Presuming anyone who is actually interested has already hit the Google machine, but just in case, an actual article: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5831618/2024/10/09/us-soccer-staff-cuts/ I think the piece presents almost all the relevant angles. The only one I'd add is that just because an entity has increased revenue does not necessarily mean said entity--particularly a bureaucratic one--is organized effectively.
So a registered 501C3 non-profit charity that is now apparently flush with cash (and not paying the salary of their new USMNT Coach) decides not to reduce any player or referee registration fees, but build a new home office and ALSO lay off 9% of their entire workforce...lovely, simply lovely.
Ouch. Wouldn't even let them clean out their desks. Ruthless. Even in financial services (i.e. investment banks), they let people clean out their desks during layoffs.
my last company...fifteen years of service, they gave me 30 minutes to say my goodbyes and had to clear out by lunch...it was on the day of the annual company picnic...too funny.
Which sucks, but somewhat humane and decent. What US Soccer did doesn't allow people to get their phone chargers from their desk. It's not like they are going to take state secrets with them in 30 minutes if you let them go to their desk.
I knew a guy who had worked at a giant company, Fortune 50. They were going through bad/slow times. He was a financial analyst, so he was asked to calculate the overhead without certain people. He had to see those people in the office for several days, knowing they were going to be laid off by the end of the week. Three rounds of layoffs came and went. Finally, his name was on the layoff list also. So the powers had all of those to be laid off come to the auditorium. They asked everyone to stand up and say how many years they had been with the company. Everybody is saying 20 years, 25 years, etc. except this guy, who'd only been with them a few years. The executioner then tells them that they should expect to be 'on the beach' for six to eight months, "everybody except this guy down here [pointing to the guy I knew.] He'll have a job in two weeks." Did he really think that was going to make the senior guys feel better? And, actually, it was one week. He'd already started at his next job before he started going back to the old company to pick up his weekly severance check.
my story is even better...I was let go with someone who used to be the Executive Secretary for the entire division. Even when she changed jobs, they never revoked her email credentials. She continued to be copied on all confidential correspondence being sent by Senior Management. A full month before we were actually terminated, she could see that not only that my position was being eliminated but hers was being eliminated as well. She was a gamer and never spilled the beans to me. Classic corporate stupidity...sigh
another story...a good buddy of mine tried to enter her building and her security pass was denied. She was detained by the security team for 3 hours until the HR person could arrive from the airport and advise her that she was no longer employed at the firm. HR individual apologized as she had missed the first flight of the day and had to take the 2nd available flight instead. Gotta applaud that one too!!!
Treat others the way you want to be treated, but some people seem to forget that when it comes to letting people go. The first person I ever fired thanked me. She'd owned a childcare facility before coming to work where I worked and she had wanted to go back to childcare anyway. That's made every one since easier. But there are some basic standards of decency that you have to meet.
This brings back tramautic experiences. During the 2008 market recession, I and many others who were considered "highest paid" were laid off the same day just before Christmas as they hired an outside agency to call employees in and give them the news. I got a good severance package and we had been given hints 6 months before, so it was not a total surprise. If I needed, I had almost the whole day to clean out my stuff, even though I had access to thousands of accounts. I had been with them in many roles for numerous years, and they understood that. In another role, our department had 8 months advanced notice we were done. I had nobody following me around at my desk on my final day. I feel bad for these folks. It's bad enough for these people to go through this and then have somebody put your family photos and other souvenirs in a box as if you're a piece of garbage.
My first real job was back in 1986 (yes, they allowed me to leave work early in order to referee high school). I was amazed as this company had a ton of employees who had never worked for any other company, most had been there for well over 30 - 35 years. They congratulated me for getting the job and assured me that this company would take of you from day one to your retirement day and even beyond that with even paid retirement luncheons for all alumni. Those were simple times indeed... I think that I read that the average employee now works for a minimum of 7 employers in their lifetime.
I'm going through that right now. 40 years...and BTW, we are laying you off. 40 years! Loyalty is a one way street.
Not necessarily. When I got laid off 5 years ago I got a list of everyone else and their age (no names) as part of my package. The company was making it very clear that they were not targeting, intentionally or not, any group of people.
18 years for me. A two-person department that was folded into another department. They kept the guy who worked 15 years and making a little less than me, doing the same job.