How not to become the villain in a layoff
Layoffs don’t define a company, but how it communicates through them does.
Layoffs are often viewed as financial or operational decisions, but they are also one of the most visible tests of a company’s communication culture.
A layoff is a crisis, and should be managed as one.
If you have to do a mass layoff, the first thing to keep in mind is that the people you are laying off are still your stakeholders. Nobody wants to do layoffs. They’re never great for reputation in the first place. What’s even worse is someone posting a video of a badly handled layoff meeting to social media, using you as example of what NOT to do.
While the financial and operational aspects are (usually) meticulously planned, the communication strategy is often an afterthought. And obviously so.
This. Is. A. Mistake.
The way your company communicates during a crisis is a defining test of your leadership and values. And of your long-term viability. Every employee will remember it, whether they’re laid off or a ‘survivor’. If it makes the news for the wrong reasons, even people who have never worked for you will remember it. Like your customers…
There are significant risks associated with getting the communications aspect wrong. Even if you do absolutely everything else right, poor communications has the power to leave everyone thinking that you did nothing right at all.
When poor communication becomes the crisis
Layoff communications might be internal by nature, but they don’t necessarily stay that way. Scroll through ‘Layoff TikTok’ and you’ll find a substantial collection of layoff stories and reactions to layoff meetings, sometimes with a recording of the actual meeting itself. Not everyone names their former employer. That doesn’t mean that employer isn’t identifiable.
Some of these can go viral fast and get picked up by news outlets, such Brittany Pietsch’s TikTok video about being fired by former employer Cloudfare, which resulted in the company releasing this response (also not the best…).
Better.com laid off 900 employees via Zoom in a response to market changes. Perhaps the layoff was justified, but the communications were not, and the company became a symbol of callous leadership, leading to widespread criticism and executive resignations.
It might feel like the layoffs are something you couldn’t avoid, especially if it’s the result of what you perceive to be a non-oppositional crisis (you’re the victim of circumstances and are not responsible for needing to do it). But it is absolutely a choice to handle your communications badly. And it’s possible that your employees don’t see it as a no-fault situation at all. I can’t get into specific details, but I can think of at least one example where an external event brought a company’s business to a near-standstill, and while the official narrative was “we couldn’t have planned for this”, the behind-the-scenes chats told a different story. Employees at multiple levels of the organization shared that they had been warning about the likelihood of this specific event for years, yet nothing had been done to mitigate the effects in advance.
You don’t want this to be you.
This type of event can cause lasting damage to your company’s reputation both internally and externally. The last thing you need is for your communications about the layoff to become another crisis (or a focal point of the existing one… you have enough work to do already). The consequences extend far beyond a few negative headlines and breakroom rants. Will people want to work for you in the future? Will your remaining employees want to stay? What about your customers?
Candidates are watching. Employees are listening. And former team members are talking. Assume everyone knows everyone and that if you leave them with a negative experience and lack of trust, they likely won’t keep that to themselves.
The peak–end psychological principle is particularly relevant here, whereby people judge an experience according to how they felt at its most intense point (i.e., the peak) and at its end, rather than considering the entire experience as a whole. A layoff could be both the peak (most emotionally intense) and the end of an employee’s experience, totally overshadowing everything else. How the offboarding process is handled can irrevocably damage their entire perception of your organization, regardless of the positive experiences they’ve had during their employment. This final judgment is what they take to Glassdoor and their professional network… including potential future hires.
The damage is not confined to those who are left without a job. Seventy-one percent of layoff survivors report decreased motivation at work. Watching your colleagues treated badly during a layoff creates distrust and the fear of being next.
Communicating with departing employees
The single most critical moment in a layoff is the notification conversation. Your company’s values must be put into practice here. If one of your core values is vulnerability, a layoff that doesn’t show any is a bad move. This is the conversation that will form your employees’ lasting impression. It’s a mistake to try to soften the blow as that can come across as flippant. The news is inherently difficult. So deliver it openly and with respect and clarity. Show genuine compassion. This requires intention.
There are several things to consider before you do it so that your narrative is consistent across all areas. A lack of consistency in messaging is where everything can fall apart VERY quickly. You are likely going to make a broad company-wide announcement (AFTER notifying affected employees, please…), and everything said to individual employees must be consistent with what is in that announcement. You need to make a coordinated effort across all departments to present a unified message. Keeping the details within a small executive circle and having managers and HR act with pieces of information instead of the full picture risks having one of them say something that is inconsistent with your actual plan. Consistency in the narrative is absolutely critical. If it seems like I keep repeating that here, it’s because I want you to remember it. Inconsistency creates speculation and confusion and chaos.
Another thing you need to look at is what your company website’s careers page currently looks like. If you have open positions up there and your laid-off employees are not going to have the opportunity to apply for or move to one of those, you must have a clear narrative prepared on why that is. If there are no open positions but they’re still hanging around on your website’s ‘careers’ page, remove them before delivering any layoff messages. “We need to significantly reduce the workforce but we have all these open positions and no you can’t have one” isn’t a good look. I worked at a company that kept recruitment open for roles that were eliminated and there was quite an elaborate group chat among former and current employees about it… it might even have ended up on Glassdoor or similar, IIRC. I don’t know if anyone was hired from those job ads, but people were talking about it, very critically. You want to avoid that.
Also, you might have to immediately cut off building and system access to those you’re laying off because of security concerns. Whatever you do, don’t do that before talking with them. I’ve seen people get locked out of systems a few days prior to layoffs, with the company describing it as a ‘technical issue that they were working to resolve’. It had been known for a while that the company was in trouble, so people were speculating behind the scenes as soon as the ‘technical issues’ started. If you have to do it, do it respectfully and after communicating properly. Definitely don’t lie about why your employees can’t access their work. Definitely DO NOT revoke building access and have your employees being locked out as their first indicator that they no longer have a job. (Most people likely aren’t going to steal anything from your workplace… those who would probably already have.)
Who delivers the message?
The ideal messenger is the employee’s direct manager, in an individual meeting with each affected employee, accompanied by an HR representative who is there to help (but isn’t the one delivering the message while the manager just sits there listening). The manager has the established relationship and context. HR can ensure consistency in messaging and accurately answer questions about benefits, severance, logistics. Senior leadership is too removed for this personal conversation. The CEO should be responsible for the company-wide announcement, released at an appropriate time (after the affected individuals have been notified).
These individual meetings should be in person or on a live video call if your company has a remote workforce. A phone call or email is too impersonal. A mass Zoom call is the worst option. The meeting should be private, short, and dedicated solely to the purpose, not sprung on the person during their regular check-in meeting.
Of course, this approach requires telling your employees’ managers that their direct reports are being laid off. Surprisingly, doesn’t always happen. I’ve encountered several situations where a manager had absolutely no idea that half their team was being laid off. You don’t want managers saying “I hadn’t heard anything about this” to their recently terminated team members… it makes the company look disorganized and shows a complete lack of transparency and care for those affected.
It’s important to keep in mind that delivering bad news is deeply uncomfortable, and your leaders and managers may be tempted to rush it, hide from it, or use impersonal methods to avoid the emotional strain of a face-to-face conversation. Another mistake. Talk to your managers first to make sure that they are equipped for the task, and if they can’t do it well, train them. It’s not their fault - most people aren’t naturally able to deliver bad news effectively. Don’t throw this at them and expect them to be able to just do it or criticize them for needing training.
What should be in the message?
There’s no room for corporate bullshit in a difficult conversation like this, or using vague ambiguity trying to make the situation sound better than it is. You need to be direct and honest and show compassion. Use a script if it helps, but don’t read off it. I’ve seen several videos of layoff calls where someone is reading an impersonal script off a piece of paper, not even trying to use a compassionate tone, and essentially coming across as though the meeting is solely a legalistic requirement. It might be, but that’s not the impression laid-off employees should be taking away. There’s no authenticiy or empathy in reading off a script.
So, what should you do?
Get to the point. Quickly. Don’t bury the lede in small talk and pretend you’re there for any other reason. Immediately state that you have difficult news to share and then share the news.
Be transparent. Explain the business reasons behind the layoff. As I said above, this must be consistent with the broader announcement the company makes, and it should be a concise explanation of the strategic decision, not focused on why this specific employee was chosen. Do not call it performance-related if it isn’t. A role elimination isn’t a termination. Bringing up performance evaluations to someone who has not received guidance on improving their performance will leave them thinking, “This company terminated me for performance without giving me a chance to improve.” Not what you want. (Have a look at what happened with Meta)
Legal might not want you providing detailed rationales or expressions of empathy for fear of litigation, but when it comes to communications and shaping the narrative that you want your former employees to take with them, you need transparency and humanity. Collaborate with your HR and legal teams to find a balance in your communications that shows respect and honesty without risk. Steven Fink wrote in Crisis Communications: The Definitive Guide to Managing the Message that “if people want to sue you, you will be sued. Expressing regret… is not going to get you sued, nor is not saying anything going to prevent litigation.” So tell the truth and show empathy.
Acknowledge their contributions. Genuinely. Thank them for their work, and use specifics. Tell them how they have contributed and that you appreciate them. Make it known that you do value them. Many times, when being laid off, the primary sentiment among those affected will be that they are not valued. You might not be able to change that perception entirely with your words, but saying nothing guarantees it won’t change at all.
Provide transition support. And communicate it clearly. A good severance package, benefits continuation, outplacement services (resume writing assistance, interview coaching, and job placement support)… If you’re creating a narrative of support, these back that up with action (you can’t fully manage a crisis with words; action that proves the intent behind them is needed). Provide a comprehensive packet with all this information. In writing, because your employees may not absorb all the details while still processing the news.
Listen! This is the most important aspect. Allow your employees to react. Answer their questions honestly. Direct them to HR if you can’t. Show empathy. Not saying “I know how you feel,” but listening, giving them space to share their feedback, and treating them with genuine human decency.
Communicating with ‘layoff survivors’
This should be a separate conversation from your communications with those being laid off.
You cannot effectively address two stakeholder groups with different objectives in a single message.
It is impossible to be empathetic and considerate toward those you’re laying off while simultaneously reassuring layoff ‘survivors’ that their position is safe and the company is going to survive.
Communications to the remaining employees should go out after the notifications to departing employees. You don’t want ‘survivors’ telling those you’re laying off that layoffs are happening before you’ve told them they’re being laid off. That’s giving away narrative control and letting speculation fill an information vacuum, and it creates more anxiety and chaos within an already-challenging situation.
Your messaging to remaining employees is just as critical, if not more so, than that to those who are being laid off. Those who remain aren’t necessarily going to just be happy and feel lucky that they still have a job. Half of them will likely be going straight to job sites because of concerns regarding their job security and whether more layoffs are coming… or apprehension about taking on the responsibilities of those who have been let go (hello, stress and burnout!). They might feel guilty for keeping their jobs. They might feel angry with leadership for the decision and have lost trust in your management.
You need to effectively address these things. They are your stakeholders’ needs, and they are your responsibility.
Failing to do so will lead to a disastrous drop in morale and productivity. People will leave. Your best people might leave.
The communication strategy for remaining employees must be designed to rebuild trust and psychological safety if you want to keep them engaged in the company’s future as well as their own.
How to deliver the message
Immediately following the individual notifications, the remaining employees should be notified. Managers should have 1-1 meetings with their remaining team members, and the CEO should lead an all-hands meeting with the entire remaining staff. DO NOT bring those who are being laid off into this meeting.
This is an opportunity for leadership to be visible, transparent, and accountable. The tone should be respectful of the difficult nature of what has happened. It should not be celebratory. It definitely should not be overly optimistic. (“There’s nothing to worry about, the company is fine!!” OK, why am I the only person left on my team, then…?). It shouldn’t make promises that can’t or won’t be kept.
In your messaging:
Acknowledge the challenge. Clearly. Acknowledge the emotional weight of the decision for everyone, especially those who are still there. Don’t overly focus on how hard it is for you (leadership) and how bad you feel. Trust me, your employees don’t care at this point. Focus on how it affects them.
Be transparent. The CEO must clearly and transparently explain the business reasons behind the layoff. This should be the same rationale shared in individual meetings, company-wide announcements, and public statements. Consistency is key. Your remaining employees WILL talk with their laid-off colleagues. Don’t create a conflicting narrative.
Clearly state that the layoffs are over. (If that is true). One of the biggest sources of anxiety for ‘survivors’ is the fear of future cuts. So you should state unequivocally that the layoff is complete. If that’s not guaranteed, be honest about the ongoing evaluation and provide as much clarity as possible about what’s next.
Shift focus to what’s next. You must shift from the past to the future. Explain how the company is now structured to succeed. Detail any changes in strategy, team structures, and individual roles. People need to know where they stand and how their roles have changed. They need to know that you have plans to move forward with intention. You need to rebuild their confidence in the company’s direction. That’s a long-term project, but this is a start.
Address the workload. Acknowledge that the remaining employees will have questions about their new responsibilities. Commit to a thoughtful and fair redistribution of work, and engage employees in that process. Simply dumping the work of departed colleagues onto survivors is a recipe for disaster. A person suddenly given the workload of three other people with no incentive will likely immediately look for alternative employment. Don’t minimize the effect this layoff will have on workload if it is going to dramatically increase the contributions of the remaining employees. I’ve worked for a company that increased workload by almost 50% and tried to gaslight us into believing it was the same amount of work because ‘it would still be completed in the same amount of time’. (That ended up in multiple Glassdoor reviews… not posted by me, I must add.)
Hold an open and honest Q&A session. You must be prepared to answer tough questions without defensiveness. Emphasis on that last part, there. An open Q&A demonstrates transparency and a willingness to listen to employee concerns, helping to rebuild trust. It is better to face the difficult questions head-on than to let rumors and misinformation fill the void. Remember, no defensiveness. If your CEO can’t do this without getting defensive, find someone else who can. It’s better to delegate than to make everything worse with bad comms.
You can turn a moment of crisis into a foundation for future resilience among your remaining employees, but only with good communication and follow-up action that aligns with what you said you were going to do.
After the conversations
The all-hands meeting is just the beginning of the conversation. Continuous communication and support will be essential for rebuilding trust. Make sure your managers have the resources and training to have ongoing conversations with their teams. They are on the front lines of managing ‘survivor’ morale and need to be able to answer questions accurately and escalate concerns when they don’t personally have the answers. So they need to know what is going on and who has the information that their direct reports might need. You don’t want a situation where managers are saying they don’t know what is going on or who to direct people to. That won’t rebuild trust at all.
Why all this matters
How your company treats employees during a layoff reveals how real your values actually are. As I said at the beginning, a layoff is a crisis, and the way you communicate through a crisis defines your reputation long after the situation itself has passed.
Get it wrong, and you risk far more than a few bad headlines. You lose trust. You lose credibility. You lose people. Not just those you lay off, but the ones you hoped would stay.
Years from now, very few people will remember the market conditions or financial pressures that led to your layoffs. They will remember the meeting. They will remember the tone. They will remember whether they were treated like a cost to be eliminated or a person worthy of respect.
That memory, not your press release, is your legacy.
There are several companies I have never worked for that I would avoid because of what their handling of layoffs has shown me about how they operate under pressure. News travels fast in small fields…
Whether that story works for you or against you is a choice you make.