Laid off tech workers finding it harder to get another job than they expected.

[Climber]

Calif. tech companies see laid-off workers as 'table scraps,' recruiters say

The clinical research professional based in Long Beach knew her value as an employee, and understood that her situation was completely out of her control. She was a high performer — and some of the companies interviewing her experienced layoffs too — so she assumed they’d be sympathetic. But each time she brought it up, she noticed that she was suddenly treated differently.

The first time it happened, the interview was going fairly well. But when she mentioned getting laid off, the hiring manager quickly lost interest, she told SFGATE. What was supposed to be a 30-minute conversation suddenly got cut short to just 12. “It was obvious they didn’t have a good feeling,” she said.

Then it happened again with another company. As soon as she told hiring managers that she was let go, she could hear them start messaging each other. She also knew they were talking about her, she said, because one of them was wearing glasses that reflected their computer screen. “You could see the lines going up,” she told SFGATE with a laugh.

I know that there are a lot of managers out there who aren't very good at what they do, using black and white logic like this is the sign of a shit manager. Yeah, there might have been a reason why the person got laid off, but there will also be diamonds in the rough who got included because of politics in the office. I've seen it all too often.

 

[Blankpage]

Could be she simply didn’t impress

 

[Holeshot]

Agree with BP. I read that that one of the primary skills still needed with the advent of AI are disaster management and problem identification and creative resolution. People mostly suck at this. It made me immeasurably happy to read too....turmoil is my best domain.

 

[greenmonster]

Someone who is currently employed is seen as more valuable over someone who is out of work and looking. These days a potential employer can't ask for professional references so they have no way of knowing exactly why the interviewee was laid off. Was it due to lack of work as the individual is claiming, or could it be performance related? Why was that particular person put on the chopping block while others weren't?

Years ago a potential employer could call the former employer and find out what kind of a worker they were and verify why they were let go. Of course, if negative or wrong information was given that opened up a potential lawsuit so that practice had to be ended.
Now it's a guessing game whether or not the interviewee is as good as they claim or were they a toxic person who no one wanted to be around.

 

[Climber]

I've had to sit on some of those committee's to decide who was going to be laid off.

One of the considerations was how they would take it. Somebody who was going to cause trouble if they got laid off was passed over for somebody who wouldn't raise a fuss. Kind of shocking, at the time, I was much younger. Actually, a pretty shitty way of choosing, but those are the real life kind of factors considered.

 

[greenmonster]

Yep, and sorry to say but race, age, gender, ethnicity, disability status, religion, and sexual orientation can also play a factor in who gets cut and who doesn't.
No one wants a lawsuit for unfair or unlawful termination.

 

[Escape pod]

I worked heavy construction: work slows/ there’s nowhere to transfer employees;, who to keep…working. Who is down the road?
1) do they consistently show up on time
2) their work ethic
That’s it. Nothing else mattered. But in some cities once you hit a quantifiable number of employees /the need to consider the diversity hiring quota.

ADMIN EDIT TO REMOVE POLITICAL CRAPPOLA.

Please note actions in this thread.

 

[Brokenlink]

What does your last sentence have to do with anything?