I was notified 2 months ago of my layoff with a separation date in January 2027. A colleague n a similar role was given September of this year. I have secured an offer for employment for a better position (better title and small increase in pay). However they will not wait 7 months. The severance is too much money to walk away from. However, the offer will be near impossible to replicate.

Does Anyone have experience or knowledge of an employee requesting an accelerated separation? I am not receiving a retention to stay longer than my colleague. Obtaining a similar position in January will be impossible due to nobody hiring at that time.

Unfortunately they have stalled integrating which makes my request more difficult. However I believe I can show that my transition responsibilities can be completed in 2-3 months and not 7 months.

I cannot accept the current offer though without my severance. There is too much money on the line.

Do I frame it as I have an offer and as such I'd like to accelerate my separation and preserve severance? This indirectly makes then worry that I could leave in 2 weeks. If severance is preserved, I'd stay for 2-3 months. (However, I can't voluntarily resign so I'm worried they could view it this way)

Or do I frame it as I believe I will be able to complete the transition responsibilities much sooner and thus you could save 4-5 months of salary and I can look for a job in a much better period than December and Janay? This though does not really scare them into thinking I could leave sooner.

Anybody ever been through this or have knowledge of this that they can share to help me navigate this mess?

How can you not voluntarily resign?

He can, just not with the severance that is too big to walk away from. He wants his cane and eat it too! Good luck OP, that's a tough spot. I like the prorating idea, could be something they go for. My big F500 company recently did the same type of event and I can't say I heard of any special deals like that, but you might as well ask.

I took the "(However, I can't voluntarily resign so I'm worried they could view it this way)" to mean there was something additional keeping him from resigning, like it was military service or something. Sounds like a great set of golden handcuffs. Any chance the new role will offer a golden parachute of similar value to close the gap?

Yes it is a large severance, 6 months paid cobra, and a guaranteed bonus matching last year. However the same is offered to a colleague in the same role yet he can leave in 3 months and not 7 months. There have been several opportunities I will have passed up and a January release date won't likely allow me the same opportunities of my colleague who has a shorter runway.

When interviewing for this new opportunity, I Made all this clear in the first interview with HR who mentioned they could consider a buyout. I also discussed with hiring manager in the second interview. 2 months later and 4 additional interviews, I receive a verbal and written offer. It was a big surprise to me that the same HR indicated now that there is a policy to not buyout severance and there was No money offered to bridge the gap.

I work for a Fortune 50 and we'd pay you. We engage outplacement services to help folks as soon as they've been notified even if their inactive date is further out (our RIFs range from effective day of notification to 6 months out).

IMO you approach your current employer and try to get it all while still leaving; some proration can be a fallback but do not offer that at first. Nothing is achieved by not asking. That said, if you have a good relationship with your leadership, I'd start with getting them on board with your plan first before approaching HR. If shorter retention periods are out there, that tells you HR (and more importantly, Legal) are okay with some variety in them. So what will likely happen is HR looks for the blessing of the function itself who they relied upon to determine that retention period. So that's who you need on your side.

This is great feedback.

The severance is a year. I'm not concerned about the prospect waffling as that is understandable. I went into this knowing that a buyout that would make sense to me was probably not going to happen (just never expected $0).

You have hit on the difficult points. I desperately want to move on soon and not have to work myself out of a job the next 7 months - especially when an opportunity for a much more prestigious position is in my email inbox to accept and will provide the resume power to advance in a few more years (although I'm over 50 so this is likely could be my last advancement). However, their offer is a 10% reduction n base salary that is made up in better bonuses (but that could also be a fallacy). And I'm comfortable with the reduction as it is going to be very hard to replace my current income at my age in this field. So recovering at minimum 90% is a big win (but not big enough to walk away from a years pay).

Severance is designed to cover the gap in salary between the end of your service date and whenever you find a new position. IIRC, your job skills are fairly niche, and this is not a great job market. If you were confident that you'd be able to find a new job in January, I'd say roll the dice. The longer it takes to find something else, the less valuable the severance is. If it takes more than six months to find something, you'll be out your living expenses plus cobra with no income coming in. Not knowing the whole of your financial situation, I'd seriously consider walking away from the severance.

Another thing to add is that I went through something similar this year. I resigned my last job after we were acquired and walked away with a similar package plus an RSU acceleration payout. Even knowing that I had enough to pay my bills for two years or more without an income, not having a job and looking was fairly stressful.

ETA: the company has little incentive to work with you on this, so don't be surprised if the response is that you can stay per the original terms or resign voluntarily.

Yeah, can definitely see that being tough to walk from. Companies can approach this differently, but ours very much defaults to risk-of-lawsuit avoidance (and risk of complaints to the Dept of Labor avoidance), especially from 50ish+ year olds. And in a turn of events from history, particularly 50ish+ year old white men. That's more expensive and risky than just paying a severance we had already decided to give.

We don't want to be seen as obstructing someone gaining further employment after we have told them they will be losing their job with us. And again, we do see a variety of interim retention (although 6 months is typically the top range), while everyone gets the same structure of severance package (2 wks per year service up to 1 year total, full bonus and medical benefits during that time). Legal looks for consistency in the severance package approach while the business is usually allowed to to determine the retention based on need (within certain parameters), which is why I think you have an angle to getting it all if your leadership is on board with your shorter exit plan. But again, mileage may vary depending on the company. Not everyone has our risk avoidance mindset in this department.

Also, I might suggest being careful in sharing what you know about others' deals. While people share anyway, typically we specifically note in writing that it is NOT to be shared with others in the organization or you risk having the deal pulled. Now I know of zero cases that we did that, but I'd just be careful not to go there. They know they are giving shorter terms.

That's another good suggestion. The other date is widely known but the more important factor of my colleagues date is that it aligns with the conversion date of the 2 departments. So my angle won't be focused on his specific date as much as I'm willing to work to the conversion date but see diminishing value for both parties to continue to work 4 months after.

Give how project timeline oriented this seems to be, I'm thinking they may not budge if we're talking a decent number of people impacted. But again, asking in the right way should not hurt. Don't get what you don't ask for. And if you have a date that still aligns with others, that could be very helpful.

The layoff includes thousands of employees with dates from 3/31 through January 2027. However very few are extended past the September date.

I've considered the ultimatum. They would be in bad shape if I just said I'm leaving in 3-4 weeks. However, it's a dangerous proposition as I do not want to walk away from the severance. Everywhere I've read is that if you threaten resignation they can take that as voluntary and accept it as such. So that would be a last ditch effort and one I likely will not choose in any case.

Yeah, I think the best chance is to work yourself into one of those earlier dates by partnering with your leadership first (assuming you have a good relationship) vs hanging a threat of leaving immediately over their head. That leaves you still operating within the structure of this overall severance program. Again, they may stay firm, but there's at least a chance here.

I don't know how specific your skill set is but having 9 months to interview on the clock with your current supervisor as your first reference is about the best place you can ever be in as a job hunter. Never know, you could tell this opportunity thanks but no thanks and they could go back to the drawing board and come back to you and then you'll really know where you stand. Or even better they hire their second choice and it doesn't work out and they come back to you...

I know you've said the severance is too good to walk away from and that the new opportunity is too good to turn down, but those are contradictory and I think the first thing you need to do is figure out which one is the true "too good to pass up".

It seems very unlikely you're going to get both the full severance and the new job and it seems that the more you push to do both, the more likely you are to foul up one (or both) of them.

I'd pick which one truly was the must have and then work whatever leverage I had without endangering that.

Realistically, to me, this feels like working hard to get earlier severance while taking the new job.

That said, I can't imagine the new job waiting too long for you to start, and also can't imagine a company that finds out somebody with a severance offer wants to voluntarily separate at an earlier date and giving the same severance while accommodating the earlier date. That said, I don't know all the rules/laws around severance so this is all just thinking out loud.

It also sounds like you're talking about job hunting being less or more difficult seasonally - will the full severance give you enough to get to the next "good" season for hiring, while still having enough left over to make it work?

If you legit think you'll be out of a job for 6 months and the severance will be burned up during that 6 months, then I would take the job.
If you think you'll be out of a job for 6 months, but the severance is enough to cover that and more, then perhaps you stick around for the severance.

Both obviously have some guessing component to them.

This is a tough one.

Is the severance a lump sum payout or do paychecks just keep coming for another year?
What % of salary is the bonus?

uneedastraw said:

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This is great feedback.

The severance is a year. I'm not concerned about the prospect waffling as that is understandable. I went into this knowing that a buyout that would make sense to me was probably not going to happen (just never expected $0).

You have hit on the difficult points. I desperately want to move on soon and not have to work myself out of a job the next 7 months - especially when an opportunity for a much more prestigious position is in my email inbox to accept and will provide the resume power to advance in a few more years (although I'm over 50 so this is likely could be my last advancement). However, their offer is a 10% reduction n base salary that is made up in better bonuses (but that could also be a fallacy). And I'm comfortable with the reduction as it is going to be very hard to replace my current income at my age in this field. So recovering at minimum 90% is a big win (but not big enough to walk away from a years pay).

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I think is comes down to how long it would take you to find an equivalent job. You have to compare that to a year's severance.

You said you were upfront in your interviews that you were committed to your current employer through January. Yet their offer does not take that into consideration. To me that's a mark against them.

uneedastraw said:

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This is great feedback.

The severance is a year. I'm not concerned about the prospect waffling as that is understandable. I went into this knowing that a buyout that would make sense to me was probably not going to happen (just never expected $0).

You have hit on the difficult points. I desperately want to move on soon and not have to work myself out of a job the next 7 months - especially when an opportunity for a much more prestigious position is in my email inbox to accept and will provide the resume power to advance in a few more years (although I'm over 50 so this is likely could be my last advancement). However, their offer is a 10% reduction n base salary that is made up in better bonuses (but that could also be a fallacy). And I'm comfortable with the reduction as it is going to be very hard to replace my current income at my age in this field. So recovering at minimum 90% is a big win (but not big enough to walk away from a years pay).

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I was in your situation 9 years ago, I was given a large severance with a future end date, but the company made it known that if you found another job then they would let you go sooner with the full severance package. So that's what I did, and the company honored that to their credit.

I think this is something that you have to talk to your boss or HR about and see if there's any flexibility with the end date. Worst case scenario they say no, and you leave anyway. I would rather have secure employment (especially at your age) versus the unknown of being without a job in January.

Thanks for all the feedback. Severance is lump sum. As stated, I would rather pass up the new opportunity than forgo severance. However, I assume as long as I just request an understanding of why and see if it makes sense to explore sooner, I should be fine.

Prospect will wait another month (so two months). This date falls in line with the separation date of a colleague of mine in a similar role and also the integration date of the department. So I've set up a call with the manager that is s taking over our responsibilities. They have not been able to communicate why I'm needed 4 months after integrating departments.. I'm contemplating just laying it out to her. I have a day to figure out how to get her to move it up the chain.

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When I was in a similar situation I ended up meeting with my boss and laid out that I would complete the job duties I needed to so that I could be released sooner. While it was a few weeks later than I wanted it was still sooner than the original separation date. In this situation it's best to be transparent that you have an offer and would appreciate the company working with you for mutual interest. I feel like that's the best chance to work through a situation like this. Threatening to leave or anything like that won't get you the result you're wanting. This is my limited experience but I was also early in my career when they were closing an office. Hope it all works out for you.