Keep Your Promotion Case Alive With an Internal Move

The email says your role is eliminated. Before you reply, pull the org chart and the open-role list, because the next move can either keep your promotion file clean or turn it into a gap.

Treat the promotion case as a file: dates, scope, outcomes, and a manager who can say what you did in plain language. If a lateral into a surviving team is available, take it as a documented lateral. If not, use severance and outplacement as the fallback, not a panic exit.

The org chart decides before the title does

CarMax cut about 145 corporate roles in its latest restructuring, or roughly 4% of that workforce. About 60 of those eliminations were in the Richmond, Virginia area. Affected employees were offered severance, outplacement assistance, and the chance to apply for about 70 open corporate jobs. Before this round, CarMax had already cut about 230 positions in January and about 350 jobs in October 2025.

Repeated cuts change what survives. Teams that seemed stable may disappear, and functions that looked peripheral may become essential. Your job is to find the surviving team that needs your function, not to wait for a title that may no longer exist. Look for work adjacent to your current function: a reporting function can move to a team that needs reporting, and a project-ownership function can move to a team that needs a project owner. The move should be close enough that your evidence still makes sense to a new manager.

Build a promotion file, not a story

Internal mobility includes role-to-role transfers and project-based assignments. Internal talent marketplace platforms can help companies redeploy existing employees during sudden change or economic uncertainty. Using internal talent to fill skill gaps can be more cost-effective and produce quicker productivity gains. A new employee may need two to three years to learn the organization and reach comparable performance. An outside hire for the same position may cost 10 to 20 percent more than a promoted employee.

The cost and speed facts shape the ask. You are not asking for a favor. You are offering a faster, cheaper way to keep the work running. The file should show your current scope, the new team's need, and the work you can take on without a long learning period. Keep the level language honest. When you are moving laterally, do not call it a promotion. The lateral still protects your future case if the new role has clearer scope, better data, and a manager who can speak to your impact.

You are allowed to feel blindsided, angry, or relieved. The file is what carries the next conversation. Build it before you decide, then choose the path that gives you the strongest next role.

• Ask HR for the current list of open corporate roles and note the teams that remain.
• Match your function to a surviving team and name the manager who would own the work.
• Write a short lateral case: what you did, what the new team needs, and what you can do quickly.
• Ask for a documented transfer or project assignment, not a promise of future promotion.
• If no role fits, request severance and outplacement in writing and keep the dates.

Severance is a tool, not a verdict

Using the internal labor market can lessen the damage from hiring limits and possible layoffs. If the company is cutting roles, it may also be limiting new hires. A documented internal move keeps your continuity visible while the business stabilizes. It also gives you a cleaner answer for the next manager when they ask why you moved.

Outplacement is a service you should use whether you stay or leave, not a consolation prize. Use it to translate internal work into outside language, review your record, and prepare for interviews before you need them, without adding drama. If you leave, keep the line clean: role eliminated, applied internally, and here is the work you did. That line protects the file.