Just curious but how are layoffs conducted at BBs in the U.S? Do they tell you that you are getting cut during your mid year review conversations / permormance review conversations or are these randomly scheduled?
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Think you're mixing up 2 types of layoffs
"True" layoffs i.e. GS announcing they're going to lay off x,000 employees - this is put on your calendar at random, all impacted employees are notified in a single day or two. These sometimes impact top performing employees who have just gotten promoted/good reviews if they need to cut in their business area
Versus fired for being an underperforming employee as a one-off thing and not part of a larger headcount reduction - this is messaged to you in advance, either at review time or not, you are usually put on a performance improvement plan, and if you don't improve you are laid off. They can fire you for any reason but they usually document a performance improvement thing to get it in writing in case you try to sue
Thanks for the clarification on that! So, if you are an analyst at a BB who may be underperforming, is it always true that the underperformers will go through a PIP prior to being laid off or do BBs also lay off underperforming analysts on the spot randomly?
Also, how does one know if they are being put on a pip? How long is pip usually?
You may be targeted in a larger layoff round if underperforming, which the BBs are conducting somewhat frequently right now, so yeah you could technically be laid off on the spot but it's not common. if they are firing you for underperformance they will do a pip
PIPs generally 30-90 days and few people last beyond that. start looking (unless you are just really anxious and actually doing fine... has anyone told you that you're seriously underperforming?)
Especially now where we’re seeing a lot of 5-10% layoffs, they typically cut the underperformers at each level. It might not be formally communicated as such, but if there’s 10 VPs in a group and 2 need to get laid off, they’re going to lay off the 2 “worst”. Obviously that’s subjective and there’s politics involved, but unless the full group is getting cut the best performers are more safe
Gradually, then - suddenly
Not sure I’m following what you’re saying. Can you elaborate on this? Thanks!
If it’s a decent layoff (few Analyst/Associates), you’ll have a random meeting with a director or above scheduled for you (if you see an HR person in the room, you’re being fired.
If it’s a mass layoff, it’s your key card not working
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