How layoffs play out
How layoffs play out
this short newsletter may not capture every company’s layoffs workflow but provides a general perspective for tech companies.
To accompany my other recent newsletters, I wanted to share a brief outline for “How layoffs play out.” While this short newsletter may not capture every company’s layoffs workflow, it provides a general perspective for larger tech companies.
Here’s how most layoffs play out:
HR starts by:
Reviewing the last performance review cycle.
Tagging important and unimportant projects.
Next, the VP of Engineering will usually be aware of the situation. More junior positions aren’t personally aware, but there are often rumors at this stage.
Nobody can confirm the information.
Directors are told a few days ahead of layoffs.
Managers are given a notification either before or after the announcement of layoffs.
There’s a small time window between decisions and layoff notifications being sent to affected employees. There’s a delay for a couple of reasons:
There could be something that HR or leadership missed, miscommunicated, or made a mistake in deciding to layoff someone.
Some managers are given a showstopper decision in the last few days.
Sometimes decisions are final.
Why managers are rarely given information
As shared in my longer newsletters, managers are rarely given information regarding layoffs — for a couple of reasons:
1. Managers are placed in an uncomfortable situation to lie
2. Managers are placed in conversations with incomplete information
With limited information, managers can respond truthfully to their best efforts with broad-based plausible deniability.
Take these screenshots from Stripe’s most recent layoffs as an example:
I’m curious to hear if your experiences have played out differently and if so how?
If you’re interested in reading more about navigating recession from: