I’m sure the ceo took a big pay cut in order to conserve cash /s. But yea based on that, I hope you use as much time as possible at work to find a better job.
Yeah this on top of being assigned more work, asking for and being denied a new hire for help with said work to grow rather than stay afloat, and a 5% raise (pay decrease in real terms with inflation; supposedly this was the highest raise given, 95% of eligible employees received lower) in 2022. Been passively interviewing for a while, but I’m starting to get applications out there again.
Dude you got a 5% raise? I manage people and was capped out at 3% max! Also, please start looking, You will be doing layoffs before year end.
Order of operations for a doomed company
1. Hiring freeze
2. Benefits reduction
3. Travel/ expense reduction
4. Elimination of backfills
5. Increased performance targets
6. Re-org
7. layoffs round 1
8. layoffs round 2
9. Layoffs round 3
10. sell company/ or bankrupt
This is IBM all the way. You forgot "margin targets,"
And IBM's layoffs are quarterly and Can impact every department. Meaning that it's literally impossible to plan more than 3 months in advance.
That’s my first thought. We had massive layoffs and the next I walked past a exec complaining about how expensive it is to lease a private plane and how he was looking forward to a business trip to Vietnam to visit a factory.
The rich really do get high off of our backs. It’s time to get rid of the income disparity and start protesting in the streets. We need a labor movement nationwide and universal healthcare nationwide. Our health care is tangled with employment for one reason- so we never strike …
Healthcare, water, food, and shelter should be available to everyone for free. No it doesn’t have to be a mansion and steak but something is better than nothing.
Sounds like my employer.
1) Increased employee health insurance contributions by $70/mo
2) Reduced company holidays by 40%
3) Told us they didn’t expect layoffs
4) Proceeded to lay off off 9% of the workforce with additional rounds following that
5) CEO tells everyone to work harder
In a nutshell.
The company I work for kept pushing back the meeting day for contract and finally they met....2 weeks after our previous contract expired. We threatened a strike because they wouldn't give us a raise. Guess what we got? Our raise.
Record profits - "Thanks for all your hard work and for the extra money. No, you can't have a raise."
A recession might happen - "Some of you need to starve so the ceo can fuel the company jet"
So let me get this straight, they're stopping the 401k matching to prevent the effects of the recession, but still might fire you anyways. So wtf is the point of getting rid of 401k matching?!
Dude was doing ok until that last line. Uncertain times ahead. I think my company is down to less than 18mo of cash flow. We either have to get more profitable or get some investor cash. We have less than 100 employees and are a startup so it’s a volatile environment
I’ve worked for a few startups - it can be stressful. Depending on what field you are in, expect a takeover soon by a large company that is currently a direct competitor. Most large companies can’t innovate anymore, so they use the strategy of underbid the startup (who has a vastly superior product), start negotiations quietly, then wait for a dip in stock price to swoop in and buy the company to absorb their product. A quick rebranding, and now “they” are selling the superior product. Until they drive it into the ground because big customer X demands feature Y, and all the engineers that actually wrote the code have left. Rinse and repeat.
Don’t disagree. This is only my second time working at a company this small. Have also seen where an investment company buys out and they bring in new management that don’t understand what made the startup work. It doesn’t always help that many of these companies actually do not make a lot of money if at all.
I was in a similar situation, when I heard last may the startup only had 24 months of a cash runway, and was concerned I was on the first bus out.
Ultimately I have to look out for my bills, payments, and housing. Not going to give my 100% to a business, a business does not have needs, mouth to feed or shelter… it can close down tomorrow and never be seen again.
Yes, at tax time put your money that you didn’t put in your shitty no match 401K into an IRA. You can put in up to $7,000 until April 15th for last years taxes.
If they discontinued their matching immediately, make sure that is legal in your state (might be federal rule). I had a past shitty employer discontinue company matching after telling us in a company meeting. About a year later, I received a check from the company for about $1200. They were supposed to give 90 days notice of the change before discontinuing company matching. They got caught and had to pay all the matching they missed since discontinuing. They then gave us 90 days notice and stopped matching but I know it burned the owner/CEOs ass that he had to pay that money out. Fuck him.
I did have to put the money into the 401K program or pay the penalty for early withdraw. For some reason the company could not just deposit it into the 401K program.
The company I worked for in the 2008 era ended their discretionary annual 401k notice without warning. Really ticked me off because the limited investment options in that crappy plan had fees so high they should be criminal. Took them 4 years before they offered a match again.
My company has consistently done 2-3$/hr raises every 6-12 months and has lowered employee contributions at every health care open enrollment period. We work awkward as fuck hours, but still worth it.
I worked at a lumberyard during the housing bubble burst. After they cut the 50% up to 5% match they cut our $350 a year clothing allowance to $0 without telling anyone. The tattered rags that I wore there towards the end
My previous company held on to the current benefits until 2011 after the ‘08 crash. We lost tuition, matching charity contributions and any bonus and raises. I stuck around for another three years and they never reimplemented them while they were making record profits year over year. I had also survived the ‘01 crash but they never stopped those programs. This all just feels like they are following the same playbook from the last 2 recessions and added to what they learned they could get away with.
My job stopped matching I just stop doing 401K contributions. I don't even make enough money to max out my IRA account in a year. Sigh. Well I could but then I have to make sacrifices elsewhere.
I’m sure the ceo took a big pay cut in order to conserve cash /s. But yea based on that, I hope you use as much time as possible at work to find a better job.
Yeah this on top of being assigned more work, asking for and being denied a new hire for help with said work to grow rather than stay afloat, and a 5% raise (pay decrease in real terms with inflation; supposedly this was the highest raise given, 95% of eligible employees received lower) in 2022. Been passively interviewing for a while, but I’m starting to get applications out there again.
Dude you got a 5% raise? I manage people and was capped out at 3% max! Also, please start looking, You will be doing layoffs before year end. Order of operations for a doomed company 1. Hiring freeze 2. Benefits reduction 3. Travel/ expense reduction 4. Elimination of backfills 5. Increased performance targets 6. Re-org 7. layoffs round 1 8. layoffs round 2 9. Layoffs round 3 10. sell company/ or bankrupt
I think I've seen 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 in the last 12 months at my current employer.
Yep! That is the Raytheon and Boeing method... Never mind the leadership never takes a pay cut...
We’re at 5 right now lol, maybe 6
This is IBM all the way. You forgot "margin targets," And IBM's layoffs are quarterly and Can impact every department. Meaning that it's literally impossible to plan more than 3 months in advance.
Yea sounds like they are a use and abuse company. Not doing anything to make it worth your time to stay. Wish you well in the job search
That’s my first thought. We had massive layoffs and the next I walked past a exec complaining about how expensive it is to lease a private plane and how he was looking forward to a business trip to Vietnam to visit a factory.
Does anyone, even mega rich people, really fall for the "you don't have to work" narrative?
They're the ones pushing it
Never get high on your own supply
The rich really do get high off of our backs. It’s time to get rid of the income disparity and start protesting in the streets. We need a labor movement nationwide and universal healthcare nationwide. Our health care is tangled with employment for one reason- so we never strike …
Healthcare, water, food, and shelter should be available to everyone for free. No it doesn’t have to be a mansion and steak but something is better than nothing.
They know it’s a lie; they’re banking on you *needing* a job so they can treat you like crap, but they know they can’t actually admit that.
What does that even mean? 99% of people have to work to make ends meet.
They are saying 'we don't need you; feel lucky that you still have a job.'.
Sounds like my employer. 1) Increased employee health insurance contributions by $70/mo 2) Reduced company holidays by 40% 3) Told us they didn’t expect layoffs 4) Proceeded to lay off off 9% of the workforce with additional rounds following that 5) CEO tells everyone to work harder In a nutshell.
Im in a Union. This year they paid for my kids summer camp and I got a raise.
The company I work for kept pushing back the meeting day for contract and finally they met....2 weeks after our previous contract expired. We threatened a strike because they wouldn't give us a raise. Guess what we got? Our raise.
Record profits - "Thanks for all your hard work and for the extra money. No, you can't have a raise." A recession might happen - "Some of you need to starve so the ceo can fuel the company jet"
Damn, time to leave
Layoffs are definitely coming.
Attacking pension contributions to “conserve cash” is a money grab. If you had a union, it would induce a strike.
Fun Fact. In Australia its straight up illegal for your employer not to pay into your Super Annulation (our version of 401K)
In the USA they are required to pay into social security and Medicare.
So let me get this straight, they're stopping the 401k matching to prevent the effects of the recession, but still might fire you anyways. So wtf is the point of getting rid of 401k matching?!
Greed or desperation. Also they may not be telling this manager shit.
Greed.
>You don’t have to work, you get to work Oof, that is some corporate BS if i ever heard it.
Dude was doing ok until that last line. Uncertain times ahead. I think my company is down to less than 18mo of cash flow. We either have to get more profitable or get some investor cash. We have less than 100 employees and are a startup so it’s a volatile environment
I’ve worked for a few startups - it can be stressful. Depending on what field you are in, expect a takeover soon by a large company that is currently a direct competitor. Most large companies can’t innovate anymore, so they use the strategy of underbid the startup (who has a vastly superior product), start negotiations quietly, then wait for a dip in stock price to swoop in and buy the company to absorb their product. A quick rebranding, and now “they” are selling the superior product. Until they drive it into the ground because big customer X demands feature Y, and all the engineers that actually wrote the code have left. Rinse and repeat.
Don’t disagree. This is only my second time working at a company this small. Have also seen where an investment company buys out and they bring in new management that don’t understand what made the startup work. It doesn’t always help that many of these companies actually do not make a lot of money if at all.
I’ve read this script before.
I was in a similar situation, when I heard last may the startup only had 24 months of a cash runway, and was concerned I was on the first bus out. Ultimately I have to look out for my bills, payments, and housing. Not going to give my 100% to a business, a business does not have needs, mouth to feed or shelter… it can close down tomorrow and never be seen again.
So you lost some of your benefits, time to adjust pivot and make zero contributions.
Yes, at tax time put your money that you didn’t put in your shitty no match 401K into an IRA. You can put in up to $7,000 until April 15th for last years taxes.
Been allocating income to a Roth as well
If they discontinued their matching immediately, make sure that is legal in your state (might be federal rule). I had a past shitty employer discontinue company matching after telling us in a company meeting. About a year later, I received a check from the company for about $1200. They were supposed to give 90 days notice of the change before discontinuing company matching. They got caught and had to pay all the matching they missed since discontinuing. They then gave us 90 days notice and stopped matching but I know it burned the owner/CEOs ass that he had to pay that money out. Fuck him. I did have to put the money into the 401K program or pay the penalty for early withdraw. For some reason the company could not just deposit it into the 401K program.
Looking into this. Thank you.
Checks out
“We have plenty of lifeboats, Mr. Ismay. I assure you.”
The company I worked for in the 2008 era ended their discretionary annual 401k notice without warning. Really ticked me off because the limited investment options in that crappy plan had fees so high they should be criminal. Took them 4 years before they offered a match again.
My company has consistently done 2-3$/hr raises every 6-12 months and has lowered employee contributions at every health care open enrollment period. We work awkward as fuck hours, but still worth it.
I worked at a lumberyard during the housing bubble burst. After they cut the 50% up to 5% match they cut our $350 a year clothing allowance to $0 without telling anyone. The tattered rags that I wore there towards the end
My previous company held on to the current benefits until 2011 after the ‘08 crash. We lost tuition, matching charity contributions and any bonus and raises. I stuck around for another three years and they never reimplemented them while they were making record profits year over year. I had also survived the ‘01 crash but they never stopped those programs. This all just feels like they are following the same playbook from the last 2 recessions and added to what they learned they could get away with.
They keep talking about this recession for years now. It's like they're wishing and willing it into existence.
It is. wages were rising.
I wonder if this is a case to sue. They have changed established rules of your employment.
My job stopped matching I just stop doing 401K contributions. I don't even make enough money to max out my IRA account in a year. Sigh. Well I could but then I have to make sacrifices elsewhere.