While it’s unfortunate that there are more layoffs, I feel a lot of hope and excitement for those who have lost their jobs for two reasons.
First, there are the benefits of receiving retirement benefits. Imagine receiving a severance payment equivalent to six months’ salary and two months later finding a new job with a similar salary. That way, he can take two months off and then get double wages for the next four months.
Second, the pain of layoffs may ultimately drive people to take a leap of faith and start their own business, go back to school, or enter a new field of work. A change can be a great blessing.
Learning to adapt to uncomfortable situations will only make you stronger. A layoff may be one of the best things that can happen to you. I know it was for me
Waiting patiently for talks of negotiating mass retirement packages
After sending out one of our weekly newsletters, we received an email reply from a reader. He said he was fired from his company, Big Tech Co. But he also shared a successful retirement package negotiation that I had never heard before.
I have actually been working on this story since early 2020 to protect our readers. If I didn’t give him his place of employment and surname, he immediately agreed to talk to me about severance negotiations.
But as someone who negotiated my own retirement in 2012, things can get dicey when deferred compensation is involved. You will be at the mercy of your employer.
Even after receiving all your retirement money, it’s best to keep quiet for a while. If you do something that puts the company’s reputation in jeopardy, the company may try to recoup your severance pay.
$40 million mass retirement talks
This is an email from a subscriber to the Financial Samurai newsletter.
Hey Sam,
Thank you for the newsletter and the resignation letter. I bought it with plans to use it to design layoffs the following year, but things have changed. Unfortunately, I was laid off at Big Corp before I could begin negotiating my severance package.
This was badly timed, but I used the confidence in your book and some subtle strategies to win a bigger payout of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs).
I would love to hear from you, but if you promise not to use my last name or company name, I will tell you about it.
I originally intended to negotiate the RSU payment just for myself. In the end, I ended up campaigning to get his 2,000 RSUs paid for her laid off!
The average RSU was $20,000 per person, so this was a $40 million ask. And I got it for everyone. thank you! ! !
nice to meet you,
bob
Oh my god!
The largest retirement package ever came from the former WeWork founder and CEO who walked away with about $1 billion. But that’s a special case. Because the guy was the founder and could take advantage of SoftBank’s ridiculous money.
I had never heard of or thought about the strategy of negotiating a better retirement package for other co-workers as well until I got Bob’s email.
Therefore, I asked Bob to elaborate on how this $40 million severance negotiation went. Here is his explanation.
How a Man Negotiated $40 Million in Retirement Benefits for 2,000 Colleagues
For the last 6 years, I worked in software for Big Corp. Until her daughter went to college, I stayed only for the money and benefits.
A new Vice President has been hired to oversee all software. As is often the case with new Kahuna, my head was spinning. The boss and other bosses in my group suddenly started “retiring” without notice. They each gave a week’s notice.
In big company gamesmanship, this really meant that a new, bigger fish was coming in, firing people who weren’t behind his new strategy and bringing in his own people from his previous company.
I knew what was written on the wall. When Big Corporation announced that they were laying off our entire group and others (about 2000 people), I started planning my own exit for a while.
blast! They beat me!
New CEO, new vision
Around the same time this was happening, we had a new CEO who was very transparent. He wanted the culture to suit him. He also launched a massive HR campaign about truth and transparency in the workplace.
The new CEO had an all-hands meeting with all employees and didn’t mention these layoffs at all. fear-based cultureEveryone thinks they are going to get cut all the time. It’s a really weird and weird place.
Like I said, I kept working for the money. That is his 65% savings in banking and take home.
So big companies finally announced they would fire us all and pay us decent severance pay. I even gave weeks notice to look for another in-house job before my actual final date.it’s just a common courtesy gesture minimize blowback.
Seeking to acquire restricted stock units for employees
Everything about my retirement was accepted except that the last date was 4 weeks before the next RSU vested. This sucks because it was a lot of money – about $24,000 for me.
Additionally, in the last few years, Big Corp had started increasing RSUs instead of raising salaries.
I asked HR about the RSU and was nicely told it wasn’t fair. As expected, “It’s bad, the timing is bad”. Hmmm. Well, it sucks.
Direct retirement negotiations with the CEO
So, with the strategy from your book and the confidence it gave me, I decided to pitch my idea directly to the CEO. After all, he was the only one I could call.
I emailed the CEO and told him the timing of the layoffs was terrible and they deserve an RSU for these reasons.
1) We only had a few weeks left to get them. Is this “we” as a company? (angle = unfair)
2) Many of us were given these in lieu of the bigger raises that were worth the price increases of the past few years. (angle = this was already our money)
3) The company had its best fiscal year and quarter in its history. Those who were laid off helped us all get there. (Angle = we get fired, but it helped me get a huge bonus as CEO)
I then told the CEO that I was messaging him directly because he could get the job done, and that I appreciated his culture of truth and transparency, and ended with “in solidarity.Hehe:D
All of these things were meant to be arguments that can’t really be argued as untrue. I just said, bastard.
Strength in numbers by organization
Anyway, I emailed him and got no response for two weeks. I have emailed you to pick it up.Strategically, I did not do it I sent an email because they knew look at mei just wanted to have them observation my intentions.
My basic plan was to have all 2,000 employees email the CEO and HR manager at the same time. I really wanted them to sweat.
Then, out of the blue, I received an email from HR. This was his one-time change in policy that upon retirement he would be given cash equivalent to his RSUs for 2020.
With 2,000 employees and an average RSU of $20,000 each, this was a shock to me.
The Change of Heart
So I never heard back from the CEO, but wrote him an email thanking RSU. He finally replied and said I was welcome and thanked him for his earlier emails.
I spoke with HR before I left and asked about a change of heart and all they said was that it came from the top. yes. OK.
Timing was also important. I was told I would be fired two weeks before the COVID-19 shutdown. After waiting two weeks for the RSU campaign, the answer was: absolutely ridiculous way.
The campaign went well and most of the people who benefited didn’t even know what I did to help them.
A lesson in asking for what you deserve
Bob’s story about negotiating mass retirement packages is unbelievable. It shows him:
- Be strategic and resourceful by reading How to design layoffsYou can find anything on the internet if you look. code”keep‘ saves you $10. Or buy 6 hard copies of Buy This, Not That and receive a free copy of HTEYL.
- Have the courage to ask for what you think you deserve. He could have easily accepted retirement, as most people do.
- Demonstrate sufficient emotional intelligence to treat HR and CEO with respect. It’s easy to become aggressive or emotional when you feel neglected.
- When presented in public, it deftly creates an impregnable argument. Bob knew from reading his samurai financial, but one of the reasons he could negotiate a retirement is because of absolute reputational destruction.
- Understand the power of organization and the power of numbers. He knew he could get many other people on his side.
Learning how to negotiate well is one of the most important skills in life. Negotiation has to do with all the important things, from getting a promotion to putting your kids to bed in a reasonable way.
Learn to empathize with others by understanding where they come from. Empathy involves making people feel heard, seen, understood, and loved. That way, you can reach farther than you ever thought possible!
Reader Questions and Suggestions
Have you ever heard of someone negotiating a mass retirement package before? If you were recently laid off, what was the experience like? How much retirement package did you get?
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