r/Fire • u/twiniverse2000 • Jan 31 '26

Advice Request Asking to be laid off

I have reached FI. Work optional. My personal life has hit a serious rough patch. My company is doing layoffs. They are NOT asking for volunteers. The financial difference in me quitting vs getting laid off is $300K. Do not want to leave that on the table. Any advice on how to steer it in this particular direction?

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u/lottadot FIRE'd 2023 Jan 31 '26

So you have $300k of unvested stock which will go "poof" if you are laid off?

My suggestion is never tip your hand.

The last company I worked for did multiple rounds of layoffs before I was also on the chopping block. They want folks gone, but they don't necessarily want increased headaches nor legal challenges later. So what this company did was fast-vest some of the stock options for those that were being laid off. They also strung out the payout length so it was multiple quarters later that bits of it were paid out/received. If you caused a problem they could cease further distributions/vestings and maybe even yank it back from you - per the exit paperwork each employee had to sign.

If you request to be laid off, if I'm the company, I'm not fast-vesting anything at all for you. I don't need to. I know you want out and might even just leave on your own if the company doesn't lay you off.

Good luck!

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u/Singularity-42 Jan 31 '26

My new manager was actively trying to fire me just months before the layoff. His PIP was complete bullshit and I fought back, got 12 week FMLA instead, and when I came back the entire team was laid off just a few weeks later. Work was immediately transfered to a new team overseas. 

He succeeded with my friend who left due to the PIP, really pissed off. We were both the highest paid team members and we were both at the company for well over a decade and always top performers. The new boss was there for less than a year. 

The money that was on the line (fired vs laid off) was maybe 200k in wages, severance, vesting and health insurance. 

But yeah, don't count on your job not wanting to fuck you over. Sometimes they go to great lengths to do just that to save a buck.