Layoffs

My good friend sent me a message today that his company just announced a third round of layoffs in two years. He received a meeting invite from his manager at midday, presumably to discuss his fate. I asked whether it was just his manager or also HR. Here's a tip if you're new to the corporate world: If you're invited to a meeting with an HR representative, it's not a good sign. Anyway, his meeting was only with his manager.

Before the meeting, he received an unexpected call from his VP. Turns out, his manager was released from the company without so much as a fare thee well, but my friend was assured that he is "an important part of the go forward plan."

I am convinced that anyone who has received a layoff with severance is incredibly lucky. I've never been laid off, but I've remained at companies after big layoffs, and it's not pretty. Suddenly, a significant number of people are gone, but the amount of work has stayed the same. This creates the condition I have referred to as "the living shall envy the dead." I told my friend it's the perfect time to negotiate, if he plans to remain with the company.