DEBATE: Laid off or resign? (urgent)
Hearing conflicted opinions on this so wanted to ask
Currently analyst at a bank in London, was informed a few weeks ago that I would be laid off after some legally required period of x days. Now some people I talked to who are in the same situation have decided to resign before being formally laid off, so that future background checks show that they left voluntarily rather than being made redundant.
However, by resigning, they renounce to the severance package.
My questions:
- Do background checks show the reason of departure?
- Will future employers (buyside most importantly) care even if the redundancy was 100% economic?
How does the severance package look economically speaking ?
I'd rather be safe than sorry. Easier to provide reasons why you resigned than why you were laid off.
The last AC for FT positions in a bank I was interning at (MM London) was composed of lots of people that were fired in the last cycle (GS, Nomura, etc.). None of them were hired
Just my two cents as you'll never know what would potentially trigger your future employer
As in fired or just didn't get return offer?
Take the severance. So many people have been laid off in the last 12 months it is not much of a blemish and easily explainable. Even if you resign most future interviewers will assume you have been laid off anyway regardless of what you say. You don’t know how long the job hunt will take and will want the severance. Very little upside to resigning and forgoing it.
Agree with this - everyone knows the market sucks right now. Your resume will say 2023 laid off and everyone will remember that this year was a shitshow so not as big of a deal as some people may think.
If you resign, it will look like you got pushed out.
Also, better to have severance in this shit market.
Your resume doesn’t have to say anything about a lay off and there’s really no such thing as permanent record. You get laid off, you’ll probably have to address it in this round of interviews, and then never again
Happy to bump and hear views from others given that this is actually an important topic
simply resigning with no job lined up 100% screams that you tried to avoid "laid off" tag or were pushed out. the only way this works is if you go travel for 6 months and come back and go to different line of work like corporate, then you can spin it.
take severance
the european job market is a irredeemable burning shit show, the majority interviewers (there are a few retarded ones, usually ex HSBC or the like) will not give a shit about it
Take severance
I was laid off years ago as an analyst. Shit market too. I spent 5 minutes explaining situation and nobody cared that much. Take the money, don’t make that gift to the employer who’s getting rid of you.
Unless you were fired for misconduct or breach of fiduciary duty etc, your employer cannot legally say whether you resigned or laid off - they can only provide two things on a background reference check - your official job title (though not description) and the dates you worked at the firm. You can craft whatever story you want around this. 100% take the severance package
To add to this, if you were fired for misconduct, they can only legally disclose the reason if a regulatory reference comes in (which will only be sent if you apply for a regulated role). All BBs require a regulatory reference, but some boutique banks dont require juniors to be regulated alongside most PE firms and HFs
OP, 100% take the money.
As others have said, it's a tough market and most people will understand + your bank cannot legally disclose you were cut as long as it was purely a RIF and not due to some breach.
Some headhunters may find out even if you don't want to, e.g. Blackwood who closely monitor departures. However, that's something that you cannot control - and it would not make a difference to resign now that you've been formally put at risk and the cat is out of the bag (unless only seniors are aware right now? Then you may have a window)
If you are FINRA-licensed, it will show why you left.
No FINRA in London
If you get fired it shows up on brokercheck
No FINRA in London
Take the money, severance package in the UK is tax free up to 30k gbp, it will be like receiving a bonus
Echoing the above, OP, take the money.
Especially given the ridiculous cost of living in London, any severance is welcomed; especially if you're going to be reliant on it to keep you afloat for the next few months. Being made redundant obviously isn't great, but given the market is a shit-show, employers/recruiters will be more-receptive in the coming months.
Try and to get another job in Corporate Finance or another tangential field to keep you afloat before the market picks up again (assumingly this will be Q1 '24, but at this point, who knows).
Thanks everyone, took the money.
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