Golder was the best of times and the worst of time - Anonymous employee Golder Associates Employee Review

Golder in Canada amalgamated operations with the US in Fall 2015, almost immediately after I was hired, resulting in mass lay-offs with almost no warning. The dedicated team who took me out for lunch on my first day was, by day 3, half gone, walked to the door. The floor I worked on was basically emptied, and personal items of these long term employees were left behind and unattended to for a very long time. I wondered why I had been hired when tenured employees were walked to the door. I felt guilty for even having my job when others, who were really bonded to Golder, were let go without warning. I eventually left before more unfair layoffs could take place, hopefully sparing a long-term employee their job. It seemed that Golder didn't really care about their employees after all, that someone was sitting in the sky with a spreadsheet containing only salaries to get rid of. Layoffs seemed to be decided without thought to the quality of work of the individual, dedication and long-term commitment or their reputation in the consulting world. It was a really ugly way of handling a lay-off situation. Nothing was communicated to anyone, your colleagues just disappeared. Moreover, a lay-off is really hard to explain to future employers. Potential employers assume that if you were laid off, you were not performing. I do not believe was the case with Golder. I believe that a too high percentage of their top-performers were let go unfairly, and left them to struggle with the stigma of a lay-off in a tough market. It didn't seem to me that Golder used a fair methodology to lay-off employees.