> ... individual performance is almost never a factor in actual layoffs
They always are.
High performers aren't getting let go, even if they are in department being cut, they will be moved.
They always are.
High performers aren't getting let go, even if they are in department being cut, they will be moved.
Wishful thinking. I just survived (yet another) round of layoffs. They are desperate to bring headcount down. If a whole team is being cut, everyone goes.
It's really a question of how flexible upper management is in the numbers they set out. If there's wiggle room - sure. They will try to find a place in an adjacent team. But if the whole department is getting slashed, there is no adjacent team.
CTOs don’t care about productivity at IC level. I have seen plenty of high performers getting laid off with rest of their teams.
Sometimes a company decides a specific market it’s worth it and every single programmer in the company is let go. Sometimes companies decide everything making over X$ in a position isn’t worth keeping etc.
Dude, no. This is just wishful thinking.
I've seen critical employees get laid off without any backup plan or even knowledge of what these employees do. When those critical tasks then don't get performed I've seen laid off employees be called and begged to come back because there's no one left who even knows how to perform those critical tasks.
Layoffs rarely make sense. I've been though multiple rounds of:
"Our administration costs are too high, layoff 20% of them."
"Oh wait, admin work is not getting done. We need more admin staff, hire"
"Our administration costs are too high, layoff 20% of them."
Ad nauseam.
They you have firings of whole sections.
Aaaand people with highest salaries are let go to save more movey. Some of them are actually high performers.
And then you have layoffs by managers who decides who stays based on printed code people presented ...