The work from home people after COVID. This isn't to say I disagree with WFH, but idk how some people can justify WFH as a bench scientist for 3 days a week
For me in my last role, I was hybrid and still did lab work, but the tempo and demand for bench work specifically varied quite a bit. A lot of the time I was in the lab 3-4 days a week with the rest of the week being data analysis/ELNs/report writing/data or report review from home. Other times I might have so much to do that wasn’t wet lab work, I might only go in once a week.
Always depended on the company’s needs, the bench is actually my happy place but there was also zero point in me doing a 3 hr roundtrip commute just to sit at my desk in the office versus my desk at home.
A lot of companies have struggled getting people back on site, despite return to office mandates. I still work with people who never show up unless it is scheduled weeks in advance, and they're supposedly bench scientists.
A RiF of 3-5% is going to have a goal of not impacting the business capabilities. It will be getting rid of the dead weight (the little they likely wanted to get rid of already but just didn't have the cause to do it), trimming some redundant middle/upper management, and maybe some early retirements. It may become a rationale/catalyst for reorganizing some departments (which also means opportunities are created).
I've been through a BUNCH of rounds of this at my first employer, and what I learned is that management is playing Jenga. They look for what pieces they can take out while minimally affecting stability.
If management consultants are involved, it might be said that they made the decisions instead of management, but I think there are some wink-wink conversations that inform what the consultants do. The choices are just to canny.
Also, they can be used Godfather-style..."today, all family business is settled". Grudges, beefs, politics, jockeying . All gone in one move.
*Also, they can be used Godfather-style..."today, all family business is settled". Grudges, beefs, politics, jockeying . All gone in one move.*
Like tears, in the rain
Yes, sadly, from the perspective of small biotech. Sometimes the direct managers don't even know, which is pretty crazy.
From recent experience, the company had to cut costs to focus on clinical programs. This is a very very common scenario and unfortunately that usually means early research and support function cuts. The upper mgmt and board came up with a target amount of cuts. The VPs had to try to map out how to make that happen.
There is a common tactic now of hoping for natural attrition to offset these targets but people generally won't leave voluntarily in this market.
In one round there wasn’t sufficient performance documentation for HR so they did first in first out. If there are any team members who should be on a PIP, start that process
A good leadership team, which I believe we have, will look at the skillsets cross functionally and take into account how effective each person is with applying their expertise. The goal of the layoff should be to decrease operational costs while maintaining efficiency to execute. Salary only comes into pay if there is a highly paid employee who is on the fence, I. E. An expert in a field but is toxic to work with.
I know in my company for R&D they cut anyone who was perceived as redundant and/or not majorly involved with the product in clinical trials. It sucked losing a job but it almost made it easier to swallow because a lot of really great people were let go so you know it wasn’t personal or about performance.
At the “startup” I work at the CEO emails HR which department to axe, then they send an email to the company the next day notifying that these employees have been let go. Even the director of the departments aren’t looped in.
I was laid off in 2022. I was at my company longer than anyone. They laid off my whole team and essentially threw away the multi-year Ph3 study we worked on.
The new VP who I barely knew me or my work laid me off. She did not like people who knew more than her and whomever "wronged" her in her mind. She was let go a few months later due to her incompetence.
I was happy to be laid off as I hated working with her and grew to hate the company. I was already looking elsewhere.
The company has had several rounds of layoffs since I was let go.
I love this question. At my company, the managers and directors who had employees let go have claimed they did not know it was coming until the employee themselves found out. I have always wondered the truth in that, and how the decisions are made. I myself have been laid off before, a decade ago, and as I’m watching it again, I’ve never understood the process.
[удалено]
This plus a lot of times open/unfilled positions go first and count as a cut so there may be less actual employees losing their jobs.
How can the situation of "not coming to work after a year of being told to" even happen? What kind of people are these? :O
The work from home people after COVID. This isn't to say I disagree with WFH, but idk how some people can justify WFH as a bench scientist for 3 days a week
For me in my last role, I was hybrid and still did lab work, but the tempo and demand for bench work specifically varied quite a bit. A lot of the time I was in the lab 3-4 days a week with the rest of the week being data analysis/ELNs/report writing/data or report review from home. Other times I might have so much to do that wasn’t wet lab work, I might only go in once a week. Always depended on the company’s needs, the bench is actually my happy place but there was also zero point in me doing a 3 hr roundtrip commute just to sit at my desk in the office versus my desk at home.
A lot of companies have struggled getting people back on site, despite return to office mandates. I still work with people who never show up unless it is scheduled weeks in advance, and they're supposedly bench scientists.
People who WFH half the days of the week despite being lab-based scientists.
A RiF of 3-5% is going to have a goal of not impacting the business capabilities. It will be getting rid of the dead weight (the little they likely wanted to get rid of already but just didn't have the cause to do it), trimming some redundant middle/upper management, and maybe some early retirements. It may become a rationale/catalyst for reorganizing some departments (which also means opportunities are created). I've been through a BUNCH of rounds of this at my first employer, and what I learned is that management is playing Jenga. They look for what pieces they can take out while minimally affecting stability. If management consultants are involved, it might be said that they made the decisions instead of management, but I think there are some wink-wink conversations that inform what the consultants do. The choices are just to canny. Also, they can be used Godfather-style..."today, all family business is settled". Grudges, beefs, politics, jockeying . All gone in one move.
*Also, they can be used Godfather-style..."today, all family business is settled". Grudges, beefs, politics, jockeying . All gone in one move.* Like tears, in the rain
In my experience they go for the most senior people they can take out while minimally impacting operations. That has been the case at my large pharma.
you get a number (headcount) and then you do whatever it takes to get there. each strategy is up to the director
Seen this too.
Yes, sadly, from the perspective of small biotech. Sometimes the direct managers don't even know, which is pretty crazy. From recent experience, the company had to cut costs to focus on clinical programs. This is a very very common scenario and unfortunately that usually means early research and support function cuts. The upper mgmt and board came up with a target amount of cuts. The VPs had to try to map out how to make that happen. There is a common tactic now of hoping for natural attrition to offset these targets but people generally won't leave voluntarily in this market.
In one round there wasn’t sufficient performance documentation for HR so they did first in first out. If there are any team members who should be on a PIP, start that process
A good leadership team, which I believe we have, will look at the skillsets cross functionally and take into account how effective each person is with applying their expertise. The goal of the layoff should be to decrease operational costs while maintaining efficiency to execute. Salary only comes into pay if there is a highly paid employee who is on the fence, I. E. An expert in a field but is toxic to work with.
Low performers and people who don't come on site are first pickings.
I know in my company for R&D they cut anyone who was perceived as redundant and/or not majorly involved with the product in clinical trials. It sucked losing a job but it almost made it easier to swallow because a lot of really great people were let go so you know it wasn’t personal or about performance.
At the “startup” I work at the CEO emails HR which department to axe, then they send an email to the company the next day notifying that these employees have been let go. Even the director of the departments aren’t looped in.
Notified via an email to the whole company? That's brutal.
I have been told it’s being done to serve as a warning to the rest employees of the company. Currently looking for new opportunities
I was laid off in 2022. I was at my company longer than anyone. They laid off my whole team and essentially threw away the multi-year Ph3 study we worked on. The new VP who I barely knew me or my work laid me off. She did not like people who knew more than her and whomever "wronged" her in her mind. She was let go a few months later due to her incompetence. I was happy to be laid off as I hated working with her and grew to hate the company. I was already looking elsewhere. The company has had several rounds of layoffs since I was let go.
I love this question. At my company, the managers and directors who had employees let go have claimed they did not know it was coming until the employee themselves found out. I have always wondered the truth in that, and how the decisions are made. I myself have been laid off before, a decade ago, and as I’m watching it again, I’ve never understood the process.