care about them then stab them in the back. We don't need to pay vendors like Grokker and Yammer, Linkedin Learning, and everything else. I'd be fascinated to see how much we really spend on all that.

@WingeBagsUtd, what's your problem with unionise?

@WingeBagUtds, How would you feel if, out of all people, you were the one who let go?

No the problem was you could not tolerate any criticism and you started the insults, so I only gave you a taste of your own medicine. Please don’t play a victim, the reality is you’re on a public site screaming about some kind of social injustice yet you want the benefits of a growth firm. You cannot have both, either leave or get with the programme, our clients would not tolerate such nonsense, if you want to redefine economics go somewhere else. The founders of this firm were capitalists not socialists.

That right there is the problem. Even though I don't agree with anything you're saying and found the jokes off-color, I don't want you to get let go. I don't want anyone to get let go just so the company can hit some fictitious margin % that means nothing in the larger context.

Then answer my question - who is looking out for the interest of the employees?

You are just a number on a spreadsheet, nothing more. Look back at the layoffs this summer and tell me if everyone who was let go deserved to be let go? There were some top-notch performers laid off.

The executives are raking in millions and refuse to give up a fraction of their bonuses to keep people employed, the people who are there to make them money?? So instead of getting pissy with people who are worried about their child care, mortgages, and living expenses, why don't you direct that anger towards executive leadership?

The company pays <$10 per day for lunch, big whoop. That's a drop in the bucket. That amount hasn't changed in the last 10 years, either.

Yeah, what the F.... do you realize NO one is looking out for the interests of the employees...? HR is solely meant to protect the interests of the company.

Anti-union rhetoric is so typical to hear of a privileged individual. Get outta here.

Though there will rightly be heavy emotions and anger about layoffs, some of the comments here are f*cking crazy. Unionise seriously ? Go join TFL

What a time to be alive. Have to look over our shoulder for looming lay off. Finger cross your team isn't redundant to the bean counter and ELT.

Every team have a backlog, but that doesn't matter.

If you're reading this thinking, "it can't happen to me, I'm a great performer" think again. No one is safe unless maybe you're working on one of their star strategic initiatives (Gen AI, for now.. They always find a shiny new coin and forget about their last treasure if it's not meeting unrealistic expectations.

It's not us against each other, it should be us against the ELT. Why do they deserve to rake in their bonuses while lowly employees struggle with child care, mortgages, and living expenses?

I bet there is a huge spike in the number of PIPs issued in the last month...I would love to see the stats! It's no coincidence that they announce redundancies and issue BS PIPs...

Confirming heard the PIP thing too.

What power do we have as employees? Do we go to the media? Do we speak with a union organizer?

Hello. I've heard a number of people have been put on PIPs without any indication that their performance is not as expected! Basically this a way for FDS to make people resign so they don't have pay redundancy.
DON'T GIVE IN! It's not fair and against ACAS (for UK employees) policy.

Love the sentiment in the previous post - thank you for voicing your thoughts and what everyone else is thinking!!! Problem with striking when not in a union is that you can get fired unless everyone joins together, but there's always going to be boot-lickers who use that opportunity to tattle or to double up on working hard to make themselves feel self-important / self-preservation. One thing is for sure, we need to unite - otherwise the gaslighting will only continue.

Agreed. What the ELT is doing here is a text-book definition of mobbing. If en employee, say a manager, keeps a direct report under psychological pressure for months, that direct report would have the right to complain about the manager. What the ELT have been doing for the past 2-3 months is the same thing; nothing but mobbing. How can people work under this pressure and fear of being fired while the ELT couldn't care less about what's going on ? Especially these layoffs are NOT the employees' fault but a direct result of the ELT's own lack of decision-making and skills.

If people don't stand-up and keep their silence, this will never end. We will be taking the fall for their mistakes while they're raking their millions without being hold accountable of ANY of their mistakes.

Let's make one thing clear; The ELT couldn't care less about people and their families UNLESS things can eventually bother them. Your 3-month-old baby is cold and hungry ? The ELT couldn't care less. You can't pay your mortgage/student debt ? The ELT couldn't care less. You're on work visa and about to be deported from the country you've been living ? The ELT couldn't care less.

In the long term, yes, a union is a must, but in the short term I believe we need to be organized to make our voices heard because otherwise they clearly couldn't care less. We need to make sure they're being bothered. That's the only course of action that will make them hold accountable of their actions, just like any of us would be. Otherwise, nothing will change.

We have a constitutional right to strike. For that, I believe team leads, managers, directors, people in more senior roles are needed to be the leaders. If we stop working for certain days of the week (say Tuesday, Thursday), that can signal the ELT that things will eventually bother them and then I'm pretty sure they won't ignore people anymore. Otherwise, things being written here without any action is not going to save anyone or change anything.

We need a union - how can we get one started? HR looks out for interest of the company, no one looks out for interest of employees. With a union we could gain some control and protection back from unfair decisions! Someone needs to hold the ELT accountable.

I feel like the main point here, and what people find extremely disturbing, is not actually not being able to see the recording itself. It's their attitude towards people along the process. They refuse to share it with everyone without even feeling the need to justify and they don't even bother hearing people about it. Everyone asking for it is being publicly shutdown (refer to the yammer threat), which is very wrong not to mention incredibly unprofessional. So I feel like it's these atrocities making people furious.

Since from the beginning they have been coming across as extremely rude, unprofessional, dishonest and, frankly, very dictator-like. First they said there will be 3% layoffs and then now there's another round being announced and this time they won't even share a recording and let people know how many people will be impacted and if you question that, well, look at the yammer threat, that's the treatment you'll get. You'll be ignored by the Senior Communications Manager...

The fact that these inapt people are running the company is a massive problem for the future as well. We'll be looking at even more rounds of layoffs in the coming months. I'd say at least 2 more rounds within this year alone and they might do them without even without announcing because that would be the logic I'd expect from these dishonest people.

Additional 34 views since yesterday so people aren't actually seeing it or requests aren't being approved.

Asking the ELT to please have some pity - the job market is brutal.

Your employees who worked tirelessly to make you money have kids, mortgages, health expenses. Please just shift people to new projects that you see fit, don't let them go.

Go to Yammer and look at the blunder of how they straight-up gaslit people. Almost 4k employees have seen the Yammer thread so far.