
Ask HN: I'm going to have to lay people off, and want your advice - sadthrowaway
Throwaway for obvious reasons. I&#x27;m probably going to have to lay off several dozen people, which I&#x27;ve never done before. Needless to say I&#x27;m not looking forward to it. What advice do you have to make it as decent as possible both for those who will be laid off and those who will remain?<p>(Probably helpful if you note whether you are someone who has been laid off well or poorly, someone who has laid people off, or just have thoughts about it.)
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steven2012
I've been through the dotcom bust, where my company went through 6 layoffs in
a single year. We went from 1400 to about 600. I survived them, but it was a
terrible experience, and after a while, people stopped working and just
gossiped about the next layoff.

First off, if you're going to do layoffs, make sure it's one and done. This
means, probably cutting more than you have to so that you don't have to keep
making layoffs in 6 months, etc. The quicker you can get back to hiring, the
better it will be for morale.

Layoff your lowest performers first. If you don't, then your top performers
will leave you, and you will get crippled within less than a year. Don't do
something like ask everyone to take a paycut, because it means that your top
performers suffer just as much as your low performers. You should get rid of
your low performers quickly.

Try to give as generous a severance package that you can. And meet with each
of them face-to-face if possible, but with several dozen it's probably
impossible.

Make it quick and let them leave with dignity. That means let them say bye to
their friends, and making sure that every single question they may have
answered. COBRA, unvested options, Unemployment benefits, etc. Personally I
wouldn't escort them out or lock their accounts unless you think that they are
going to cause problems. Hopefully they won't.

Do all the layoffs before lunch. Have a meeting with the rest of the company
after the layoffs, after lunch and explain why you had to do it, and explain
your plan to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

Never tell the employees how YOU feel. No one cares.

~~~
monksy
Also, if you have a non-compete on the employment agreement. Do the right
thing and nullify that agreement. If they go to your competitor, you have no
one to blame but yourself. A non-compete does nothing from sharing secrets.
Confidentiality agreement prevents that. (That is advice from a lawyer)

I'm not sure if I agree with you on the saying the good byes. Linkedin is a
bit better than that. The worst thing you can do is send them back to their
desk to backup and make the announcement while they're packing.

~~~
ansible
I'd be surprised if a non-compete was enforceable in a layoff situation. It is
another thing if they quit on their own, or maybe if they were fired for
cause.

~~~
monksy
Talk with a lawyer. However, if you're not in CA or a place where non-competes
aren't valid: They can be enforced. It's shitty, but that's business.

~~~
jsprogrammer
In a situation like this though, it can probably be thrown out for lack of
consideration. You'd also probably have a decent suit for damages as well: if
a company hires you with a non-compete and then dumps you on the street
because it can no longer meet it's contractual obligations to you, but still
prevents you from earning a wage through an onerous contract (which they
unilaterally terminated) causing real damages to your lifetime earnings.

~~~
monksy
You'd think. A lawyer will tell you this: "I'm not a magician. You signed the
contract."

------
mindvirus
One thing that I would add as a worker is to be cognizant of people on work
visas. In America, H1Bs have very oppressive terms for being out of work, in
that one is technically immediately out of status if laid off. This means that
they would have to quickly find a new job willing to transfer their visa
(within a couple of weeks) or take their family and leave the country. I don't
know what your options are to help lessen the blow here (is it possible to
keep someone on payroll for a couple months in lieu of severance?), but keep
it in mind.

~~~
x0x0
I'm not sure of the legalities but I worked for a place that kept a laid off
h1b employee on in a no-show position for 8 weeks to give him time to
transition.

~~~
fenomas
This is how it worked both times I was laid off from a large silicon valley
company.

The deal was basically: "You're relieved of duties today, but you stay on the
books and draw salary for [1-2] months, after which you'll be terminated with
[N] months of salary as severance. Obviously you're welcome to look for other
jobs, internally or externally, and if you find a new job and don't want to
wait out the 2 months, you're free to quit early (foregoing severance)."

It felt waaay better than being escorted out with [N+2] months of severance,
and the cost to the company is the same (or cheaper if some people wind up
forfeiting their severance).

------
sskates
I've found what Ben Horowitz has written about management to be incredibly
helpful. I am lucky to never have had to lay people off, however, if I did,
I'd go to this first:
[http://www.bhorowitz.com/the_right_way_to_lay_people_off](http://www.bhorowitz.com/the_right_way_to_lay_people_off)

~~~
wtvanhest
I have luckily never had to do this or never been had to be laid off, but when
I read his book, this appeared to be the most reasonable way to do it.

------
JacobAldridge
I've had to let people go directly, and helped others through this process. It
sucks, and it's an immensely valuable lesson as an entrepreneur - when you've
done this once, you will work harder to prevent it ever happening again, while
at the same time being prepared to do it faster in situations where that is
warranted.

A common mistake when winding back a company is _only_ pulling it back to
break-even. Eg, 'Our revenue forecasts show we can cover 50 salaries, so let's
cut back to 50 people.' There are two problems with this - first, if your
forecasts are too optimistic, you will be forced to do another round of cuts
and the team / clients will start fearing a death spiral. Second, cutting a
business back to break even leaves you with no spare cash flow to invest in
future growth - you risk stagnating. Better to add an extra 10% to the layoffs
now than risk the remainder of the business.

From there, the decision about who to let go is sometimes obvious (you might
be dropping a product line, have an underperforming team, or some stand-out
low performers). Do what you can to re-deploy your top performers elsewhere
within the company - you'll want them, and their advocacy, moving forward.
Where it's not obvious, and you can't get guidance from team leaders etc,
accept that it's going to be partly a crapshoot where nobody wins.

How you communicate the decision and the reason why is critical. steven2012
has covered this well elsewhere in the thread. Be honest, take responsibility,
and be positive for the future you plan to create. Good luck.

------
antjanus
My first week at a new job, half the company got let go. And a few months
later, it got slashed even further. I don't have the specific numbers but at
the end of the year, we went from over 200 to about 80ish. (I hope I got the
numbers right)

Anyways... Half the company met in one place (and they got let go) and half
the company stayed.

Do a single cut. The second cut prompted people to lose faith in the company.
It didn't matter what the CEO said, most people simply believed that "this was
it". Many started to look for other jobs. I believe the first one we called
the "bloody Tuesday" and the second one was a "bloody Friday". It became a
permanent joke/non-joke that whenever a big meeting was called, people were
going to be let go. Or whenever someone talked about "strategy", it meant
cutting departments. Not a good thing AT ALL.

Don't be a dick about it. From what I know, the people that got let go got a
good severance and references. Both good things.

Make sure the morale stays up. Many of us had issues dealing with it.
Productivity dropped, faith in the company, etc. Actually, the worst part was
watching higher up people stay and not be affected, and slack off on top of
it.

Nothing worse than seeing someone who makes 6 figures play Mario Kart in the
break room for the whole day a few weeks after all this happened.

What DID help was that us lower folk started playing video games over lunch.
It fostered new friendships, and helped us get productive again. But that got
cut as well after people complained (to this day, I don't get it).

~~~
jryanwilliams
^I agree with the note above. Very easy to loose faith in a company who didn't
cut deep enough. I survived a layoff round only to be furloughed for the week
after Christmas a few months later. Had lots of time during a cold winter to
think about how I should have quit months ago.

------
blazespin
Severance severance severance. Everything else is just words. If you can't
afford it, than give everyone vesting / option rights for ten years.

If you can't do that, honestly, it's all just empty words and bullsht in my
opinion. Someone screwed a lot of people by over hiring and mismanagement.
Hope whoever was responsible for that is first to go.

~~~
BinaryIdiot
Short but good advice. The last set of layoffs I went through at a big company
was just everyone being really worried until they gave a somewhat fair
severance. That calmed the mood significantly. Fortunately I missed the layoff
cuts but myself and my co-workers were on edge until they announced the
severance.

Later on however the company announced 3 more rounds of layoffs, each having
less and less severance and time before leaving. It would have been FAR better
to cut many more people during the first round so they could have all gotten
the same severance instead of later groups being essentially screwed.

------
kls
Don't do it on a Friday, mid week is best. Friday is the worst, that being
said get it over ASAP and give them as much warning as possible to give them
time to land on their feet. I agree with Steven cut more than you have to, a
second round of layoffs means you loose everybody you would want to keep. I
have never seen a company survive if it has went to that well twice.

Chances are they already know it is coming, if work is slow and not coming in
or the burn rate is high and you have run long on funds then they will be
expecting it. Have a very clear plan to explain to those that stay, as to why
the ship is righted now and how you plan to survive. Plan to loose at least a
few of your best guys, if you loose one, use his/her salary to give the others
a raise or you will lose them too.

Also cut the pessimist over the pragmatist or the optimist. In a layoff
environment the pessimist will kill your company moral. If you got a guy that
is say 15% better than another guy but he is a pessimist and the other guy is
an optimist, keep the optimist. That being said, trim dead weight if they are
just not skilled let them go not matter their outlook. As others have said,
look to trim, trim more than you need.

~~~
artmageddon
> Don't do it on a Friday, mid week is best. Friday is the worst

Having gotten laid off on a Monday morning at 10AM after spending the whole
weekend working in anticipation of finishing a major deadline that day, I'm
not sure I agree. I'd rather not find out though...

~~~
frenchie14
That has nothing to do with Friday vs. Monday though. A major deadline can be
set any day of the week and management has to be cognizant of that in deciding
when to lay off. It's likely that in your case they were, but not in the way
we'd hope.

------
MalcolmDiggs
As a founder who has laid people off in the past, I think the kindest thing
you can do (for everyone involved) is give them as much notice as you possibly
can. No matter what pay-rate the employees are at, assume they're living
paycheck to paycheck, and that a sudden loss of their income will be much
worse than a loss 2-3 months from now.

My second suggestion is to go out of your way to be the best reference these
people have ever had. Write letters of rec, tell them to list you personally
as a reference (with your cell #), etc. And if you can, use your network to
help them find new opportunities.

For those who remain, just try to be as honest as you can. If their jobs are
possibly insecure, let them know as well.

Best of luck, I know this is hard.

~~~
bjourne
But when paired with the other advice given out in this thread "layoff your
biggest underperformers first", why would you be a reference to them? Other
employers would call you and you would lie and say that they were awesome when
you really thought that they sucked?

~~~
cperciva
Layoffs are the easiest time to give an employee a reference: "We really
wanted to hold on to Bjorn, but we hit a hard patch and had to lay people off.
We'd hire him back in a heartbeat if we had more money."

~~~
kethinov
Nothing like a little polite dishonesty to allow everyone to save face...

~~~
cperciva
If you're laying people off because you need to trim payroll, everything I
said should be true.

------
cookiecaper
I've been on both ends, being fired/laid off and doing the firing/laying.

My advice is first, realize you're not going to be popular. Treat people with
dignity but don't worry too much about how they will take it. They're going to
take it poorly. They're going to be upset. If some of your employees aren't,
then that's a bonus. With this in mind, don't let your process or productivity
become unnecessarily disrupted and be _very_ careful in making concessions.

With this many people, do it all at once. Don't make people wait in agony for
hours or days waiting to see if they'll get called in next. The specifics on
how to do that will depend on the structure and size of your company, but do
not allow for suspense.

Like others said, treat the employees with dignity and offer a reasonable
severance as far as is possible. This isn't about preserving your relationship
with them, it's about being a decent human being and making accommodation to
ease a large transition like that.

Good luck. Like I said above, don't overthink it or worry about preserving
your employees' opinions -- just behave in a manner that seems both reasonable
and decent to you and be satisfied with that. Making it fast, moving forward
with resolve, and appearing like you know what you're doing will help comfort
the remaining employees to whatever extent is possible.

------
declan
I've worked at companies during layoffs, and have been a manager at these
companies as well (though fortunately never had to lay someone off
personally). My advice:

\- Managers should tell their direct reports personally, rather than
delegating to someone else like HR. I still remember, unfondly, when one
manager didn't want the burden of delivering the bad news and found someone
else to do it.

\- Give the people who will be laid off as much time as possible to send work
emails, talk to colleagues, get taken to lunch, etc. As <steven2012> said, let
them leave with dignity. Your employment agreement already prohibits misuse of
corporate resources and criminal law prohibits theft of company property; as a
general rule there's no need to have a security guard hovering over a desk.

\- Write a letter of recommendation if your corporate policy allows and your
employee's performance merits it. Give it to them in printed form and PDF.
Don't merely offer to do it if they ask.

\- As many others have said, do only one round of layoffs. Company morale can
survive a single round. It may not survive repeated rounds, with nobody
knowing when (and where) the next axe is going to fall.

\- Communicate honestly with your remaining employees to the extent policy
allows. The best managers will admit it if they don't know something.

~~~
davemel37
> \- Write a letter of recommendation if your corporate policy allows and your
> employee's performance merits it. Give it to them in printed form and PDF.
> Don't merely offer to do it if they ask.

If you really care about making it easier for the person being fired, this is
a MUST. I have been on the opposite end where my employer simply said, "write
something up and Ill take a look at it." Don't Do That. It is the same thing
as telling them "you are dead to me, and aren't even worth the decency of two
minutes of my time to reflect on the good you have done for my company, and
the extra minute to think of a way to help you move forward."

Want to be decent, write the letter of recommendation in advance. The gesture
will go a long way in keeping bridges from being burnt.

On the note of burnt bridges, I know of a nursing home company in Colorado
that layed someone off in a not so courteous way and 10 years later she became
the head of nursing home licensing in Colorado and the moment she found the
first excuse, she revoked their license on 20 nursing homes, costing them tens
of millions of dollars.

~~~
balls187
> If you really care about making it easier for the person being fired, this
> is a MUST.

Perhaps this is splitting hairs, but I see a round of layoffs as something
considerably different than being fired. Net-effect the same, but firing
someone has a the connotation that it was for cause.

~~~
davemel37
I can only speak to my own experience: but the the connotation you are looking
for just doesn't exist.

As long as some people are let go and others keep their jobs, people will
assume there was a reason they got let go...not just because the company had
to make layoffs.

Short of committing a deliberate fire-able offense, being let go as part of a
layoff feels exactly the same.

~~~
balls187
Except being fired for cause you are:

* Unlikely to get a reference.

* Unlikely to collect unemployment insurance.

* Unlikely to get severance.

* Unlikely be rehired in the future.

Yes it _may_ feel like the same, but they are very clearly two different
things.

~~~
davemel37
I think we are defining "cause" differently. Inam referrring to an
underperformer being let go for financial reasons or someone not fitting into
the culture - similar to a layoff but only impacting one person...you seem to
be referring to someone who gets fired because they did something egregious.

------
mathattack
I've been on both sides of this within the past year. (Have been let go, and
had to let go 40% of a company) Ben Horowitz writes about this, and it's
required reading. [0]

Some thoughts:

1 - When you have the announcement, be clear about the reasons for it. ("The
market moved", "We didn't hit our revenue plan." or "Mgmt f*cked up.")

2 - Highlight the severity of the situation. ("If we don't do this, we have 3
months of runway left, which isn't enough time. If we do this, we have 9
months to get our act in gear.")

3 - Given the constraints of #2, be as generous as possible with severance.

4 - Never ever badmouth anyone who was let go as a result of this.

5 - Be a proactive reference for those let go. Don't just wait for calls -
make placement calls for your people.

(Note - 3 through 5 is in part to be humane to those leaving, and in part to
rally those left behind.)

6 - If at all possible, only cut once. Cut deeper if you need to just to avoid
doing it twice.

7 - Be firm in the meetings. "This isn't about performance, it's about saving
the company." It's not a negotiation. Have at least 1 witness in the meeting,
ideally an HR person.

Note - all of these things still won't make it any better, just less worse.
It's a tough thing to cut off your foot to save your leg. That's what you're
doing.

[0]
[http://www.bhorowitz.com/the_right_way_to_lay_people_off](http://www.bhorowitz.com/the_right_way_to_lay_people_off)

------
physcab
I was laid off once, and although it was a horrible experience, I do not think
I would feel as bad if it happened again. The reason is that the first time
you get laid off, you think to yourself you are absolutely fucked and there is
no way out of the tunnel, especially with bills looming. But in hindsight, it
was never as bad as it seemed. I was able to hook up with a recruiter and I
was back in another job within 20-30 days. So here I am telling you I survived
and everything turned out ok!

Having said that, if I were about to get laid off there are some things that
would ease the transition and make it more bearable. First worry is income. If
you could guarantee a months severance, that would go a long way. Second is
health insurance. If you could have all those resources prefigured out by the
time I left, I'd be much happier. Third is promise of future income. If you
could have recruiters on standby so that if I could make the choice to begin
the job search, it would be great. Lastly, this is sorta extra credit, but
experiencing job loss is quite tramatic. You can make counselors / work
therapists available to be there in the time of need.

Basically what I'm trying to say, if you are going to let people go, make the
only thing they have to worry about is getting over the shock of getting let
go. That is unavoidable. But if they know they are being taken care of and
empathized with, they'll get over it quickly.

~~~
IndianAstronaut
The only way to deal with a layoff is to be fully prepared. Keep an active
resume, have huge savings, be debt free, and have good contacts.

------
throwaway781110
Here's how not to do it...

Experience 1:

\- Start deactivating their accounts a week before giving the news.

\- Give 3 days severance pay and act like it's not just them not wanting to
figure out how to cut 3 days out of a paycheck.

\- Have the manager escort the employee to HR without a word, and then leave
and let HR deal with the hard part.

Experience 2:

\- Tell the employee over email while they're on vacation, and then never
bother to have any follow-up in any form.

------
kethinov
A lot of people who get laid off want to know why them and not a peer. Was
their peer a better performer at the same pay grade? Or was their peer doing
the same job for less money? Is the company looking to eliminate senior roles?
Junior roles? Or was the selection completely random?

Some transparency into why the decision was made can be make it easier to move
on. Generic reassurances that "it's not performance related" are not always
helpful, particularly because that's so often bullshit.

It certainly was performance related to the extent that if the person being
laid off was doing twice as much good work for half as much money then it's
unlikely they'd have been let go. It's a hard thing to talk about, I know, but
that's what people want to know when they ask why.

That way the person let go knows whether and how to adjust their performance
going forward at their next job so they're more likely to survive that
company's inevitable layoffs.

~~~
lsc
So, I've got comments from both ends, but I think your advice is super
interesting, especially from the employer-side of things.

>A lot of people who get laid off want to know why them and not a peer. Was
their peer a better performer at the same pay grade? Or was their peer doing
the same job for less money? Is the company looking to eliminate senior roles?
Junior roles? Or was the selection completely random?

Hm. So, as an employee, I wouldn't believe any of those answers, were the boss
to give them to me. As someone else said, "Severance... everything else is
just words" \- but it is important to remember that most people are not as
cynical as I am.

As an employer, though, that advice is interesting... because really, it seems
kind of shitty to say "I'm sorry bob, but it turns out that Joe is just three
times more effective than you are. I think he's just smarter." which is what
I'd say if I really was giving the unvarnished truth. I mean, a lot of times,
there isn't really much Bob could do about it; he's just not as smart as Joe
is; it's not really his fault.

but my instinct, when I don't know what the right thing to say, is to just
tell the truth, so your advice appeals to me. but it just seems like this is
one of those 'does my butt look big' situations where keeping my damnfool
mouth shut is the best option.

Is this what you would want to hear? How would you feel if the boss told you
someone else was three times as effective as you were and you disagreed with
that assessment?

>That way the person let go knows whether and how to adjust their performance
going forward at their next job so they're more likely to survive that
company's inevitable layoffs.

As an employee, I say that you always want to be in the first round of
layoffs. The severance is usually best at that point, and even if the company
did a good job and fired the people who were, say, half as productive, those
people did _some_ work, and that work still needs to get done. Guess who gets
to do it? You! the "Lucky" person who didn't get laid off!

I've never gotten the axe in a layoff... I've been fired, but that's a
different thing. More than once I've ended up quitting after the first or
second round of layoffs because the company expected me to work twice as hard
for the same money (and no possibility of a raise) with half the support I had
before.

~~~
mark-r
Any lawyer is going to tell you to keep your mouth shut in this situation.
Anything you say at this point may be held against you later. Sucks, but true.

~~~
lsc
Yeah, but all my assets are in my company... and really, once someone has had
root on your servers? It's pretty much impossible to take that away without
their consent. A "clean wipe and re-install from backups before this person
had root" is going to leave me with nothing bout a smoking crater, financially
speaking.

Also, you just saw what happened on Reddit. Firing someone who is in contact
with your customers can backfire in ways way worse than a discrimination
lawsuit, if you screw it up.

so... at least when dealing with my own stuff, while I'm sure my insurance
company would prefer I follow your advice, it's probably in my own best
interest to do whatever it is I can do to avoid pissing off the outgoing
employee, even if it does give them more leverage if it comes to a legal
fight.

I mean, I'm not sure if the commentor I'm responding to is right or not, but
getting sued for wrongful termination is pretty far down the list of things
you should be worrying about when you fire someone as a small company.

~~~
mark-r
Obviously every case is different, and it's up to you to weigh the upside vs.
the downside - but this is the advice you'll get. And if you're on the
receiving side and wondering why they won't say boo about why you were let go,
this is probably the reason.

------
CCs
Here is more information than you would expect :)

[https://www.manager-tools.com/map-universe/organizational-
ev...](https://www.manager-tools.com/map-universe/organizational-events-
layoffs)

I like Manager-Tools because it is step-by-step and actionable. Does not say
"think out of the box" (how?), it gives you exact words that have worked for
1000s of companies.

BTW, performance based layoff list might be a legal issue in some case, for
example when the reason is workforce reduction. Without a good lawyer don't go
there...

~~~
thaumasiotes
Are you saying "the only legal method of choosing who to lay off is a
meticulously documented firing lottery", or "do it by performance, but don't
admit it"?

~~~
CCs
I'm saying that there are many options with non-obvious consequences, so don't
try to wing it. Any mistake will cost you orders of magnitude more than a
professional advice.

------
EnderMB
I've been made redundant once before, but luckily landed on my feet right away
as my contract (and the companies clients) were taken over by another company.

The best advice I can give as someone on the other side is to:

1\. Do it quickly. Tell them right away that they have been made redundant,
and that it is non-negotiable. Let them know that it is not of any fault of
their own, and that they will be allowed to interview whenever they please.
Being made redundant sucks, not just because you're out of a job, but because
you often feel that if you were better at your job the company wouldn't have
had to make cutbacks.

2\. If you make someone redundant during work hours, make sure they leave the
office at the end of the day. I've worked in companies where employees were
made redundant at around 2-3pm and then asked to return to their desk to carry
on work. This was a huge problem for everyone in the office, as that person
was still working to a deadline, and was asked by the manager to
(paraphrasing) "stop moping, and get on with your work".

3\. If you know anyone looking to hire in roles you are making redundant, let
that person know that you know someone who would be great at the role, and let
that person know that you'll write them a glowing recommendation.

------
abraham_s
Talking from the perspective of someone on H1-B. Please keep any employee on
H1-B on your payroll, in lieu of a severance pay. This will help them to
minimize the issues that crop up with the immigration when you are out of a
job for a extended period.

------
balls187
I've had to let people go, and have been a survivor through multiple rounds of
layoffs, if you are VC Backed, first check if it's possible to land the better
performers at another company that backed by the same investors.

The first start up I worked at, had a pretty tough rounds of layoffs. One of
the engineers found a home at a startup that was backed by the same VC.
Eventually as the first startup went under, he laid the ground work for some
of us to transition over to his dev team.

------
HenryTheHorse
Did this only once to a dozen people and it was BRUTAL - both for them and for
me. So let's not pretend it is simple or painless. Here's what worked for me:

* Put paperwork in place - termination, contracts, final settlement, dues etc etc - get those facts together in writing.

* Have a schedule for each affected employee's "exit" interview. No "send so-and-so in". That can be very stressful for the employee. Instead, set up a calendar invite and talk.

* If any employees are remote, have a video-conference so they can SEE your face.

* Go through the process as quickly as possible - ideally, all announcements within the same day.

* Have a "script" for the interview. This should include the announcement, the reason and the next steps (HR, benefits, payroll, equipment). Don't be needlessly cryptic/dishonest about the reasons behind the firings. Layoffs occur for ONE reason only: finance. So tell your employees the basic facts, but you are not obligated to share ALL the gory details. Simply saying "Our financials are the reason why we are doing this and I am sorry this will impact you and many others" is good enough.

* Be patient during the interviews. Don't rush it. Every laid-off employee thinks this has to do with them personally, when it's not. So take your time to explain, sympathize, offer help and guidance.

* Don't forget to reach out to the non-affected employees after the process. They too are running scared and deserve compassion.

I also personally reached out to all affected employees a few weeks after the
layoffs to see how they were doing. Nearly ALL of them had jobs, which was
awesome. This may or may not work in every scenario, so YMMV.

------
davidglauber
First of all, get an upvote for taking the effort to try and make it better
for those whom you lay off.

I've never been laid off from a real job, just from a temp one where the owner
was a jerk. Few things I can think of: 1) Try, with you best efforts, to help
the folks you lay off to get other jobs. Recommend & refer them to those you
see relevant. Make sure they get advice from their direct boss about what the
should/better/could do next, and try to get your company waling their hand
thro.

2) Clarify the situation quickly. People hate to get these news but rumors
running around are much worse.

3) Some managers afraid try to detach their compassion to cut this awful
mission fast. This is not the time to pull the authoritative boss too much.
You're already sending them, try to show warmth.

4) Keep in touch with the best employees you have to let go. Try to hire some
of the in the future if you can. If will be a great closure.

5) Can you send them away with something? A course to develop their skills
towards the next job? a gift? few meetings with career coach for each laid off
employee? (you can but that at bulk)

Best of luck!

------
rebootthesystem
Be kind, just, considerate, etc. Many have covered these ideas, no need for me
to repeat them.

What I will say is, you should consult with an attorney. It is all well and
fine to go through life assuming that all people are good, honorable, ethical
and even altruistic. Yet, it is even better to believe those things while
taking steps towards protecting yourself and your company should you come
across someone who deviates from such notions.

Why do I say this? Because I've been burned on more than one occasion by
people who see a layoff as an opportunity to enrich themselves. If you don't
know how to manage a layoff it is very likely that you will do and say things
that will expose you and your company to liability. This is the part that
sucks. You have to lawyer-up in order not to create a problem for yourself or
your business. There are Federal and State laws you have to be aware of.

Spend a few hundred dollars to sit down with an attorney well versed in
matters surrounding labor law and have him/her advise you on how to conduct
the layoffs.

------
vskarine
What if you tap into your connections and try to find them a job? Think of it
as if the other company acquihires part of your company. Chances are you are
probably firing teams and there are many reasons why any company would love to
get working teams as a package. In this situation everyone wins. Of course it
is harder to pull off than it sounds.

------
evanwolf
Within the HR profession, there's a discipline about performing layoffs that
minimize litigation risk, unemployment insurance costs, reputation risk, etc.
Firms like Lee Hecht Harrison walk employers through a complete menu of
services that prep the layoff meeting, instructions for HR, IT, and security,
and services for your layed-off people that get them into job search quickly.
LHH claims, for example, that their service "gets employees back to work 50%
faster". You'll trade off the benefits of a graceful exit vs. the cash you
need to keep.

\- [http://www.lhh.com/career-transition/career-
transition.aspx](http://www.lhh.com/career-transition/career-transition.aspx)
\-
[http://www.risesmart.com/outplacement](http://www.risesmart.com/outplacement)

------
SeoxyS
Related question: Are there any well-known & admirable companies that have
gone through layoffs early in their lives?

~~~
sbisker
I suspect the list is pretty long. But off the top of my head, Pandora had a
pretty brutal layoff in the very beginning, to the tune of (from what I
understand) basically asking their most dedicated employees to work for free.
Somehow they pulled themselves out of that one, but, it wasn't pretty.

------
gnoway
I've personally been instructed to fire two people who reported to me, who had
been coworkers before organizational changes and who were both nominally
friends. There is no easy way to do it even if it's justified. The worst part
is honestly what happens after - the person may have a hard time finding
another job, and even if the separation is justified it's still kind of 'on
you' for letting them go; a lot of people would assert that it's on you anyway
for not making them better.

I've been through a 'silent layoff' at a startup, wherein most of the staff
just stopped getting paid. We were funded by PE; the leadup to the separation
was several weeks of accusations back and forth re: lying about available
funds vs. mismanagement of granted funds. The company offered no severance and
fought my unemployment claim. I was kind of relieved when it was over, but I
would not recommend handling it this way unless you just don't care; it's been
years but I still basically hate everyone involved.

I've since survived 3-4 rounds of layoffs where I'm working now. We've had it
most of the ways you can have it: mass meeting, one on one w/ HR rep,
nominated out-of-dept managers shepherding individuals out of the building,
rent-a-cops in the office, etc. In all but one case, the departing employees
were given a couple of paychecks severance + placement assistance and IIRC in
at least one case remaining employees were offered grief counseling.

I don't think I could ever enjoy being laid off, but IMO the right way in a
multi-person separation is to have one meeting with everyone, be honest about
what's going on, and give them whatever you can to soften the blow. Unless
there's a good chance your funding situation is about to improve, this means
you should do it a little earlier than you think you need to so that last x
days/weeks of salary can be severance instead; IMO people are not going to be
significantly happier about being laid off if it happens 2 weeks later. If
you've got contacts at other places and you can give references or help place,
do that. You probably don't need police to escort people out, but you should
get the departing employees out of the building w/ relevant credentials and
badges revoked asap. Don't let people mill around, it exposes you and gives
them more opportunity to vent in ways both of you will regret; I've seen where
people were let go, then went and deleted things from file servers or
otherwise destroyed property prior to leaving the building.

~~~
monksy
> I've been through a 'silent layoff' at a startup, wherein most of the staff
> just stopped getting paid. We were funded by PE; the leadup to the
> separation was several weeks of accusations back and forth re: lying about
> available funds vs. mismanagement of granted funds. The company offered no
> severance and fought my unemployment claim. I was kind of relieved when it
> was over, but I would not recommend handling it this way unless you just
> don't care; it's been years but I still basically hate everyone involved.

This and a few other things really makes one not want to work for a startup
again.

~~~
gnoway
I was trying to highlight the separation experience with that startup, not
startups in general. That startup was all wrong: wrong idea, wrong funding,
wrong people in the wrong positions, etc. It was doomed from the start, but it
still didn't have to end (for me/us) the way it did.

------
jen729w
Just be honest. Don't try and hide stuff, or sugar-coat things: tell people
how it is, why it is, and even if it's horrible initially I believe they'll
thank you for it in the long run.

Do it as soon as you can. If you know now, tell them now. Every day you don't
tell them is a day they're potentially missing out on another job.

For yourself, try and keep some perspective. Things happen. Life moves on.
People recover.

Source: I had to tell 22 people that the company we were running had just gone
in to administration and today was the last day. We only found out ourselves
the day before when our "accountant" (grrr... anger still remains towards that
one) revealed herself to be less than competent. It was horrible, but me and
my colleagues just sat them down and laid it out straight and said we'd do
whatever we could to help, and that was that.

~~~
ghughes
What did your accountant do?

------
artmageddon
I just went through a layoff, but was thankfully hired at another place within
a few weeks, and I consider myself very fortunate, given that I was having
performance issues. For me, here's what helped me get through it:

-Getting a month's severance pay. Personally I wish I had gotten more, but it greater than zero so I couldn't complain all that much(sorta, I wouldn't have been happy if it was just a few hundred or so).

-Getting a month's worth of health coverage. My internal doomsday clock started ticking for getting a new job, and having that health insurance gave me some comfort knowing I wasn't going to be completely screwed if I were to be slammed by a hauling truck the moment I left the parking lot.

-Being reassured it wasn't for performance reasons, especially since I had just gotten a poor review several months prior(the severance contract specifically stated this, and said I was eligible for re-hire). I wanted to leave, and I'd never reapply anyway, but it was nice to do so on good terms.

-Getting an offer for a reference during the transition. My sorta-boss said I could use him as a reference before I even asked, I didn't need it but I really appreciated it.

-Getting some time to talk with now-former-coworkers, rather than being whisked out of the building. I was annoyed that my PC access was immediately disabled and my keycard disabled(let me take my stuff to the car, I need multiple trips, wtf), but getting closure with people(along with emails) more than made up for it.

The one thing they did that pissed me off was that they did it on a Monday
morning at 10AM after I had spent the whole weekend pulling overtime for them
to finish up a major project deadline that was due 5PM that day. It felt like
a huge slap in the face to put on your A-game for the day, only to be dropped
after sacrificing personal time for the company. Despite all the rosy things I
said, I'm still bitter about that.

It sucks to be in this position and I wish you, and those who'll be laid off,
the best of luck.

~~~
mark-r
In the U.S. I believe the law requires them to give you 12 months of continued
health insurance (see
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_Omnibus_Budget_Re...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_Omnibus_Budget_Reconciliation_Act_of_1985)).
But any subsidies you enjoyed while employed are done, you must pay the entire
premium yourself and that can be expensive.

~~~
artmageddon
Right, I could have stayed on it if I wished, but only one month was covered
by them, and it really helped.

------
endymi0n
If you're the CEO, show presence. Our former CEO went home on the afternoon
and let middle management do the talking. Don't be that guy. People will be
angry at you and it will feel shitty. Do it anyway and absorb the blame. It's
only one day.

Either be visibly available or take part in the layoffs.

In the layoffa, be fair, transparent and clear - but follow the protocol.
Don't beat around the bush, your (and your managers') first sentence should be
"We're very sorry, but we will let you go." Instilling hope or doubt where
there is none is unfair, don't do it by accident.

Reiterated because it's so important: nobody cares about your feelings that
day. You can't make it better. Don't make it worse and be a real grown-up.

------
geuis
Be honest with the employees. Don't just spring it on everyone. Don't do it on
Monday when people are expecting to come in fresh and start their week. It's
ok to let people know changes are coming, even if you can't tell them the
details right away.

------
utuxia
I went through mass layoffs during the dotcom bust. Most people were expecting
it...that made it easier. I was still a little shocked but when you're ushered
into a room with 74 other people and they start handing out packets...you're
pretty sure what is about to happen.

We all went out for beers afterwards and discussed it.

I suggest you get the CEO to mention there will likely be cutbacks, that way
its not out of left field.

Otherwise, just be honest. Bring them all into a room, be short and don't beat
around the bush. The last thing people want is a bunch of bullshit. Watch "Up
In The Air" \-- its pretty sad how this effects people.

Give them the rest of the day to collect their things....a few days to clean
up their laptops before turning them in.

What size company is this?

------
6d0debc071
There are, at least in my area, charities that do excellent employment
support. (Might want to consult with HR to see what your liabilities are in
that direction in your area.) Whenever I've fired people or had to let them
go, I've made sure those charities are aware of the situation and available to
work with. That way it's a bit less, "Good luck and goodbye!"

Also letters of recommendation and keeping them on as employed with zero hour
contracts for a month or so so that their CV has current work history on it
while they're looking.

------
danieltillett
Cut more than you have to so you only have to do it once. Don't worry if you
cut more than you could have if things pick up, it is critical that it is one
and done.

I would advise telling everyone remaining you are "over cutting" so they know
that another cut is not coming in the next couple of months if things don't
turn out the way you hoped. Other than don't be an asshole and provide as much
support for those cut as possible and don't use weasel words like "right
sized" or "let go".

------
keithpeter
What percentage (roughly) of employees does this affect? A 10% reduction is
different to a 50% reduction.

Is the need for lay-off simply related to revenue or are you eliminating a
whole category of work (e.g. outsourcing)?

Being told that 'we just don't do that work any more' is perhaps less
disruptive to other parts of the organisation.

A cut for revenue reasons will obviously raise issues about the competence of
management and so your high-fliers will be arranging to leave.

------
ddp
Just do it in person. I've seen co-workers laid off via email, SMS, and
voicemail, and that all sucks much worse than in person. If you absolutely
must, a live phone call is acceptable, but only when there are serious
impediments to meeting in person. My favorite story is of a person who was
dispatched to a remote facility to lay off a group and on his way there, was
himself laid off in a voicemail. Don't be that company.

------
gesman
Kudos to you for asking this question.

Just make clear to people who are being laid off the reason.

Essentially people will feel a bit happier knowing that it wasn't them who
screwed up.

------
chrisbennet
The last time I was laid off, I had 2 months notice. I still drop by every
once in a while to have lunch. I feel lucky I got to work with those guys.

------
reilly3000
I had to lay off a bunch of people. Same day: good. Taking it very personally
as a failure: very bad. Companies over-hire, funding fails to come through,
key clients leave. If you were good to them when they worked for you, you did
your best. Now your company needs your best, most focused self. I instead
wallowed for 6 months and the company has lost a bit of its stride. Don't do
that.

------
andersthue
The best hand on experience I have ever read about firing people due to lack
of funding is Steli Efti from Close.io in this blog post :
[http://blog.close.io/i-fired-half-my-team](http://blog.close.io/i-fired-half-
my-team)

I have fired people recently and wished I had read that blog post first!

------
EliRivers
You're going to want to keep your best employees. They're going to be thinking
about leaving.

By virtue of being the best, these are the employees who would most easily be
able to find work elsewhere, and they're the smartest employees who will not
just shrug and carry on as before when they see their fellows being made
redundant around them. They will think about what it means for the company
(and thus their future). They will see what's happened and think about moving
on. Maybe not right away, but they'll be thinking about it, and your best
employees are (by definition) the ones who other companies most want.

You asked us to note where we speak from personal experience. I've seen it
happen, and I've done it myself. I watched a round of redundancies come
through, and I was told not to worry; I was essential and a good employee. I
found another job with a company that was doing better. The company I left
found that the people it most wanted to keep drifted away over the following
year.

You need a plan to keep these employees.

Also, check the local laws for laying people off for whatever reason you're
doing it. You'd hate to have someone come back with a legal claim in a year.
I've seen that happen too.

------
chmaynard
Off topic, but the term "layoff" seems like a euphemism for "fired". I always
thought that a true layoff meant the employer intended to re-hire the workers
after the company's financial position improved. I wonder if labor law makes
this distinction?

------
jmadsen
If you are the CEO/near the top, don't make the foolish mistake of telling
people "but now we're all set & we won't need to do this again"

You just might, and you'll lose all credibility with your employees.

~~~
danieltillett
This is true in that you should never promise anything you can't deliver.

I do think you should over cut and then tell the remaining people that you
have done this so that you can say you have done everything in your power to
avoid doing it again. If you need to cut 50 people to have a good chance of
surviving then cut 75 and tell everyone remaining why you have done this. One
and done is critical.

------
DrScump
this relevant item was posted today:
[https://42floors.com/blog/startups/after-the-
layoffs](https://42floors.com/blog/startups/after-the-layoffs)

------
joshu
I remember the time that Yahoo announced layoffs in time for earnings, but the
specific people to be laid off we're not find out for six more weeks. This was
not very good for morale.

------
CookieCutter2
I've laid off several people several times.

To me it was much harder than firing people - hard by itself - because mass
layed off people ask "why me" where I had no good answer.

Keep handkerchiefs around.

------
legopelle
The best thing you could do is letting them know in advance.

Let them know at least a month in advance, leaving them much needed time to
adapt to their new financial situation.

------
MichaelCrawford
Give them this link:
[http://www.warplife.com/jobs/computer/](http://www.warplife.com/jobs/computer/)

email me at mdcrawford@gmail.com and I will post what listings I already have
for your area, and will find some more. (Presently I have the Portland Oregon
area, Seattle and six or eight others actually posted but I have at least a
few listings each for hundreds of cities in dozens of countries.)

Ask your local government's employment office for help with outplacement.

Say nice things in their linkedin profiles.

Give them all hardcopy letters if recommendation.

------
bitJericho
There's nothing worse than getting cut loose on a friday evening on a payday.
Can't do anything about your circumstances for 2 days such talking to
unemployment, talking to other employers, etc. Let that last paycheck roll in
a week or two later, it will ease their mind even though in reality it would
make no difference.

