The way to do layoffs is simple. You get managers to stack rank the lot, then you get every single person with 30 or more reports under them in a room.
Then you do the whole layoff in one 5 hour meeting.
Swing the axe and get it done in 2 days.
Most often I saw “divisions” or “capabilities” cut, either entirely or to skeleton crews that kept the lights on.
Next was just randomly applied. And frankly managers with 30 or more reports were frequently layoff targets as they are expensive and don’t add a ton of obvious value to the bottom line (unless they had a sales function).
I'd imagine a lot of paperwork got back up, but presumably the company business roughly kept going. True or false?
That’s true of ninja rockstar developers and vp directors of business dev. Largely the world keeps turning no matter who leaves a firm no matter the circumstances.
It's rare that the damage is surfaced. I did see an event once though when a fairly senior manager made repeated attempts to hand over some data collection and reporting when they were made redundant but were rebuffed by colleagues and their manager alike. Essentially this person was seen as a bit of a third wheel, and many comments were hurled around during the lay off process along the lines of "not clear what his real contribution is".
Well, it turned out that the data that he was collecting, analysising and reporting on was fundamental to the running of a strategic investment. Some months after he left the said project tanked, and because the data was not available a lot of money that potentially should have been recoverable wasn't.
So, it cuts both ways.
This is important, because a company can be held liable for wrongful termination. [2]
[1] https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/making-layoff-decisi...
[2] https://www.employmentlawfirms.com/resources/employment/wron...
In California, severance is almost always in exchange for signing away various rights, one of which is likely any claim of wrongful termination. You can always try to negotiate the payout or the terms, though. Just expect to hear "no."