Layoffs-as-a-Service
Being laid off, retrenched, resized, exited, fired - these things mostly suck. And for the past few weeks, LinkedIn has been awash with stories tech workers being abruptly let go by their employers. In most cases, the firms are not in dire financial straits. They may have over-hired during the pandemic. Their stocks may be parched and wilting with the turning off of the cheap money - and stockholders love a good costing cutting. Some Tech CEOs may be looking enviously at the dumpster fire that is post-Elon Twitter and thinking: “Well, at least it’s not boring. And the there’s hardly anyone left and the company still exists so I want me some of that”. Who knows what stirs in the hearts of these people? Their own human blood hopefully - but one is never quite sure.
This has come as a rude shock to many of these workers. LinkedIn has practically become a support group with people offering to help and the occasional predator sensing blood in the water. Not everyone in tech was exorbitantly well paid but enough got enough that sympathy outside the industry is limited. Right now, many Western economies cannot get enough people in hospitality, construction, healthcare, teaching, etc. Scott Galloway called this the “Patagonia Vest Recession”. So lets keep a cool head and remember there are plenty of jobs elsewhere in the economy.
A running theme of the commentary has been that all the rhetoric of these companies being “families”. Marc Benioff often draws on the Hawaiian concept of “ohana” (meaning familial bonds) to characterise his company Salesforce but I’m not sure if that concept includes ostracising 10% of your family when you feel like it. Now I have always been uncomfortable with designating your company a “family” unless you are all related or you are the mafia. I don’t want to get in the way of the mafia designating themselves anything (I like my kneecaps, I use them often). Not just because it mislabels companies as places of affection rather than business transaction. But because it seems like a cheap attempt by employers to gaslight their employees into inappropriate levels of commitment. And also for many people, their families are not places of harmony and acceptance but conflict and coercion. Or just grinding passive-aggression.
What should employees do? Well, I would suggest that you learn from the experts. The US Dept of Defence has created a nuclear triad strategy to deter its opponents.
Its land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are responsive. And your CV should also be at Defcon 1, ready to be releases at a moment’s notice.
Its nuclear-capable heavy bomber aircraft are flexible. And you should be constantly loving and supporting your network because you never know when you need to draw on it. And, like a massive bomber, maintenance is necessary to prevent failure.
Its ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) are survivable. Not having too much debt or too much emotional investment in your workplace will make anything that happens to you survivable as well.
Now there are bigger issues at play. The lack of social safety nets in a country can significantly add to the stress of redundancy. Unfriendly labour laws can expose employees further. And if executives incorrectly estimate the number of employees they need, boards should punish them for it, not award them bonuses and extra stock.
But in the short term, we can only control the things around us. So lets do that, guiltfree.