Though it’s a bummer to listen to about extra layoffs, I additionally really feel lots of hope and pleasure for many who have misplaced their jobs for 2 causes.

First, there’s the advantage of getting a severance bundle. Think about getting a severance bundle price six months of wage after which discovering a brand new job two months later for comparable pay. When you do, you’ll have had two months off after which get to earn double pay for 4 months!

Second, the sting of getting laid off would possibly lastly propel of us to take a leap of religion and begin their very own enterprise, return to highschool, or enter a brand new subject of labor. Pressured change could be a large blessing!

Studying to adapt to an uncomfortable scenario will solely make you stronger. Getting laid off might be among the finest issues that would ever occur to you. I do know it was for me.

Patiently Ready To Inform You About The Mass Severance Bundle Negotiation Story

After sending out one in all my weekly newsletters, I received an e-mail response from a reader. He talked about he was laid off from his Massive Tech Co. Nevertheless, he additionally shared a severance bundle negotiation story I had by no means heard of earlier than.

I’ve really been sitting on this story since early 2020 to guard the reader. He agreed to let me instantly share his severance bundle negotiation story if I didn’t share the place he labored and his final identify.

Nevertheless, as somebody who negotiated my very own severance again in 2012, issues can get dicey when deferred compensation is concerned. Till all of the severance bundle cash hits your checking account, you’re nonetheless at your earlier employer’s mercy.

Even after you obtain all of your severance cash, it’s greatest to remain quiet for some time. When you do one thing to jeopardize the status of the agency, the agency may conceivably attempt to get that severance bundle a reimbursement!

The $40 Million Mass Severance Bundle Negotiation

Right here’s the e-mail from a Monetary Samurai e-newsletter subscriber.

Hey Sam,

Thanks for the e-newsletter and severance negotiation e book. I purchased it with a plan to make use of it to engineer my layoff within the subsequent yr, however issues modified. Sadly, I used to be laid off at Massive Corp earlier than I may begin negotiating a severance.

Though this was unhealthy timing, I did use the arrogance and a few refined methods in your e book to get a much bigger payout for Restricted Inventory Models (RSUs), which I’d have missed out on by a couple of month.  

If you wish to hear the story however promise to not use my final identify or firm, I’ll inform ya the story.  

I used to be initially going to attempt negotiating getting my RSUs paid out only for myself. Ultimately, I ended up campaigning to get the RSUs paid out for the two,000 of us that had been let go! 

The typical worth of the RSUs was $20,000 per particular person, so this was a $40 million ask. And I received it for everybody. Thanks!!!

Regards,

Bob

Holy crap!

We all know the largest severance bundle ever was by the ex-founder and CEO of WeWork who walked away with about $1 billion. However that’s a particular case as a result of the man was the founder and was capable of reap the benefits of SoftBank’s foolish cash.

Till Bob’s e-mail, I had by no means heard of or thought concerning the technique of negotiating a greater severance bundle for different colleagues as nicely.

Subsequently, I requested Bob to elaborate how this $40 million severance negotiation occurred. Right here’s his clarification.

How One Man Negotiated A $40 Million Severance Bundle For two,000 Colleagues

I labored at Massive Corp for the final six years doing software program. I used to be solely staying for the cash and advantages till my daughter was in school.  

A brand new VP was employed to go all of software program. As is normally the case with a brand new Kahuna, heads had been going to roll. My group’s boss and different bosses all of the sudden began ‘retiring’ with out warning. They every gave 1-week notices.

In massive company gamesmanship, this actually meant {that a} new larger fish had are available in, fires those that aren’t behind his new technique, and places in his personal folks from earlier firms.  

I knew the writing was on the wall. I started scheming my very own exit for a while when Massive Corp introduced that our complete group and others could be lower – about 2000 folks.

Blasted! They beat me to it!

New CEO, New Imaginative and prescient

Now on the identical time this was occurring, we had a brand new CEO who was very clear. He needed to get the tradition aligned with him. We even had a giant HR marketing campaign about reality and transparency within the office.  

The brand new CEO had all-hands conferences with all the staff however failed to say these layoffs in any respect. One other subtext is that Massive Corp is old-fashioned and has a extremely fear-based tradition. Everybody thinks they’ll get lower on a regular basis. It’s actually a weird and unusual place.

Like I mentioned earlier, I remained at my job for the cash – banking and saving 65% of my take-home pay.

So Massive Corp finally introduced that we’d all be laid off and pay a good severance. We even had just a few weeks’ discover with a purpose to attempt to discover one other inner job earlier than our precise final day. That actually by no means occurs. It’s only a widespread courtesy gesture to decrease blowback.

The Quest To Get Workers Their Restricted Inventory Models

The whole lot about my severance was acceptable, besides that my final day was 4 weeks earlier than our subsequent spherical of RSUs vested. This could suck as a result of it was appreciable – about $24,000 to me.

Plus the previous few years Massive Corp had begun to provide extra RSUs as a substitute of money raises – so this was deferred wage in a manner.

I requested HR concerning the RSUs and informed them properly that it wasn’t honest. As anticipated they mentioned, “powerful shit, unhealthy timing” in essence. Hmmmmmm.  Effectively, that does suck.

Negotiating A Severance Instantly With The CEO

So with the methods out of your e book and the arrogance that it gave me, I made a decision to pitch my thought on to the CEO. On the finish of the day, he was the one one who may make the decision.

I wrote the CEO an electronic mail telling him that the layoff timing was horrible and that we deserved these RSUs for these causes:

1) We had been only a few weeks away from getting them. Is that this who ‘we’ are as an organization?  (angle = not honest)

2) Many people got these as a alternative for larger deserved raises in the previous few years.  (angle = this was our cash already)

3) The corporate has simply had one of the best monetary yr and quarter within the firm’s historical past. Those being laid-off helped us ALL get there. (angle = we’re getting laid off however helped you get an enormous bonus as CEO)

Then I informed the CEO that I used to be sending the message on to him as a result of he may get the job executed and that I appreciated the tradition of reality and transparency – and ended it with “In Solidarity.” Heh  😀

All this stuff had been meant to be arguments you can’t actually argue with as not true. To counteract my factors, all he’d should do was say ’powerful shit dude’.  

Energy In Numbers By Organizing

Anyway, I despatched him the e-mail and I heard nothing again for 2 weeks. Then I started to gather an inventory of all laid-off workers and wrote them an electronic mail making an attempt to get all of us to signal a marketing campaign to provide us the RSUs. Strategically, I didn’t ship out the e-mail as a result of I knew they had been watching me. I simply needed to have them observe my intent.  

My grasp plan was to have all 2,000 workers electronic mail the CEO and head of HR on the identical time. I actually simply needed them to sweat.

Then out of the blue, we received an electronic mail from HR saying that as a one-time change to coverage, we’d be given the money equal of our 2020 RSUs upon leaving.  

This was surprising to me since with 2000 workers and a median of $20,000 RSUs every, this was a $40 million marketing campaign that labored!

The Change Of Coronary heart

So I by no means received a response from the CEO, however I wrote him an electronic mail thanking him for the RSUs. He lastly did reply and mentioned that I used to be welcome and thanked me for the earlier electronic mail.  

I spoke with HR earlier than leaving and requested them concerning the change of coronary heart and all they mentioned was that it got here from the very prime. Uh huh. Yeah OK.

The timing was additionally important. We had been informed we had been getting laid off two weeks earlier than the COVID-19 shutdown. I’m positive that had I waited even two weeks to marketing campaign for our RSUs, the reply would have been, completely no friggin’ manner.  

The marketing campaign labored and most people who benefited by no means even knew what I did to assist them out. Good karma I hope!

A Lesson In Asking For What You Deserve

Bob’s story about negotiating a mass severance bundle is unbelievable. It exhibits him:

• Being strategic and resourceful by studying How To Engineer Your Layoff. You’ll find something you need on the web if you happen to look. Use the code “saveten” to avoid wasting $10.

• Having the braveness to ask for what he thinks he deserves. He may have simply simply accepted his severance bundle, just like the overwhelming majority of individuals do.

• Demonstrating sufficient emotional intelligence to correspond with HR and the CEO in a respectful method. It’s straightforward to go on the offensive and get emotionally charged whenever you really feel disrespected.

• Skillfully crafting an unassailable argument if proven to the general public. Bob knew from studying Monetary Samurai, one of many explanation why negotiating a severance is feasible is because of absolute reputational destruction.

• Understanding the ability of group and the power in numbers. He knew he may get lots of different folks on his aspect.

Studying easy methods to negotiate nicely is among the most essential expertise in life. A negotiation is concerned in the whole lot essential – from getting a promotion to getting your youngsters to go to mattress in an inexpensive method.

Be taught to empathize with different folks by understanding the place they’re coming from. Empathy entails making folks really feel heard, seen, understood, and beloved. When you do, you’ll get a lot farther than you ever thought potential!

Reader Questions And Options

Have you ever heard of 1 particular person negotiating a mass severance bundle earlier than? When you’ve been lately laid off, what was the expertise like? How massive of a severance bundle did you get?

For extra nuanced private finance content material, be part of 55,000+ others and join the free Monetary Samurai e-newsletter and posts by way of e-mail. Monetary Samurai is among the largest independently-owned private finance websites that began in 2009.