How do companies decide who to let go during layoffs?

Amazon
blind monk

Go to company page Amazon

blind monk
Nov 3, 2021 10 Comments

Asking for a friend at Zillow that joined recently, he's concerned about getting let go. Do companies use tenure as a key metric and target new hires first or do they use performance metrics and target low performers first?

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TOP 10 Comments
  • Amazon
    banana dev

    Go to company page Amazon

    banana dev
    Actually I usually see high tenure employees let go first

    And contractors don’t have their contracts renewed
    Nov 3, 2021 0
  • Zillow Group / Eng
    zi11ow

    Go to company page Zillow Group Eng

    zi11ow
    Cuts by biz/org are most common
    Nov 3, 2021 1
    • New
      SupGrinder

      New

      SupGrinder
      are you guys only cutting the offers org or across the entire company?
      Nov 3, 2021
  • IBM
    eDAi02

    Go to company page IBM

    eDAi02
    Used to work in restructuring.
    First to go are all contractors.
    Then local labor laws will dictate what approach is taken in determining layoff candidates.
    In the US, there aren’t labor laws protecting white collar employees. But companies will go to great lengths to avoid triggering discrimination claims or filing WARN act notices. So companies use a formula of performance (low performers lose legal standing with dismissal lawsuits) vs tenure vs race/gender to ensure the layoffs appear random enough to not trigger any legal action.
    Nov 3, 2021 1
  • GE
    n64gtfo

    Go to company page GE

    n64gtfo
    It doesn’t make sense to spend a huge amount of money hiring them to immediately get rid of them.
    Nov 3, 2021 0
  • In RIFs they eliminate roles, it is different from your annual layoff at Amazon, so those let go are of varying tenure length, experience, age, gender and other demographics.
    Nov 3, 2021 0