Thread regarding Accenture Ltd. layoffs

I was let go in 2008, this was in the middle of the downturn and roles were hard to find. I was on the bench for about 12 weeks and a meeting with an SE was scheduled on a Friday around 2:30 p.m. I got a brief intro covering how difficult it is out there, no projects, etc. I was rated "Significantly Above" that year and I was really surprised with the announcement - I assumed that ACN will be cutting only people flagged "Below" and in some cases "Consistent With". Needless to say, the layoff was a HUGE surprise. Yet, ACN prepares you really well and I was able to find work in less than a month. The new job paid more, I am able to leave my laptop at work, I do not get calls on weekends and if work is not done, there is always tomorrow - so pressure from a deadline perspective is much less. Layoffs are not that frequent at Accenture given the size of the company. Accenture invests into each resource tens of thousands of dollars and the company simply does not want to have job cuts if they do not need to. Overall, even though I had a very biter layoff experience, I still think that the process worked fine, I was treated with respect and things were smooth. Good luck to everyone!