Layoffs are coming at my company. I want to volunteer instead of a co-worker. Problem is, I am not supposed to know

Question

About a week ago, I learned that my company was going to have imminent layoffs (think 2-3 weeks) through a friend in HR.

It’s not a surgical thing but more of a cost slashing exercise. Hiring freeze and cutting ~500 positions. Across the board cuts for the office.

When I heard this, I reached out to my network of recruiters to see what might be available and I have 5 interviews next week. All come with a raise in base salary as I have been lazy about job hopping and I can probably negotiate the salary higher as that is the base. Even if I get none of them, I have two years of savings and live cheaply. Senior software engineers will land somewhere.

My co-worker is less experienced. He’s an intermediate who retrained from another career. As a result he is older, has a family, a house, a pile of medical bills for his sick wife, etc. He has mentioned a few times of getting into payday loans over it. I helped him set up a convoluted cash flow management system a couple months ago.

I don’t actually know who is going and who is staying regarding the layoffs, but I’m ready with my parachute. I want to inform my boss that if the cost cutting requirement hits us, she should cut me over this guy.

Problem is, I am not sure who knows about the layoffs. The company sequestered HR away at a secondary location to plan them. My friend obviously was not supposed to tell me (the communication was offsite in a way that nobody would know). I am not even sure my boss knows or whether she would just be required to list people to be whacked.

My current scheme would be to refer my boss to a recruiter friend, tell them why she is available, who would then reach out to her and note that in their outreach. I I’ll say I got such a note as well.

Second option is an anonymous email to 50 different people in the organization. Provide sufficient proof that I know the building and such, and let the gossip network spread the info.

If I had any evidence beyond my friends word, I would inform the local media.

In either case, I have my opening to say “protect Tom (not real name), not me.”

I don’t know if quitting now would solve the problem because it seems like a cut in existing costs, so if I am off the salary table, there may still need to be a cut.

I’m basically looking for any other strategies I might use.

My priorities:

1. Making sure that the leak of information can’t be sent back to my HR friend (we don’t hang out at work or anything) or be blamed on my boss. I’ll fess up if required and say I overhead a conversation, but I’m not facing the CIA here. I haven’t done anything on company networks.
2. Protecting Tom and helping him keep his job, at least until he can seamlessly transition to a new one.
3. Ideally getting away with my severance check for being “laid off.” Free money!

Answer 1

I would prefer a simpler approach.

Ask for a 20 to 30% raise. Make sure HR is aware of your request.

That should be enough to get you on the list.

Also, I agree with Selbie. You should tell your friend about the incoming layoff. Better he prepares himself for the worse just in case. Nothing, you can do, can really guarantee 100% that your friend will be able to keep his job.

So if I were you, I wouldn't even try. After giving him a heads up about the highly probable layoff, I would just focus on my own needs. He's a fully grown adult. He's not even your partner or your own family member. And if you both get laid off, it doesn't really help either of you either.

Besides, as soon as you reach the stage of several in-person interviews a week, it's likely that your employer will begin to suspect that you're interviewing elsewhere anyway.

Answer 2

I want to volunteer instead of a co-worker

You can't.

During a layoff the people to be laid off are selected by a set of criteria that makes sense to the business in its current (difficult) situation and typically you have an ordered list of names.

You can certainly quit or volunteer once it's public knowledge, but you will only "save" the person that's on the last spot of the cut list. This will in all likelihood not be the person you are trying to protect. Chances are you're not going to save anyone, since layoff planning typically includes some amount of attrition, which is normal.

Companies use layoffs often to cut fat and get rid of poor performers or misfits. Generally they do NOT take volunteers, especially if the volunteer is a person they want to keep. Business needs to continue after the layoffs so the company wants to do this with the best possible set of people.

Answer 3

With ~500 people getting laid off it sounds like there is enough room for both of you on the cut list so I'm not quite sure there's a way to volunteer yourself in your colleague's stead.

Your real question boils down to:

How do I help my colleague avoid being laid off?

Quite frankly it's noble, but the answer is you're asking too little too late. Unless you're his supervisor then there is very little you can effectively do. Even if you were his supervisor, your hands may very well be tied behind your back anyways.

Right now is not the best time to burn bridges and paint a target on your back; you might need to use this job as a reference for a future job.

You can choose to give your colleague an anonymous tip about the layoff and let them handle it as they see fit but that could lead your colleague into a downward spiral.

You could and probably should ask your recruiters if they know of any openings which would suit your colleague's capacity.

If sacrificing your position would actually keep your colleague employed then you simply have to wait until the proverbial sh!t actually hits the fan because until that point you are the sh!t-flinger.

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For the time being, this is all hearsay. I recommend reading my answer about an unrelated situation. https://workplace.stackexchange.com/a/111444/17532

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If you truly want to expose this layoff ahead of schedule then consider this:

When a company such as Apple is working on a secret project, they will codename it different things to different people so that if a leak occurs they can narrow down who exposed the leak.

This very same practice may have been employed on your HR colleague: one person was told ~350 in 6 weeks, another ~400 next week, another was told ~500 in 3 months, and your colleague was told ~500 in 2-3 weeks.

Answer 4

You definitely shouldn't hint that you know layoffs are coming. That puts your friend in HR in a precarious position and may endanger their job and future at the company.

However, there are other ways to "make yourself" the target of layoffs without letting on you know.

1. Be public about the fact that you're interviewing
2. Request a large raise / better working conditions (not too large to be comical, but large enough to make them seriously balk, say 20-25%) (Note: do not do this unless you can stomach staying if they agree to it)
3. express other dissatisfaction with your job

Usually people who let this on are the first ones to be selected for layoff, all other things being equal. In the end there's no safe way of letting them know directly that you'd like to be in the layoff, so don't do it.

Answer 5

I'd say, there is no straightforward way to achieve point number 2 (which is also the heading of your question).

Usually, when a medium-to-large scale layoffs happen, there are primarily one of the two approaches taken:

• Either an entire business unit, department or office location is axed. This disregards the position, rank, achievements etc. When company wants to move out of a particular business stream / idea / domain - these approach is often noticed.
• Or, the layoff list is prepared based on certain criteria - (not necessarily in the given order) performance, salary drawn, scope of work for a particular domain / position from company business standpoint etc.

So, you can't know for sure if only Tom is going to be on the list, or you both are, or none of you. In the case where you are excluded and Tom is on the list, chances are slim that the company will be willing to switch their decision on the list based on your request / approach. Most likely, you'll be added to the list, but Tom will not be removed from the list (which defies the whole purpose of your question).

If you really want to help Tom, help him in other ways - introduce him to the recruiters or inform him of open positions you know of and probably help them in their interview process (technical knowledge sharing etc), more importantly, enable him.

Remember the old saying: "If you give someone a fish, you have fed them for a day, if you teach them how to fish, you have fed them for lifetime."

Answer 6

I had this exact same situation come up at a place I worked a few years back. I just went to my boss, told them I know layoffs are coming and that I volunteer to leave so my co-worker can remain stable.

That is it. No need to tell them how you know and if they ask just say that you heard it on the grapevine.

Answer 7

I read the other answers and for me they are missing one crucial point: Don't act on things that MIGHT happen.

Every action from your side will make it worse without the guarantee to make anything better:

First of all: You don't know if there really will be any layoffs within your department. And if there are then you don't know if there will be one, two or three people involved. And if there is only one person you cannot know that it will be your colleague.

Any actions that make you look "a good firing candidate" will do so even if none of the above is true: You might be fired without anyone planning to do so in before. And they may still decide to layoff your colleague...

So in the end you might end up layed off just to find out, that your department would not have been involved at all.

In the other hand: find out, whether your friend at HR is right or not or if there is any danger for your or your colleague will likely raise a red flag for information that is thought to be secret being distributed among employees: They will seek and find the reason for the leak and it will have consequences for your HR friend as well.

Wait until it is clear that something like that is going to happen and react then by volunteering... That is what I would do.

Answer 8

One place where I worked had the situation, and someone asked the question. The answer was "Everyone laid off gets a generous severance package. Anyone who quits gets nothing, and the same number of people will get laid off". I don't think that's unusual.

There were cases where a manager had to pick one or two out of five to be laid off. If you contacted them they were not supposed to pick you first but they might have. On the other hand the severance was generous, I found a better job quite quickly, so volunteering wouldn't necessarily have been appreciated.

Answer 9

Dismissing employees is not an easy task.

Having been involved in the process I can tell you there is no small amount of guilt in this. I'd have loved for one of those on my potential list to have come forward and let me know they had a parachute to catch them.

That being said you can only advise - getting on the list in the first place depends on things like the impact to the company if you left, how high your salary is and thus the size of the severance package, future projects you may not know about and the knowledge different people hold.

You can't get yourself to replace this person but letting your boss know you've got this parachute may help them decide to put you on the list...but it won't guarantee it.

Answer 10

I know little about corporate politics so I don't know what to recommend to you but there is one thing I want to say: if you can and are willing to protect your friend, I think it is worth it. Don't self-sabotage if you don't have to but I think this is a question of morality. Like other people are saying, be pragmatic. Maybe there truly is nothing you can do. But I feel like eternal ladder climbing is not as important as helping out someone who needs help. No career advancement, to me, is worth not helping someone out. You are in a position of privilege and I think it is the duty of those in privilege to help if they can.

Answer 11

I may get downvotes due the cynical view I present. However, as you have solid backup options lined up and your job function is quite in demand in the marketplace, I advise you to work as hard as you can with prospective employers to secure a written offer, and then simply provide standard notice to your current employer as normal.

As MonkeyZeus points out, you dont want to make yourself to be an easy target during this time, and anything can happen between now and when the layoffs take place. This can include your termination without any severance pay. Tom should have been preparing for possible layoffs. Being in tune with what is happening in the rest of the company is good, as well as having backup options so income is not strictly dependent on any one employer. It should be expected for one to stand on one's own feet and not expect a colleague to cover when covering may be irrational choice because again, spilling the beans here may result in your early termination.

In addition to being terminated for cause early, the fact you disclosed what may be sensitive business decision may cause lack of trust in future employers. They may think you may have difficulty keeping business secrets such as acquisition targets, customer lists, patents etc, and such concern would be entirely reasonable.

If there were to be layoffs at my company, I would not reasonably expect a colleague to take the hit when doing so may jeopardize their own job and result in termination for cause especially if you live in an at will state.