Isn't this the way it works anywhere? Organization decides it needs to reduce headcount, so asks for those who want to go to throw their hat in the ring.
No. One of the banks I used to work at provided no volunteering opportunities. Redundancies were always the lowest performing 10%, assessed and cut at least once per year even during good times, and simply more rounds of that if costs had to come down.
I had a discussion with an asshole boss I was trying to get away from and HR, and they basically told me I was so far ahead of my then pay grade in terms of performance that I effectively had a job for life, but knowing I wanted to leave, it was going to be THAT job for life. They weren't bluffing - I thought they might be and called it, and I still had the same job 2 rounds later, so I had to walk with nothing.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
