This time, what BMW made employees crowd around to see was its own severance offer.
According to a BMWBLOG report on October 24, after BMW posted individual compensation packages in its internal system, employees logged in en masse to check them, and the system briefly malfunctioned. Everyone wanted to know: how much is the company willing to pay for you to leave on your own?
Normally, pay arrives month by month. Now, the price of leaving was placed right in front of people. Years of service, income, family expenses—things usually considered separately—suddenly had to be put into the same arithmetic problem.
The report also said that even if someone is interested in leaving early, they may not necessarily be able to go; company and employee still need to agree later on. Clicking to view the offer, submitting intent, and actually resigning are three steps, not one button press to collect money and go home.
What I think is most worth discussing in this story is right here: the company wants to keep the people it needs and cut costs; employees are also weighing whether this price is worth taking control of the next stage of their lives.
Of course, getting the compensation feels great on the day it arrives, but the rent and mortgage after that will not take a holiday with you. If the money only lasts a few months, it’s like a countdown; if it can last a long time, it’s more like a pass that lets you arrange your own time.
The same job, at ordinary times, raises the question “How much will be paid this month?” But at this point, the question becomes “How much would make me willing to leave?”
If it were you, how long would severance have to cover your living expenses before you would seriously consider signing?
Image: BMW Group headquarters, archive photo from February 2023 (BMW Group PressClub), not from the employee scene in this instance.
According to a BMWBLOG report on October 24, after BMW posted individual compensation packages in its internal system, employees logged in en masse to check them, and the system briefly malfunctioned. Everyone wanted to know: how much is the company willing to pay for you to leave on your own?
Normally, pay arrives month by month. Now, the price of leaving was placed right in front of people. Years of service, income, family expenses—things usually considered separately—suddenly had to be put into the same arithmetic problem.
The report also said that even if someone is interested in leaving early, they may not necessarily be able to go; company and employee still need to agree later on. Clicking to view the offer, submitting intent, and actually resigning are three steps, not one button press to collect money and go home.
What I think is most worth discussing in this story is right here: the company wants to keep the people it needs and cut costs; employees are also weighing whether this price is worth taking control of the next stage of their lives.
Of course, getting the compensation feels great on the day it arrives, but the rent and mortgage after that will not take a holiday with you. If the money only lasts a few months, it’s like a countdown; if it can last a long time, it’s more like a pass that lets you arrange your own time.
The same job, at ordinary times, raises the question “How much will be paid this month?” But at this point, the question becomes “How much would make me willing to leave?”
If it were you, how long would severance have to cover your living expenses before you would seriously consider signing?
Image: BMW Group headquarters, archive photo from February 2023 (BMW Group PressClub), not from the employee scene in this instance.
