This is by design. If an organization is going to layoff 100 or more employees, under the US Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, they are required to provide 60 days advanced notice. Companies get around this legislation through small non-incremental layoffs.
Plant Closing: A covered employer must give notice if an employment site (or one or more facilities or operating units within an employment site) will be shut down, and the shutdown will result in an employment loss (as defined later) for 50 or more employees during any 30-day period. This does not count employees who have worked less than 6 months in the last 12 months or employees who work an average of fewer than 20 hours a week for that employer. These latter groups, however, are entitled to notice (discussed later).
Mass Layoff: A covered employer must give notice if there is to be a mass layoff which does not result from a plant closing, but which will result in an employment loss at the employment site during any 30-day period for 500 or more employees, or for 50-499 employees if they make up at least 33% of the employer's active workforce. Again, this does not count employees who have worked less than 6 months in the last 12 months or employees who work an average of fewer than 20 hours a week for that employer. These latter groups, however, are entitled to notice (discussed later).
An employer also must give notice if the number of employment losses which occur during a 30-day period fails to meet the threshold requirements of a plant closing or mass layoff, but the number of employment losses for 2 or more groups of workers, each of which is less than the minimum number needed to trigger notice, reaches the threshold level, during any 90-day period, of either a plant closing or mass layoff. Job losses within any 90-day period will count together toward WARN threshold levels unless the employer demonstrates that the employment losses during the 90-day period are the result of separate and distinct actions and causes.
If you have been paying attention to the news on April 12, 2018, Elliott Managment Corporation, the worlds largest activist fund, announced it was providing Micro Focus with a cash infuse, purchasing just under 5% of the company's stock.
Elliott said it believes Micro Focus should divest its SUSE Linux business and sell the rest of the company to a private equity firm. On July 1, 2018, Micro Focused announced its intent to sell SUSE Linux. A person must be very naive or live under a rock to believe these two announcements are a coincidence.
It is naive to believe Micro Focus senior management did not agree to these terms with Elliott before the cash infusion. Elliot is calling the shots not the Micro Focus board of directors. It does not matter what your contribution is or has been if you are legacy HP/HPE you have a target on your back. Micro Focus makes its money by selling software licenses. Support and maintenance contracts are not a huge revenue generator. Educational and professional services are not large revenue generators and historically have not been key to Micro Focus' business model.
If Micro Focus can convince MSPs to provide education and services around its products for a nominal partner fee and can get other partners to sell its products then it significantly reduces its human capital expenses. If it takes is "back office" staff and move it to countries such as Costa Rica, Mexico, Romania, Bulgaria, etc. it can pay them a fraction of what it pays people in the US.
Reducing human capital and increasing license sales is what will make it an attractive investment for a private equity firm, and the senior managers will be paid a nice sum of money, just like Meg was rewarded for dismantling HP/HPE.