Layoffs - What Actually Happens?
Does HR drive this or can MDs and Group heads protect juniors from layoffs or light layoffs disguised as pruning underperformers?
I have read conflicting reports of middle or even top bucket people getting cut and am starting to get concerned given how unpredictable HR can be. I am in a lean coverage group so I think I am an unlikely candidate... but announced deals are down more than usual because of the market and I have heard horror stories about our HR. Please help calm my anxiety.
For big layoffs in the thousands there is certainly some degree of randomness... especially juniors, you don't generate any revenue and few people are truly bottom bucket. Vast majority of people are mid/upper mid bucket and they can't sit there with every single staffer across hundreds of thousands of employees splitting hairs over which mid-bucket analyst should get cut. A lot of the light layoffs are more targeted, often underperforming groups or seniors - but if you are not meeting your minimum days in the office or other easy things like that, you should be cleaning that up
There's no use worrying about it. Just show up and do your best
It's coordinated but not directly related to performance. You can have high performance let go simply because of redundancy (could be a higher performer that picks up his/her work or a combination of multiple, lower salaried juniors that could do it). Make no mistake, layoffs are intended to "cut the fat," and that definitely includes lower performers.
Typically group heads / COOs are asked to cut X number of heads. Seniority levels of headcount reductions are set, but they may have some flexibility.
Each group knows if they are over/understaffed (relative to normal times - in 2021 everyone was understaffed and in 2022 overstaffed) and how many people they need (or think they need) at each level.
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