{"id":579870,"date":"2022-11-23T13:28:23","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T13:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/11\/23\/how-to-deal-with-layoffs-as-an-employer-or-an-employee\/"},"modified":"2022-11-23T13:28:23","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T13:28:23","slug":"how-to-deal-with-layoffs-as-an-employer-or-an-employee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/11\/23\/how-to-deal-with-layoffs-as-an-employer-or-an-employee\/","title":{"rendered":"How to deal with layoffs \u2014 as an employer or an employee"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> How to deal with job cuts: <\/strong>Huge layoffs at big tech companies in recent months have put a spotlight on mass firings and just how cruelly they can be dealt out. Nearly 130k tech employees at some 814 companies havelost their jobs this year<\/a>, with companies like Meta, Amazon, and most notoriously, Twitter, resorting to gutting their staff. More than half of Twitter\u2019s staff have been fired since Elon Musk took the helm of the company \u2014 many of whom were notified by discovering they had been locked out of their company email and slack accounts, in a frankly brutal example of how not to treat employees.<\/p>\n

This spells trouble in the world of tech<\/strong> where workers often hold on to the fact that sacrifices they make for their employers now will reap dividends at a later date. The recent spate of firings has shaken that supposedly long-standing belief, according to the Financial Times.<\/a><\/p>\n

Layoffs can hurt companies more than their execs think: <\/strong>Since the 1970s, more and more companies have restored to layoffs<\/a> in times of crisis to stay afloat, but some studies suggest that layoffs might not be the best course to pursue over the long term. A 2012 University of Texas at Arlington study found that \u201clayoffs had a neutral to negative effect on stock prices in the days following their announcement.\u201d Separate studies from Auburn University, Baylor University, and the University of Tennessee have also found that companies who go the mass firing route are twice as likely to end up filing for bankruptcy than companies who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

One big negative consequence of widespread layoffs is the damage to morale among those who remain at the company. <\/strong>Firing 1% of a company\u2019s workforce in a year has been found to trigger a 31% increase in quitting among remaining employees the following year, according to University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison and University of South Carolina researchers<\/a>. This is partially because a sense of anxiety starts to build among those who witnessed the firing take place and likely also because fewer people have to cover the same amount of work.<\/p>\n

What are the alternatives to layoffs for struggling businesses? <\/strong>If something\u2019s not working, it could be that employees are in redundant roles, rather than that there are too many people working at the company. Internally retraining and moving staff to new roles is an option for big firms. If that doesn\u2019t work, companies can opt for furloughs instead of layoffs when times are really tough \u2014 when it\u2019s time to power back up, rehiring will be much easier than for firms who made brutal cuts.<\/p>\n

When all other options are exhausted: <\/strong>If a company is forced to make layoffs to stay afloat, execs should proceed with caution \u2014 and remember that there\u2019s no need to burn bridges. A former employee could be a future client, business partner, or even come back to the company in a new role. \u201cYou want to have that alumni network in good shape,\u201d one associate director of business training programs at Harvard University tells CNBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Among the ways to make layoffs as painless as possible, <\/strong>according to business experts who spoke to CNBC:<\/p>\n