Videos of disastrous layoffs accumulating on TikTok are prompting companies to seek help in delivering the bad news.
More people are
Fear of social media backlash has executives, especially from smaller tech firms that don't have big HR operations, looking for advice on how to lay people off without it blowing up in their faces.
"They're like, can you tell us how to do it so that doesn't happen to us?" said Sarah Rodehorst, co-founder and chief executive of Onwards HR. "With social media, everybody's watching."
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While the overall jobs market data
A mismanaged layoff can damage a company's reputation and its recruiting. Last month, an employee at tech firm Cloudflare shared a recording of her layoff on TikTok, unleashing a torrent of criticism. The CEO said Cloudflare made a mistake in "not being more kind and humane,"
Internally, layoffs can even result in other employees calling it quits. Worker morale often
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Regardless of social media, HR experts say layoffs should always be handled with care.
"You could be ruining someone's life," said Jenny Dearborn, a veteran HR officer who has helped restructure tech firms, including the now-defunct Sun Microsystems, which recruited her in 2003 to help the company move some jobs abroad.
Last year, Kim Rohrer helped lead two separate job cuts at hiring and payroll platform Oyster that impacted about 120 people. The fully-remote company had to comply with labor laws across 70 countries and coordinate day-of communication across time zones. It was "extremely complicated," she said.
Rohrer and her team advised managers on how to deliver the news over Zoom — use a natural, warm and empathetic tone of voice — and what to do if the conversation got contentious. They had scripts prepared for different situations and different reactions. They also put together over 20 pages of documentation addressing common questions like how to access benefits and how handoffs will work for ongoing projects.
Both times Oyster laid off workers, HR kept the timing of the notifications tight. The employees were given a bonus week of paid time off so they could review the information and ask questions before they were officially let go. They were also encouraged to apply for other open roles at the company.
In September, Rohrer found her own name on the cut list. "I know what you're going to say, it's fine," she recalled telling her bosses at the time. "I wrote the script."