Microsoft Offers Underperformers Cash To Quit (businessinsider.com) 60
Microsoft has instituted a new "globally consistent" performance improvement process. According to internal documents, employees flagged as underperformers now face two options: enter a performance improvement plan with "clear expectations and a timeline for improvement" or accept a "Global Voluntary Separation Agreement" worth 16 weeks' pay.
Affected employees have five days to decide, and those choosing the improvement plan forfeit the severance option. The program, announced in an email from new Chief People Officer Amy Coleman, operates year-round to "address performance issues, while offering employees choice."
Affected employees have five days to decide, and those choosing the improvement plan forfeit the severance option. The program, announced in an email from new Chief People Officer Amy Coleman, operates year-round to "address performance issues, while offering employees choice."
Re:DOGE is infectious (Score:4, Informative)
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In Canada the usual severance (common law precedence - not what is written in the Labour relations Act is what really matters) is 4 weeks pay for each full year of service. So if you have been there for 5 full years, you should get 5 weeks of severance (with full pay & benefits during those 5 weeks) - this can be larger if you're older or have other factors that may make it more difficult to get another job (disabilities etc). Always consult a good and experienced employment lawyer (not just some random
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No, doge is the public sector acting like the private sector.. not the other way around
No, DOGE cuts based on ideology and with the goal of saving short-term money regardless of long-term effects. Private equity does the same, but without the ideology part. Some companies are strategic with cuts, and others try to mimic private equity.
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"DOGE cuts based on ideology and with the goal of saving short-term money regardless of long-term effects"
aside from AI investment, you just described the private tech sector pretty well. DOGE is the public sector now, like it or not, and it's full of dipshits making short-sighted decisions and pining to "run things like a business" like Meg Whitman said. (and repubs love it)
That's generous (Score:3)
Look, sometimes you accept a job thinking it's one thing only to find it's another. You don't fit, your skillset isn't quite right, the job description has more lines to read between than you realize. This should prevent lawsuits and bad feelings. And, it's liable to be pretty costly... hopefully Microsoft's shareholders don't mind.
Probably not actually (Score:3)
With Microsoft it might also be a way to get rid of some of the expensive local talent so they can bring in more h-1bs. The current administration has already said they are all in on the H-1B program. So I suspect Microsoft is gearing up to replace local talent with employees they can overwork and burn out and easily replace.
If there was actual competition they would have to worry
Re:Probably not actually (Score:4, Informative)
So typically stuff like this is a way to get older employees out the door without risking an age discrimination lawsuit.
We hear this a lot, that the Young people are the ones who know how things are, that if you are over 50, you have no tech savvy.
Yet here I am at 70, having the technical chops and the ability to get things done, still working and still sought out. No brag, just fact.
While I "retired" before GenZ came online, it was always amusing to deal with the Millenials, who showed up believing that anyone their parents age was a troglodyte, and then finding out I knew more about what they were trying to do than they ever would. As well - their social skills were lacking.
Some older folks to decide to stall their learning process, but most of us just carry on. The only reason that we might be encouraged to leave is that we cost more than an entry level person. The place I retired from found that didn't work, and the place I'm at now understands that trying to hire cheap doesn't work well.
Re: it's not that (Score:2)
The Plan (Score:2)
1) Get hired by Microsoft.
2) Do a crappy, half-assed job.
3) Profit!
Re: The Plan (Score:1)
1 month of work for 4 months of pay sounds like a win.
Re: The Plan (Score:2)
Secret (Score:2)
This isn't news-worthy, this is basically standard operating procedure for companies that have HR departments.
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Most companies have no idea who is an "under-performer".
Standard procedure is that you are "laid off". Being given a plan of improvement or being paid to exit as an option, is HIGHLY irregular.
Re: Secret (Score:2)
Many companies demand managers assign employees to categories according to a ratio. The worst companies slap a culture of paranoia, backstabbing and cronyism on top so managers give bad scores for reasons that are nothing to do with competence.
PIP means you are going to be fired (Score:5, Insightful)
Take the money and find a new job if you work for Microsoft USA
PIPs are always stacked against you. Management will move the goalposts or kill your project.
The thing that could blow up for Microsoft is, European employee rights are much stronger than the US, so they could be in for a bunch of tribunals.
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That's only true for bad managers. Good managers initially set the goalposts so far away that the clock will run out before they can be reached by the PIPed employee.
This does, however, require some management skill and understanding of the employee being PIPed. The initial position of the goalposts has to seem reasonable to outside observers while being something that the targeted employee can't get close to in tim
PIP = death (Score:5, Insightful)
I have never ever seen anybody exiting Performance Improvement Plan (and I have seen a few) and survive with a job. The sole purpose of PIP is to shield the company / institution from being sued for wrongful dismissal.
The moment you are on PIP you should be looking for a new job. No point even in trying, just cash in the last few salaries.
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in the USA Now under European employee rights where you can prove where it's not your fault they can't use that as an shield.
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Even with EUR/UK rights, AFAIK you have to leave the company to pursue a tribunal, which means you have to have plenty of savings
PIP advice from ACAS UK [acas.org.uk]
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I have seen a few "successfully" exit. The thing is though a lot of management probably knows about it.
Even if they do survive it, they are walking around with the taint of 'wasnt that guy on PIP a while back' anytime anything the least bit negative remotely connected to them comes up.
I mean if you are trying to ride out your last years before retirement or know you plan to get pregnant and leave in a few months anyway or something go for it.
Otherwise, I think PIP pretty much means better start looking for
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Re:PIP = death (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:PIP = death (Score:4, Insightful)
I have survived a PIP. I had a individual turn against me, and it was pretty clear even to HR that was what was happening. The individual was lashing out at me to cover for their own bad performance.
That said, I immediately started job hunting and quit as soon as I had an offer.
Re:PIP = death (Score:4, Insightful)
Well done standing up for yourself!! That couldn't have been easy.
For those who don't know - even if you survive a PIP - they can basically sack you right away after that - it is built into the PIP. Yup, they can say anything, and then sack you.
Not necessarily (Score:2)
But they are indeed the ejector seat in case of layoffs.
Gee, even one in the past 2-3 years might be enough to put a target on your back.
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Microsoft less evil than Google?? (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh! Microsoft actually layoff people straight and clean, rather than the roundabout evil underhanded way that Google did.
Who would have thought?
Re: Microsoft less evil than Google?? (Score:1)
Microsoft, like Google, does both things. https://www.theregister.com/20... [theregister.com]
lol offtopic (Score:2)
I present a citation which shows Microsoft doing exactly the same thing and it's offtopic.
Who the fuck is moderating on behalf of Microsoft, and how much leather is trapped in their small intestine?
MSFT "only hires the best"? No. Its gaslighting. (Score:1, Interesting)
Every time I got a job at Microsoft I had to beat 250,000 other people who had also applied to the same job. Then I was miserable and wanted to leave my team but couldn't within the same year. They wanted to keep me and I ultimately said no due to the request that I RTO, and have never looked back. I'm now much happier working fully remote as a principal for a great team. My commute is 30 seconds to the room in my home my accountant and I have Designated for tax reasons as my home office.
If they hire some
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If they hire somebody after saying no to 250,000 other people and they've gone through an interview process that says in general that this person is better than those other people that they said "no" to, then isn't it Microsoft's own fault when they have to fire somebody?
Because it isn't possible to go through 250,000 people and come up with anything that says "this is the one person out of all these resumes who can do the job."
That's why people need to network. I know that's a bad word around these parts, but it cuts through the bullshit. Potential employers will know if you are capable, both technically, and equally important, that you have interactive and social skills.
Even though I have no plans to work any more after finishing my post-retirement work, I still netwo
PIPs are always just severance plans (Score:5, Insightful)
Some people still don't get that the purpose of a PIP isn't to improve performance. The purpose of a PIP is to document poor performance so they can reduce their liability exposure when they fire you. If you get put on a PIP, you immediately start your job search because the chances of getting off the PIP are extremely low. This just removes the pretense.
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Some people still don't get that the purpose of a PIP isn't to improve performance. The purpose of a PIP is to document poor performance so they can reduce their liability exposure when they fire you. If you get put on a PIP, you immediately start your job search because the chances of getting off the PIP are extremely low. This just removes the pretense.
I agree. Even though "at will" protects employers, it is financially smart to avoid the possibility of a lawsuit, so if someone is underperforming, document it, and A PiP indicates a good faith effort was made.
Now keeping in mind that it costs a fair amount of money to fire a person, then hunt for a new one and deal with any training, anyone who is terminated for performance or being disruptive almost always plays an active part in what happened.
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In practice, a lot of "poor performance" is actually people who have a conflict with their boss for whatever reason. The boss wants them gone and then goes to HR asking to fire them. HR says they need to be put on a PIP first.
Even with at-will employment, anybody can claim they were fired for an illegal reason (racial, gender, pregnancy, or age discrimination, whistleblower retaliation). Even if the claim has no merit, it costs money to defend a lawsuit (but a plaintiff attorney may take the case on conting
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In practice, a lot of "poor performance" is actually people who have a conflict with their boss for whatever reason. The boss wants them gone and then goes to HR asking to fire them. HR says they need to be put on a PIP first.
Sure. We had a guy one time who was pretty ADHD, with manifestation of getting very cranky about every 3 months. The boss had some big issues with him. I liked the guy, and could have worked with him - his biggest issue with me was he bought supplies for the department, and wasn't good for getting receipts in on time. since I did the department reconciliations, it could be a nuisance. But I could work with that.
But the boss didn't well with him. So it was all documented. Should always be that case.
Even with at-will employment, anybody can claim they were fired for an illegal reason (racial, gender, pregnancy, or age discrimination, whistleblower retaliation).
That'
Re: PIPs are always just severance plans (Score:2)
So long .. (Score:3)
In other words... (Score:3)
"The beatings will continue until morale improves."
I'm curious (Score:3)
what percentage of MS employees are listed as "under performing" and are they (MS) prepared to pay if all of them leave?
"Offering employees choice" (Score:3)
A) GTFO or B) GTFO
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Either way, Microsoft doesn't want to do a WARN Act layoff and signal anything to shareholders. It takes a long time to fire people for cause, so they're hoping the employees will do it for them.
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100% true. If you come back saying "give me 8 weeks and you'll never see me again" they'll probably come back and you'll settle on 6. As always - get a good employment lawyer to read over the severance agreement. But never sign the first offer. (Unless it's 4 months pay and you've been there under 2 years - but even then - get a lawyer to read over it - it's a contract - we (engineers) no relatively nothing of the intricacies of employment law). If you've been ther for 15 years - you should be getting 15 m
Re:"Offering employees choice" (Score:4, Insightful)
Let me expand a little bit;
A: GTFO with 4 months severance pay, or
B: GTFO with 2 months of micromanaged hell and no severance pay at the end of those 2 months.
And those 4 months pay are negotiable - especially if you've been there for over 4 years. If you've been there for 2 years, take the money and don't look back.
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This guy has been at a corp job!
If you even get wind that you might have a PIP coming (even if performance is good, if you have a new manager that doesn't gel with you), you should be job hunting 100% of the time you're not doing everything possible to satisfy the current leadership.
If it gets to the point where they offer you PIP or VSA, the only reason to consider PIP would be if you have someone in another department that will hire you immediately. Since this is really hard to do (managers don't walk ar
recapture past agility (Score:3)
I wonder if they'll bring back "stack ranking".
First up (Score:3)
Everyone who worked on the 24H2 update/patch. Clearly they are incompetent and didn't bother to do even minimal testing before releasing it into the wild.
Global consistency, right! (Score:2)
That means one thing: metrics.
How many commits per day?
How many PR comments on average?
How many bug reports found in QA?
How many unit test failures?
How many lines of code?
These are all examples of "metrics" that have been floated at my company, for gauging programmer performance. The one thing they have in common, is that they are easy to game.
"Global consistency" is a joke, and isn't IMO even a desirable goal. Not everyone is good at the same things. Some people are faster than others, some produce better
exit strategy (Score:2)
According to internal documents, employees flagged as underperformers now face two options: enter a performance improvement plan with "clear expectations and a timeline for improvement" or accept a "Global Voluntary Separation Agreement" worth 16 weeks' pay.
Without making any judgements: If I were confident in my skills but don't like the company, but I'm confident to find a job with a comparable compensation package, I'd take the 16-week pay (4 months tend to be enough to find a job if we are aggressive about it.)
However, if I were not confident, I'd stick around and try to get through the PIP... while aggressively looking for another job and jump ship as soon as possible.
Either way, if I were to be put in that position, it would be a sign to bail out. It