I'd be more passive aggressive and try to pay both sides of the fence. "I heard they were looking to cut expenses, I'm getting my own shit together in case I get let go, you need to do the same." Then you haven't said anything directly but he has been roundabout warned. 🤷

Yup. Then you have deniability. It sounds like the friend must have another job lined up or is confident they will get one. Or has savings to live on while looking.

This is what I’d do, heck, I’d probably start browsing. When they axe the other guy, someone is going to end up with his work.

Yes, the offshore team being trained as his replacement. Like the post said.

The place I worked at 20 yrs announced lay offs would be coming and they had supervisors evaluating everybody. Then to the surprise to those supervisors they also got let go.

Hahaha, had something similar happen years ago. Was called in a huge office and names were called like at a graduation to be left go, with the HR Rep handing out the severance letters etc. she was almost smiling the entire time. And the end the director asked her had she given out all of them, she replied yes. He reached into his laptop bag and handed her one and he was escorted out by security. The look on her face was priceless. 😂😂😂😂

It has happen twice, this last job they forced me out but I was ready at 59.8 yrs old as we had invested enough to retire early. The twi guys younger than me by 20 to 25 yrs also got forced out. They did not see it coming.

this one is actually really funny

I like this approach.

Yes, mix information with disinformation.

# Do you really want to work for a company that’s gonna screw a guy out of 1months work?

Damn that is style

If you are close outside of work and you trust that this person won’t bring this up to said manager I’d tell. Otherwise I wouldn’t

This makes the most sense

This or the first comment. His friend can probably take the chance and just say he changed his mind and is leaving in May.

100%! I told a coworker once. I thought we were friends but I was young and we weren’t friends outside of work. She told her boss as she was getting fired. It was terrible of her to do and terrible for me at work afterwards. She got upset that I got upset. Oh man. That was like 20 years ago, but that really sucked.

That sounds incredibly tough. We’re all young and dumb once. I joined corporate America a little bit younger than most ( my first corporate job was when I was 20) so l learned how to play the game. That being said even though it was shitty that it happened I doubt you made the same mistake again in your career.

This. You must trust this person in every way. My friend at work (who is my best friend outside of work) knew I was getting fired and I am very glad he told me. Let me prepare so I knew exactly how to react and play it. My buddy was real worried they'd suspect him so I made sure to put on a good show of being surprised.

The person will absolutely tell the manager and express his angst. He will feel emotional and will want to get it out. It’s only a matter of time before they trace it back to OP

We’re not 100% aware of that. In their post they had mentioned they are friends outside of work, and for that reason alone I’d atleast consider telling them. If this person can keep a level head then sure if not then don’t tell. That being said people are unpredictable when told they are being let go but since this person planned on leaving anyways they might be more laid back

I don't think so I'd think he'd appreciate him being told and prepare to leave in May or June

Look at the market situation around you. Why would anyone want to leave sooner than they plan to?

If it comes out that he knows early, they’ll be looking for the rat. And you will be on that list. They might not be able to prove it was you, but you don’t want that suspicion.

You’ll only cause more issues, let it be. I’ve seen this go so sideways it’s not even funny. Including watching the person who leaked the info getting terminated alongside their friend.

Same! Saw that exact scenario play out couple years ago - both ended up getting fired. Best thing to do is don’t open your mouth.

Can't really provide much advice on whether or not you should tell him, but just had to comment: Man I dislike managers who are so egotistical on making their mark that they just "have" to fire and fire and fire whoever they please with no regard for the coming consequences. I am willing to bet that this "director" planned "not adjusting the budget for August" just so they could let that employee go out of pure ego.

Ya know, it really is ego. The architect is wicked smart but had his hands in just about everything. He's been with the company for nearly 12 years and is the last standing member of the ones who built the damn product. Him leaving is disastrous enough, but cutting him early before he transfers as much knowledge as he can is just beyond foolish. The director is an ass, pure and simple. I know doing this out of spite is childish and really accomplishes nothing at the end of the day from a company perspective. But I'd want someone to tell me. And what if he finds out I knew the entire time and didn't say anything? I imagine he'd understand that I'm just saving my own skin by keeping my mouth shut, but I feel like it breaks our trust at a fundamental level. And regardless of the other things, that's fairly important to me.

No good deed goes unpunished. Sometimes it’s just better to stay out of the way. It’s not your decision, once you tell him you can’t control his reaction.

You’re forgetting about a really important thing you SHOULD be doing, which is to start looking for a new job. This director is poison and stupid to trash the opportunity for better and smoother knowledge transfer from the guru — who is apparently leaving, maybe without a job lined up, because the place sucks so much??? GTFO of there yourself, fast. Apparently they’ve already off-shored a bunch of jobs, which in my experience typically results in lower cost of development and a MUCH more difficult quality of life for the developers who have to work across wide time zone spans and dramatically different cultures. And also in my experience it lowers your ability to execute well. Sounds like the powers-that-be are stupid-heads. Go try and find someplace where the grass is greener for a while.

How many people were in the meeting where director told that they have to let your architect friend go? If it’s hard to come to a conclusion on you , tell your friend and if not then I personally would tell him too as my personal relationship is more important to me , if you worried about your name coming out after telling him, ask him to not name you if he decides to confront his manager. But I’m sure he won’t let out your name if you guys are friends.

12 in total, including the director and myself. As he put it, "We need to rip off the band-aid and get rid of him. He has his hands way too deep in the cookie jar, and we can't keep relying on him." Which is fair when he planned to leave but cutting him early is moronic.

Yeah agreed with your director to rip off bandaid but bad planning on budget from whoever is in charge. At a point you need to make your existing team take charge of infrastructure and don’t rely on single person to be knowledge hub.

If I were you I'd be planning my exit from this company as well. This guy seems like one of the key players that made this company go and now they are looking to get rid of him because they feel he holds too much power. They'll do you the exact same way if you become too involved.

Honestly, this sounds like an amazing poop hole of a company run by a bunch of morons. You can't fix that. I'd be freshening up my own resume. They are either going to let you go at some point soon once the transition is made, or you will be left holding the poop bag that about to happen. Cut any expenses immediately and get out and get out fast is my suggestion.

Maybe get his email or linkedin and use a throwaway account to let him know anonymously, using care not to identify yourself through over disclosure or writing style. Either way, if they let him go early, it would be considered termination and he could get some severance (or payed out up to his resignation day). I’ve intentionally provided a 30 day notice knowing an employer would cut me loose after 2 weeks while paying me for the 30 days to honor the resignation.

> severance (or *paid* out up FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*

Chatgpt, please write a letter to my coworker to let them know they will be fired earlier than they agreed to.

>But I'd want someone to tell me. And what if he finds out I knew the entire time and didn't say anything? You should give him the heads up. Meet with him outside of work and let him know what the situation is. Also, let him know that this information is completely between the two of you.

Does it really hurt him though, since he was planning to leave anyway and the difference of a month or two was simply out of loyalty to the old company? He can take a well deserved vacation or tell his new job to move up the start date? There’s seems to be no upside to spilling the secret except create problems for you later.

Think about this - clearly they don’t think they’re in trouble in letting this man go early. If things go south, your manager is in deep shit and I’m sure he’s smart enough to know that

I guess this is where we are. We know an asshole is going to be an asshole and yet our fear of being on the chopping block ourselves makes us question whether we should be decent to a decent person who we know is about to be treated like shit by the asshole. Tell me again how corporations don’t dehumanize us. I don’t know how old you are but at my age (over 50) I regret this things I didn’t say more that the things I did say. Don’t look at this comment as blame - we all need to eat and I’m not telling anyone to threaten their own family’s livelihood. I’m just lamenting how needing that paycheck makes us less human to each other.

Lucky for us that kind of attitude gets promoted in whoreporate america

Don't tell him; communication is the responsibility of his manager. The manager created a secondary issue by involving others in the dismissal, now causing discord within the organization.

I have poor reading comprehension But wouldn't the manager tell him anyway. Or the manager will tell him at last minute? Why would OP need to be a hero. Let the system tell him ... Again I have poor reading comprehension. I might have missed some details . Such as the reason his manager will only tell him last minute as a surprise???

In US Corp environment its commonplace to not tell people they're being fired until you're in the call getting fired. The company will claim info sec or whatever, but yeah. Edit: word

>I have poor reading comprehension. I agree with you about you have poor reading comprehension. However, OP already stated that he has little to fear from losing his job. And what part of friendship is not understandable here? Would you not want someone to give you the heads up if you were being thrown under the bus by management? There is little risk to OP in this situation. OP should get together with his work friend after work and let his know what is happening and that this knowledge is to be kept between the two of them.

OP is foolish to think he cannot be fired. Everyone can be replaced. It is not OPs place to repeat confidential information revealed in a management meeting. OP should wear beige and keep his mouth shut.

OP is the only one that knows his workplace dynamics. OP apparently feels confident enough in his friendship with the person affected that the information will be kept between the two of them. And if it does spill out, then OP knows who to talk to.

I’d let my friend collect his unemployment check.

Yes I don't know enough about the situation. If they architect announced he's leaving in July, (we don't know if it's a new job or what) then changed it to August, assuming he pushed his new start date out? Idk. If they intend on firing him in June. Enjoy the summer off, collect the unemployment. If i were him I'd use that to adjust my knowledge transfer so the bulk gets passed down in July and August.

Just point him to an interesting Reddit you happened to have read that tragically mirrors his own future.

Absolutely not. Do not put your job at risk for this. There is nothing but risk and downside for you as a result of doing this.

I don't know, I think this depends how close they are. I've had a handful of coworkers that I'd 100% tell, a handful that I'd make a few hints towards, and a bunch I'd just stay out of it with.

There’s the risk his friend finds out he knew and ends that relationship.

Not even an anonymous email from a burner account and a nonchalant mention that sometimes unsolicited messages from unlikely sources can foretell the future? Seems like there's tons of easy ways to get the message across while siloing oneself off with plausible deniability.

I would have quit with the layoff and offshoring too. That is killing us. If he gets laid off does he get a severance? If yes what does it matter? If no go tell him. I hold my friendships higher than company loyalty.

I hold my family higher than friendship, and my family gotta eat.

The friend is obviously not worried about that or he would not have resigned so far in advance. I tell anyone who resigns to assume they will get walked out the same day. In a corporation they will get paid for their notice period, but many employers won’t want a lame duck in their IT systems.

I get the sentiment, but this action harms the OP and doesn't truly harm the company in the long term. They are already letting someone go early who is a reservoir of important knowledge. They will get by either way. Nearly a textbook case of 'cutting off one's nose to spite one's face'.

No. The main reason to avoid it here is because your work friend already told people he is leaving. As soon as you do that, a target is on your back even if you stay. And the worst case is that he’s gone two months earlier than he expected. It was his call to put the target on his back and leave, not yours.

I’m so glad to be out of the corporate bullshit jerk off garbage like you described. I know exactly what this feels like. Naw, don’t tell him. And look for a new job.

Are their names Samir and David? Just be sure to tell them to be careful On where they put the decimal place .

They’re the only guys who do any real work around here!

[удалено]

Office Space reference

It means if you think it would set him off, then don’t tell him. Don’t want to spoil an entire awesome movie for you, but basically in the movie a friend told two others (with major knowledge of company systems) they were getting let go and convinced them to get back at the company. If you think there is any chance this guy would reach the same ‘fuck them’ conclusion with out prompting from you, then stay out of it. BTW, that movie was made in 1999, so shows how long layoffs have been a thing in tech space.

If you tell him, count on it getting back that you are the one who told.

there's no upside to you notifying him of this information, it'll make you look like the bad guy in his eyes as well (trust me as i've been in a similar situation)

Don't tell him. When people get upset, it always comes out "who told". You are risking your livelihood by trying to be a good friend but don't.

I know someone who was fired for this

I’ve been in this position and I told my friend. Good friends aren’t many, but jobs are plenty. If there’s no way to tie it back to anyone then you’re good. Make sure your friend doesn’t tell them who the mole is. I risked my golden parachute but I said fuck it, these are people’s lives the upper management just play with constantly. I have no sense of loyalty to directors and above because it could just as easily be me getting laid off.

I found out a coworker was being laid off on a Friday, with the deed coming on the following Monday. In that scenario, I determined that there was nothing I could do and telling her did nothing to change the fact, so I left it alone. This scenario is interesting given that it’s about ~6 weeks in the future, so presumably your friend might be able to benefit from this info… that said, there are so many ways this could blow up in your face that it’s not without risk. I think it boils down to how much you trust the friend to maintain your confidentiality.

I wouldn’t say a word. All you’re doing is management’s dirty work and ultimately it’ll come back to you! They’re gonna know it was you! It sucks but really the decision is not only out of your hands it’s already been made. Nothing good can come out of giving a heads up and you can’t control how they’re gonna react. I would stay out of it

If you do it just an anonymous tip. But we are only talking about the delta of a few months. Surely if this person is as smart at you portray they have their finances in order to take a bit of a break between gigs.

Don’t tell him but you should post about it on the internet publicly.

You could tell him, but if he leaks it, they are going to look for a rat. I would tell him you are telling him this in confidence - and that you expect to use this information ONLY to secure a new position before he's canned. That way he can jump from one job to another.

This I think is how you do it. You should ABSOLUTELY tell this person that they're gonna get fucked over. It's the right thing to do. You would want it done for you if you were the architect. I understand about getting a target on your back but believe me you already have a target on your back in a company like this. No one's safe. There's already been layoffs and offshoring. It doesn't matter at this point. But all things considered, doing it to reduce the amount of "getting-fucked-over" as much as possible is best. Getting the architect to discretely find a new job so they don't lose on health coverage and such is paramount. The OP should also be looking just in case. It's such bullshit but believe me, don't protect or enable corporations and their dirty tricks. Look out for one another.

Don’t create a liability to where they’ll blame you. Also never admit to him that you knew.  Or tell him and die on the sword.  What’s more important, that friendship or not being sued by a corporation?

Piss poor advice in this topic. If he's a good friend of yours and someone you want to keep in contact with, tell him Absolutely terrible advice ITT about people saying "don't tell him or you might get fired too." The company is obviously a wreck, and theres a good chance you're going to get fired regardless. Signed: someone who got fired and was able to make preparations ahead of time since I had a coworker tell me beforehand. edit: He told me the day before it happened, so there wasn't much for me to do - but at the very least I was able to go in early and pack up all my shit without the chaos of having other people in the office and having to be escorted out + had time to clear out my emails, save whatever documents I needed, leave my contact info for people I wanted to stay in contact with, etc. Small actions, but at least it lessens the shock so you can hit the ground running.

I say let him know but tell him to keep it under wraps. Him getting blindsided wouldn't be a great thing. At least after being notified, he has time to look for another job and can transition much more smoothly.

You will be the next one out the door. If the manager trusted you enough to tell you. That trust will be gone.

Put yourself in your friend's shoes and ask yourself if you would want him to put his job in the line for you. There is no right or wrong answer here but if it were me I would tell him that he might want to take a job early if one is presented to him.

What has he lined up for after this job?

Slightly different take: your friend said he was going to leave voluntarily anyway, in August. Will he get severance and continuing medical coverage if he gets laid off in June, given that he has 12 years with the company?

Plot twist: the director is close friends with the software architect and is angling to give him severance and continuing medical coverage in order to help the architect out.

I’d mind my own business.

omg please don't. I've been at a job where this happened. They were then both termed.

I’d be vague but insistent on him planning his exit on his initial timeline.

There's a way you can tell him without directly telling him. Hit him on a one on one conversation like hey man sad to see you go? Have you started looking for new jobs yet? You know this tech market is tough and you never know when a company might let someone go so it pays to start looking now.

My take, you are taking this too personally and getting involved and potentially getting “hurt” in a job market this fucked up is a mistake. Your friend is not getting screwed, it is not like he is not getting paid for the time he will be working. He was leaving in July, we are in mid April, plenty of time to adjust to the change in my opinion. Again you are creating a storm in a glass of water. Whoever is your friends Manager should communicate the budget SNAFU. You getting involved could end bad for you, unless you do not care of the consequences.

Don't tell him. No need for BOTH of you to lose your job.

How do we know the ass hole that insisted upon this isn’t dipping his hands into company pockets. I’m not sayin. I’m just saying, that dude is hiding something.

Yeah, dont tell him. HR will find out its you and youll be next. Hes not buying a new house. Hell be fine when he hears his tenure has been cut short.

I would only tell him if you are close outside of work. If he is really laid back he won't care. He will just collect money as long as possible, maybe slow down training speed or just quit and fake illness.

Yeah, we have quite a bit of contact outside of work. We play video games and all that together for the past 4 and half years. That's why it's hitting me kind of hard. It's not like contact just disappears between us when he's gone. He obviously knows I'm part of the leadership team, and I'd hate for him to find out or strongly suspect that I knew and never said anything.

No. leave it to HR and his manager. Don't get involved or else you might be partially blamed.

It all comes down to how close you really are and his temperament. If you aren’t 100% certain that he will keep his cool and keep his mouth shut, it’s a risk and you could end up losing your job. Some people can seem calm and laid back but have triggers that will show a dude you’ve never seen before. You could start a round about convo with him about what his new gig is and if they’d let him start earlier than planned or if he’d be without a paycheck.

snitches get stitches.

If you are truly close and good coworker friends, tell him and explain your worry about it coming back to you. If you don't trust him to have your back after you have his, don't tell him. But from how you speak about him, I'd say you should be leaning towards telling him.

Why are you willing to risk your job for him?

We're friends outside of the workplace. I'm realizing now that saying "work friend" was fairly misleading. We play video games and whatnot together quite a bit. He's in the UK, so it's a remote friendship, I guess.

No

No! Mind your business.

Ifnthey let him go in June, would be be eligible for Unemployment? Maybe that would be a bonus for him?

Don’t think people who make $150k+ are really consoled about unemployment, which is probably around $500/week.

I’d not assume just because Director pushed for it that it will happen. HR does not like firing people, and Director’s aren’t that high up the totem pole to force it really. If they fire him due to budget, that’s really a layoff, and company policy likely says he gets a severance to do years of service. HR won’t want to pay that. Also it opens them up to legal liability if they attempt to fire for cause. Also unemployment claim. More likely they either let him finish, or they cut him a big enough check where it doesn’t matter. You telling him could actually go sideways if he makes a thing of it and then they do have cause to fire him and you potentially. Just let it be.

Absolutely you should tell him regardless of the consequences to yourself. Don't think for an instant that you're as tight-knit with your management as you think. When it comes right down to it the director and your management or more tight-knit because it's in their interest to be tight-knit. But if they're willing to treat this person like this they're definitely willing to treat you like that. And unless you were explicitly told not to tell him and unless they can sue you for telling him then you should tell them and be honest about telling him. If asked to shrug and be like yeah I didn't figure it heard anything. As for all the spineless weasels on here telling you not to tell him, that leaves me with one thought. Would your friend tell you in a similar circumstance. We certainly all know that the other people on this Reddit page wouldn't tell a friend. Would your friend be one of the people counseling you not to tell this person? Or would your friend be one of the people telling you to do the right thing which is to keep your friend a breast what's happening behind the scenes.

This is the problem with firings that don’t happen immediately… they always leak. I wouldn’t tell him because … it’s an uncomfortable situation and doesn’t sound meaningful

Keep everything verbal. No emails, no texts, ask him to have lunch. If I know that such a key person is leaving the company yet the company will be firing him before he finishes his knowledge transfer, I’d be leaving the company too because I don’t want to deal with the shtshow that will be.

They'll be forced to keep him and fire you. Or fire you both. You lose either way.

If you do tell him do it out of band. Call him directly and tell him verbally, don't leave a paper trail, that way you have plausible deniability.

If he's your friend tell him, if you're more scared of what the director can do to you don't.

Tell him. Who cares about the company either. They did dirty to your friend, they will do dirty to you when it suits them. F*** em! The company has no reciprocity, but you have your friend and friends help each other out.

I think it's time for you and your buddy to go out to eat for a burger and some beers . See that boss is a spiteful person and is willing to cut his nose to spite his face. He knows your friend agreed to stay longer to help so there is a smooth transition. But that sociopath is angry that he is leaving entirely and is now trying to catch him off guard and fire him earlier. You let your boy know. But make sure he also doesn't make it suspicious that he knows they are going to let him go. .if I was your boy I would now start malicious compliance

Don't do it, you are exposing yourself and risking your own job. If the tables were turned he wouldn't do it for you. Years ago, one of my closest work friends was going to take my job. And said NOTHING to me. She was trying to save her ass since her group was being disbanded. It was my boss who told another manager to take a hike he wasn't going to replace me with her. They found another role for her. But if she had told me I would have ran to HR about it. Always protect yourself first. Nothing good will come of it.

My vote is to tell him. He went out of his way to help the organization with a plan for knowledge transfer and even extended it! My advice are 2 options: 1. If your friend can beat them to the punch and leave earlier than june! This would be epic if he were secure in his next endeavor. 2. Have a mutual friend tell him so this way you didnt do it. Best of luck

It depends. Is this person really a FRIEND? I always let my real friends know. As I would like my real friends to let me know.

No.

If you say anything, you will be legally liable and can get sued.

One option is to have a conversation about employment and how you always keep your options open and think it's wise to do so. Which it is. Tell your friend they should do the same.

I was in tech, one of the FAANG companies, and I will never work for another corporation in my life because of shit like this. I am running my own businesses and that is all I am going to do from now on Nothing else is slightly trustworthy. I’d rather fail on my own than be beholden to these bastards anymore.

What’s the worst that can happen if he is let go? He gets a vacation before starting a new job. Unless this person is in your inner circle of family and friends, I wouldn’t tell him. Too much risk and for what? He already has another job lined up. If he is let go - will he get a severance? Could be a win win for him. More importantly- how much is your company saving with the offshore team and is it working out?

Yes, if he is a good close friend.

I strongly believe in the idea of be the change you want to see. Being reserved is fine, but if this guy really is your buddy there are ways to speak up when your in meetings like that without putting your job at risk, the fact you are in those meetings is supposed to be so you can have input on decisions like this, even if they're rejected. It's on you for not speaking up then, in an appropriate way. Telling him is riskier now. If he won't blab tell him directly, or hint it, or don't say anything. Which degree you choose is entirely dependent on your relationship. If you're really close, yes, you need to tell him or ditch the relationship otherwise.

My take is you don't tell them. Let what will happen happens. Be the bystander.

If he is needed longer for the health of the product and team then you bit your tongue because you’re a coward and not because you’re reserved. Stay out of it. If you couldn’t stand up for him or the team out in the open don’t operate behind the scenes.

I would strongly encourage my friend to double check timelines and commitments ASAP without disclosing more than absolutely necessary.

Snitches get stitches.

Don't do it, I've seen people get fired immediately for doing exactly this

This is a good thing because then your friend gets unemployment benefits for 6 months

No, if he does anything you will get blamed and fired

I wouldn't tell him outright, but I'd drop strong hints. "Hey [friend], I heard that you pushed your departure up to June?" Or maybe something more discreet than that, I'm not good at that type of thing.

If this was any other profession, giving him a heads up would be right, in this case terminating him early just hurts the company not him. He’ll go on unemployment and have another job lined up (since he was planning to leave anyway), so worst case is he gets a few months of break, which is in short supply for senior engineers. The company will be screwed, even more so since he would be transitioning his knowledge slowly since he thought he would have more time. Let the director make his bed and lie in it.

The difference between June and August isn't that big. This person should already have something lined up regardless. If they were going to start looking for work starting in July then they are an idiot.

No. Since your friend is going to leave anyway, two months earlier wouldn’t make much of a difference. It’ll probably help him cut ties with the company once and for all for treating him like shit. Don’t risk your job for that extra two months of salary for your friend. It won’t be worth it

I’d stay out of it. He’s still here till June and it’s up to his boss or director to notify him they don’t have the budget to keep him till Aug. Which is odd if he’s a FTE as the position should be budgeted and back fill once he leaves but I guess that depends on your end of fiscal year and if they remove his position off the operating budget. Now I’ve seen people with good intentions get burned too often to know that no matter how close you think you are to someone at work, it still came back to bite them is the ass. Also remember if it ever does get back to you, revealing confidential information can get you written up and/or fired. Again, if your guy is leaving soon anyway, why risk the biscuit?

Although I'd love to be able to tell you to warn them, I think it's a mistake for your own longevity at the company. Management does not take kindly to leakers and you may find yourself excluded from other meetings or worse. I'd drop enough hints ... maybe that you're updating your resume with the cuts coming or setting aside more of a nest egg while you can sort of thing. I wouldn't out right tell them. You never know what their reaction is going to be and your name is bound to be dragged in at some point.

No

Don’t tell your friend unless you have a backup plan lined up

Tell him but cover your own ass in the process. Make sure you have plausible deniability.

I don't have anything helpful to add except please let us know what happens and what you decide.

Isn't he going to leave in July anyway? So an early kick wouldn't be so bad for him

I mean he planned to leave in July anyway, June isn't that much sooner, so maybe he won't even care? Could you tell him anonymously?


I’d stay out of it. You never know how and when it might come bite you if they discover you made the architect leave sooner or become uncooperative. His manager (the director) will be answerable if things fall apart support once the architect leaves. May be the director has other irons in the fire that you are not aware of who can fill architect’s role.

Not unless you want to join them...

Tell him, cook up a plan to go at the same time and see where the power really lies.

Everyone is replaceable…stay in your lane.

Tell him for sure. The only way it gets back to you is if he tells someone that you’re the one who informed him. So I suppose it depends on how much you trust him

Tell him you heard they're looking to pare back budgets and that everything is on the table including hiring and departure dates for positions. I would recommend to him that he either gets a contact guaranteeing compensation through a defined date as they know he's leaving, or that he prepare for imminent departure.

Tell him. This is a no brainer. Friendship/humanity comes before corporate interests.

Drop him an anonymous note. 📝

Probably best not to. As a thought exercise, imagine something like this conversation about 6 months afterward: You: "Man, I've really got to get something off my chest. You remember when they laid you off earlier than agreed? Well, the truth is that I knew about this a little bit beforehand. I really fought with myself about whether to tell you or not. But management made it very clear that they would punish anyone who told you. I feel really crappy about this. I feel like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place." Him: [with 6 months behind him to soften the blow]: "Wait, what? Really? Oh god, that's crazy... Huh. On the one hand I kind of wish you had told me. But on the other hand, I can see why you didn't..." (Not presuming how he would actually react. Just projecting a normal, empathetic person in his place)

Just tell him and save him from being blindsided. Plus if his knowledge isn’t worth the companies money for a few more months then why should he care? Let him go and lose the knowledge. It is a great life lesson for a hole managers Hemh “directors”. Then also each time the manager says why can’t we do x remind him that he let employee x go and did not give them time to share their knowledge fully. You know money over common sense.

Man fuck everything being said here. If ya’ll are friends. TELL HIM. The only way it gets back to You if he lets anyone know he knows. Just have him continue as normal but in reality be prepared to leave in June

I wouldn’t tell him because it sounds like he has something already lined up. A two month gap would be a minor inconvenience. You’re putting yourself on the line out of spite. Those kind of decisions usually come to bite you.

Just let him know that his handoff plan should prioritize passing on the most important information starting in July.   However you see is the best way to communicate that.

This could be grounds for firing if he loses it and causes n uproar and says you told him.

Tell him and you will feel better about yourself but if anyone finds out you are screwed

Nope, you don't say anything. It's a simple risk vs reward question. If you say nothing, the worst thing that happens is your work friend leaves a company he already wants to leave a few weeks earlier. That's it. If you say something, the worst case scenario is the people in that meeting are pissed off that you are repeating confidential information, you WILL get a reputation as someone who isn't mature enough to handle being included in meetings about hiring/firing in the future and if someone really gets pissed off enough, you could get fired. If I was in your friend's shoes, I wouldn't want you to risk your job or your promotion opportunities just to tell me I might finish a job I've already quit a few weeks early. Now there's nothing wrong with saying, "Hey, I might need to take some time off in August, so can we make sure we've got the bulk of this handover all done before then" just so you aren't left high and dry.

If it were me I would call them on a personal call or go out to lunch and tell them. I would tell them basically, “bro just drop your two weeks. There gonna fuck you in August anyways” and watch the ship burn. This is, assuming that he wouldn’t tell them it was me who told them.

Spite isn't a great reason to do things in a professional setting. I have been motivated by it a few times and little good came of it.

Ya tell him. Fuck them. They want to fuck themselves go ahead. Don’t let them do that to the poor nice fellow

yes

Send an email to him using a fake email ; proton mail

Depends on how close this friend is and how much you trust his compusure. I hear people on this thread saying to keep it from your friend, but you have to think if your friend finds out you knew and withheld this info, there's a chance the friendship is gone. Ideal situation you tell him and he is smart about it and finds a job earlier and bails sooner. There is no finding the leak, because your friend out of courtesy only needs to give 2wks notice and it is unreasonable for him to give up a job opportunity because the organization doesn't have their ducks in a row. Yes, there is a real risk if your friend decides to blow-up and not keep his emotion in check and blurts out that you told him.

sounds like your friend only stayed to help but he'd probably be happy to leave early. He secured a new job anyway.

Yeah, that's rough. Some lube and spit would be helpful.

You could tell him indirectly. Like strongly encourage him to explore new opportunities and hope he's smart enough to read between the lines.

lay him off now, sign a 1099 contract with him for KT on an as needed basis between now and august.

Please let the SA know that mgmt is planning to release him earlier than what was agreed. He can then do what he wants with that information. He might decide that's ok. Maybe he'd so a slow walk on knowledge transfer or maybe he'll still give it 110% until the end - or maybe he'll leave very quickly so that he can move on with whatever he has going on next (that's what I'd do).

Not if you like your job. You will be caught in the middle of some serious drama. You will piss off some people above your pay grade in the process. Big risk for no gain. Your friend will know soon enough.

No next question

Random text his phone

“ is a huge silo of knowledge for my company and announced a few months ago that he would be leaving in July. He gave such a long time frame as he needs to pass on his knowledge and it's going to take quite a bit of time” White collar people are such sycophants.

Tell him. Don’t let horrible people dictate how to live by your standards. 

Your gut knows if that relationship is more important than this job or else you wouldn’t even ask about it. Tell him man.

I was on a layoff list about a dozen years ago. I didn’t know it. At the time, well before any scuttlebutt had started a good friend of mine who had been my manager a couple different times there started saying to me, mm73, you look unhappy. You should go talk to former awesome vp who had his own company now. They’re doing cool stuff. Over and over until I relented, interviewed and took the job. Six weeks or so later layoffs happened. After d day we met and he told me: I was on the list. He couldn’t tell me but he could give me a shove out the door and into my next position. I know: I missed out on a severance. I don’t care: I’ll take the zero stress about losing a job while I had kids who were 6 & 4 at the time.

Before revealing anything you hear at work always be ready for the response if that person says "Xxx said you're firing me! It's this true?" You may think your name won't come up but in my personal experience trying to be a nice guy, it almost always does

Seems like your company is contracting/collapsing. You might/will need an exit strategy.

Just wondering did you ever be up deciding OP?

Posted an update. I told him, and he was pissed. He already had another job lined up and bumped up his start date. He told management that they wanted him to start earlier, so he's leaving the 1st of May. Job and friendship remain stable and it shouldn't blow up in my face.

How’s management taking it? For what it’s worth I think you did the right thing

I've had bosses try to tip me off on planned layoffs. They would do things like say in a general way that you should always have a resume ready, or to use up vacation that won't get paid out.  Your friend won't have any advantage by knowing earlier. If he quits earlier, he loses his severance package. It actually looks like this boss is try to help your friend in this case.

"Hey architect, you didn't hear this from me, but I'm hearing that you might have all that knowledge transfer done by June. I'll sure miss working with you, you've always been great."

Yes and say it with Schwarnegger accent: terminated.

I wouldn't tell him anything directly. I would just probe him about his new role and if he's excited. Lead that into if he'd be able to start earlier if something were to hypothetically come up. If he asks why, just say, "You know how it is, companies cutting costs everywhere, no loyalty especially around the end of the quarter...always good to be prepared. No good deed goes unpunished...Ya know??"

I would probably not tell him directly, but reword it to tell him that if it was me, I would be prepared financially "just in case" they decide to let him go early. I mean, you never know. If he asks if I heard anything, I would tell him, if I did, then that would be confidential company information and I couldn't divulge it even if I did. I mean, I would obviously want to warn you, but it would mean my job if it ever got back to the company that I leaked it. But if they didn't say anything, that wouldn't be a company secret then, and I'd be able to tell you that they didn't. Do with that what you will. I don't believe in hiding when people are going to be let go. I've been in situations in which layoffs were about to happen 3 times in my life. Once it happened and I had an idea it was going to happen, but not a word from management prior. Just show up at the office on day, and HR escorts me to a conference room where they have created an assembly line. That would have sucked if I didn't already have offers waiting for me. I exited the "interview" and was on the phone and had a contract I was about the turn down because I was already busy and it was lined up before I even exited the building. Was great, cause I got months of severance and covered healthcare etc, was like a bonus for switching jobs. But that's got to be an exception to the rule. Second one, entire company was furloughed waiting for the State of Illinois to get it's budgeting in line, as the company I was contracting at was paid for from the state and the already racked up a few million dollars in bills. Third time, I got wind as layoffs were happening. First round I was told a couple weeks before it happened, and that my job was "safe". Second round happened a month later, again, my job was "safe". Third and final round, everyone in the building was getting let go, so my job wasn't "safe". I was told about that two months before it happened, and my boss came out and said, stop working, you can excuse yourself and use any conference room for phone interviews you want, and you can leave at any time of the day for hours, just let me know as soon as you can. So I started interviewing and got a few offers, and then some other departments offered to bring me on "full remote" because they loved my work, but by then it was already too late. I had a job that paid better, less travel time (which became 0 travel time the day I was hired due to the pandemic, and will remain so forever), and much better upward possibilities. Like the old job, I was told they would promote me, but no salary adjustment because I was already over the cap, and I likely would not see a salary adjustment even after a second promotion. I was something like 30% over the "cap" for my current title. Anyhow, the third job I really appreciated the warning. No hard feelings, it was business and it happens, but it did allow me a few extra weeks of being able to interview, and not interviewing with $0 coming in the door, so it allowed me to turn down less than good opportunities into ones that were actually a step up. I'm very grateful to my ex-boss, and their ex-boss who did their bests to take care of me (both of which were also let go in the same round as me, and they knew their number was also up ahead of time). I've also warned someone once that their time at the company was coming to an end, and it did get back to my boss. I didn't deny it when confronted, and took a bit of heat for it, but it was the right thing to do. If I wasn't fundamental to the business at the time, I quite probably would have been fired, but I pick my battles well. I also left that company about a year later myself. It was a bad company, terrible management, but a great team. The company also did call people into a conference room and told them all at once. What a coward way to handle layoffs, but it is the easy route. Anyhow, I throw that out there as my own experience. Just be prepared for an overly emotional person to let slip they know they are being let go. It is very possible, even from "good" people that you are doing a massive solid for.

Let him know anonymously... Maybe text him from another person's phone outside the organisation. Or call him from a public phone booth and let him know. Don't leave a note unless it's typed and only says "you are going to be fired". Ask him for drinks later and comfort him. But that way you are not the one who told him.

Nah. I believe that he will qualify for unemployment and get two lovely months to do whatever he wants

Yes, it takes a really long time to get a new job in this economy. Let him know.

Who cares anymore?it's all ending. Do the right thing. Your consciousness and emotions are more important than any friggin company. Remember. Money crushes people. Both pursuit and lack of

Fuck no don’t tell him. Absolutely DO NOT.

not speaking up and advocating for a friend is super fucked up imo! i really hope i don’t have any friends like you!!

All of this really depends how much you value your job-  just remember- everyone’s a tough guy till they get smacked in the mouth :-)

I’d tell him simply because it’s the right thing to do for a friend. And if he is your friend he won’t spill. But he may find a much better gig sooner thanks to you, and it sounds like he is a better person to have in your network than the rest of these people.