Worst hire tag, secret PIP, forced quit - Tier‑1 CS grad, 1 yr, maybe layoff

[Simran]

I graduated from a Tier‑1 CS college in 2025 and joined a big MNC as an intern. During conversion HR said I was the best intern and managers were fighting to have me on their team.

Then reality hit.

I was placed under a manager known for being brutal. Four people left his team in a year, and my peers warned me I wouldn't survive 12 months. They were right.

My day‑to‑day was 12+ hour shifts, calls with my SSE until 2‑3 am, stand‑ups that went on for 3 hours, impossible deadlines with zero support, and public shaming by my PSE whenever I asked for help.

At my annual review I was called the worst hire and told I was "at least 30% of" a colleague. It was the most humiliating professional moment of my life.

What followed was a PIP I didn't even know I was on – presented as an "action plan" in plain HTML/CSS/JS. Every 1:1 turned into a quiz: what is a dt tag, how to replace ul bullets with images. I argued that documentation exists for a reason.

In the final month I got a task whose merge depended entirely on my PSE who held the base branch. I couldn't finish without him and was yelled at for not getting it merged – my manager even said "what will he show HR." I still raised 4 PRs in 2 days. Bug fixes I wrote with solutions were quietly reassigned to others.

Two days later I was asked to resign.

I'm not alone – several colleagues who joined with me are facing the same issue. When I started the company's stock was around $68, now it's about $35. They owe six months' severance for every layoff, but if you resign they owe nothing. They are creating performance issues to dodge payment.

This isn't a performance problem. It's a cost‑cutting move dressed up as a PIP.

Has anyone dealt with this legally or otherwise? How can I fight the "resigned" label when the resignation was forced? And how do I explain this exit in interviews without it killing my chances?

I'm a year into my career and I refuse to let this define me. Any advice is welcome.

[Pankaj]

Welcome to the club. Same thing happened to me – I was to be shifted to another group, the manager stepped in and I had to resign.
(I seriously wanted a 9mm, but... )

[Kiran]

Please mention the specific team or division so we can stay cautious.

[Subhash]

Don't resign, let them lay you off.

[Jasmin]

Don't resign – it feels like they're threatened by you and your managers are just dead weight now.

[Ansh]

Hey, if you are in CS and based in Blr, I have an opportunity – not a full‑time job, but a project that can keep you busy until you find something stable. Pay is project‑based, tech‑focused, lots of learning and networking that can help your job hunt. Reach out at [support@skrenbytes.com](mailto:support@skrenbytes.com) if interested.

[Jatin]

You can still claim gratuity and other benefits in the full‑and‑final settlement.

[Parth]

Refuse to resign. Let them fire you. Get a lawyer, send a legal notice or file a case for illegal termination and claim your severance and damages.

[Priya]

>>They owe six months severance for every layoff. If you resign, they owe nothing. They are manufacturing performance issues to avoid paying it.

You shouldn't have resigned after learning this. You should have backed up your work, documented daily progress and confronted them when they downplayed you.

First step: send an official email stating you are not happy proceeding with the forced resignation. Let things take their course. Then approach the labour commissioner's office if the situation becomes rigid.

But be honest – only pursue this if you have time to chase it. Companies know employees are busy and use that to their advantage. If you take legal action, they may seek a mutual settlement, though the timeline is uncertain.

[Ravi]

Tier‑1 college (CS) – you mean IIT? In India there's basically no tier‑1 above IIT.

[Rupali]

If you don't resign, the PIP and your performance will show up in the next company's background verification.