Deeply, Truly, Very Sorry: How Tech CEOs Talk When They Lay Off Workers
It seems to be decreasing 38 Discharge record
Macroeconomic 24
Call 23
Effective 20
Sorry 19
Confident 17
Responsible 13
Uncertain 12
Delay 10
Decrease 10
Inflation 9
Optimism 9
Reduction 8
Pass 5
Thin 5
Error 3
In recent months, 500 tech companies have laid off 148,000 workers due to slowing growth and fears of a recession. While the circumstances of each layoff may be different, there is one constant in these dark times in Silicon Valley: embarrassing memos from all employees.
We looked at 48 such missions from companies ranging from giant Microsoft to small startups, looking for insights into how tech leaders tell their stories and justify their decisions. Whether they use 200 words or 2000 words, their notes have a striking similarity.
For example, they indicate pressure from larger economic forces, they indicate internal and external crime. They ask for a positive attitude despite the sudden clouds. And they rarely use the word "retrenchment."
Here's what they had to say:
Googlers Vimeans Zoomies Krakenites Gusties Nurons
According to Ayelet Fischbach, a professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, a surprising number of these messages are addressed to employees using company names. profession. Like Potter or Mason in ancient times, words like Googlers and Wimovies are used today to associate people with their work.
According to Fischbach, the emphasis on public relations could upset layoff announcements. Business leaders try to "remind people that they are family, some people are no longer family."
22 out of 48 Use pet discharge records
Mention the business by name or family
22 out of 48 The name of the animal is used in the discharge record
Or treat the business like family
22 out of 48 Extract notes using pet names or referring to the company as a family
22 exit 48 Extract notes using pet names or referring to the company as a family
In addition to using pet names, some notes urge surviving employees to offer emotional support to their beloved colleagues. For example, Salesforce offered "compassion and love" when the enterprise software giant announced earlier this year that it was cutting 10% of its workforce. Udemy, an online learning and teaching platform, urged employees to "keep our departing Udemites...close to their hearts." Salesforce declined to comment further. Udemy did not respond to requests for comment.
"Trying to hit the right note takes a lot of sensitivity," says communications consultant Mara Wandlick, owner of mkv2 Techniques. "As a culture, there's a lot of focus on mental health and being fired is a traumatic experience."
We have increased our team size and also hired
offensiverecruitment
In half of the records we analyzed, tech leaders admitted they hired too many people too quickly in response to a surge in demand for e-commerce and digital services in the chaotic early days of the pandemic. Amazon's workforce grew by 310,000 people, or about 25%, between 2020 and 2021, while Meta grew by about the same percentage.
24 out of 48 Quoting the dismissal memo
Over-hiring or too rapid growth
24 out of 48 Recorded excessive employment dismissals
or growing too fast
24 out of 48 Layoff records show additional hiring or growth too fast
24 out of 48 Layoff records show additional hiring or growth too fast
Over the past year, the tech industry has come back down to earth. Tech leaders have admitted in numerous letters that they are overestimating the sustainability of pandemic-driven tech growth.
“We expect channel mix — the proportion of dollars coming through e-commerce rather than retail — to continue to grow over the next 5 or even 10 years. It's now clear that the bet didn't pay off,” wrote Toby Lutke, CEO of Shopify, an enterprise e-commerce platform that laid off nearly 1,000 workers last summer. Based in Ontario, Canada, Shopify has grown rapidly during the pandemic, hiring 2,000 workers in 2020 and another 3,000 in 2021. But the company said it needed a rebuild after the expected market transformation failed. Shopify did not respond to a request for comment.
Katherine Ross, a regional career psychologist, says this kind of acknowledgment can make it easier for tech executives to understand. "Everyone has faced uncertainty and confusion during the pandemic," he said, adding that admitting to a mistake can make people judge you less harshly.
“They want employees to know that there is context. Even though they are CEOs, they can only manage a limited number of things,” he said.
Not nearly as different
economicLimitation of uncertainty in real time
Almost all the letters we have received are about tough economic times. “The economy is very bleak. It's easy to make a scapegoat,” says Laura Mazzullo, owner of East Side Staffing, a New York-based staffing firm.
46 of 48 Discharge records were registered
the economy
46 of 48 Extract notes refer to economics
46 of 48 Extract notes refer to economics
46 of 48 Extract notes refer to economics
Even though the country is not in recession — and hasn't been since April 2020 — 18 tech leaders attributed their layoffs, at least in part, to the "recession," "temple" or "recession." Others speak of "macroeconomic headwinds" or economic "uncertainty". Whatever term they choose, the goal is to attribute the company's decision to a larger problem in the market, Mazzullo said.
The term macroeconomics was used in 24 articles.
18 Manda , the word recession is used
or slower
12 economic links or
Geopolitical uncertainty
10 Fixed inflation or interest rate
The term macroeconomics was used in 24 articles.
18 used the words decline , slow down or decline
Top 12 economic or geopolitical uncertainties
10 Fixed inflation or interest rate
24 entries
used the word
macroeconomics
10 were recorded
Inflation or
interest rate
12 Economic links
or geopolitics
insecurity
He used 18 words
Decline , slow
or slower
12 economic links or
Geopolitical uncertainty
Use 24 notes
Macroeconomic terms
18 negative words used,
decline or recession
10 marked inflation
or interest rates
Nuro, based in Mountain View, California, told employees that 2022 "will bring many challenges, including geopolitical uncertainty, the energy crisis, persistent inflation and a US recession." These conditions forced the company to cut costs and lay off about 20% of its employees. According to Nuro's founder, the market has now become ugly. Nuro cited the Post memo and declined to comment further.
More capital means more activity
effective lilyIf it is possible
Sandra Sucher, a Harvard Business School professor who studies layoffs, says about two-thirds of layoff notices cite the need to acquire skills — choices for which the victim is blamed.
"It's hard to confuse employee performance with company performance here," Sucher said. "If a company restructures, it raises an efficiency argument."
Of the 48 cases referred, 30 notices of dismissal
business performance
Of the 48 cases referred, 30 notices of dismissal
business performance
Of the 48 layoffs , 30 are related to company performance.
Of the 48 layoffs , 30 are related to company performance.
Financial services firm Stripe CEO Patrick Collison wrote in his resignation letter that the company needed to cut costs to adapt to tougher times and remain a profitable business. He and his co-founders acknowledged at the beginning of the memorandum that they were responsible for the decisions that led to the termination. Stripe, which has two headquarters in San Francisco and Dublin, announced in November that it would cut about 1,100 jobs, slow hiring and cut operating costs. Earlier this month, the company announced a new funding round worth more than $6.5 billion. Stripe declined to comment.
Stay more and stay
hopefulMore than ever about our future
After the memorandum, technology leaders feel confident and optimistic about the future of their businesses. The goal is to reassure investors and the public, as well as ease fears among remaining workers, Fischbach said. Otherwise, they might think you're on the list if you don't lose your job today.
"We have huge opportunities ahead of us," Dell vice president and COO Jeff Clark said in a February memo with a uniform model. The Round Rock, Texas-based company said it decided to cut more than 6,500 jobs to address downtown market challenges and economic uncertainty, including a hiring freeze, employee travel restrictions and cost cutting. Third-party services were not enough.
The resignation announcement ends on a bright note: “I have never been so confident in our future and our team. Dell declined to comment further.
Of the 48 alleged cases, 35 were dismissed.
Optimism or confidence
The future of business
35 out of 48 Dismissal memo sure optimism or
Confidence in the company's future
35 out of 48 Layoff records confirm optimism or faith in the company's future
35 out of 48 Layoff records confirm optimism or faith in the company's future
At the end of the farewell note, Yamini Rangan, CEO of software sales and marketing firm HubSpot, wrote that "tough times like these are testing us" but "I know we can come back together." HubSpot, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced in January that it would cut about 500 jobs after business slowed faster than expected. The company did not respond to requests for comment.
Sucher said layoffs want to hear a credible plan for how their business will recover and prosper and what role they will play in implementing that plan. Sucher said the layoffs are a breach of trust between the company and its workers, and a plan to fix the situation "could be reassuring" to the remaining workers — "if they believe in it."
Especially truly and deeply , truly
sorryCEOs aren't always required to apologize for layoffs, Mazzullo said, but more than half do apologizing memos, reflecting the changing norms of the business world.
“Now there are less selfish people in top management. People are not interested in working for selfish leaders who are irresponsible and unstable,” he said, adding that employees are willing to forgive those who openly express remorse.
27 out of 48 Includes discharge records
Apologize or take responsibility
for pieces
Of the 48 dismissal protocols, 27 contain an amnesty
Or take responsibility for the dismissal
27 out of 48 Leaving the memo involves apologizing or accepting responsibility for being fired
27 out of 48 Leaving the memo involves apologizing or accepting responsibility for being fired
PagerDuty CEO Jennifer Tejada was unapologetic in her first layoff at the San Francisco-based cloud computing company, which has 7% of its employees. জানুয়ারিতে প্রায় 1,700-শব্দের মেমো প্রচারের ঘোষণা দেয়, সরকারের প্রশংসা করে এবং এমনকি রেভারেন্ড মার্টিন লুথার কিং জুনিয়রের একটি উদ্ধৃতিও অন্তর্ভুক্ত করে। তার গাইড উপস্থাপন করেন।
কিন্তু তেজাদা পরে উদ্ধৃতি এবং মেমোর স্বর ব্যবহারের জন্য ক্ষমা চেয়েছিলেন। “ইমেলে বহিস্কার হওয়ার বিষয়ে আমার আরও সৎ হওয়া উচিত ছিল, আরও চিন্তাশীল এবং স্বরে সংক্ষিপ্ত। আমি খুব দুঃখিত," তিনি তিন দিন পরে কর্মীদের কাছে একটি চিঠিতে লিখেছিলেন। PagerDuty মন্তব্য করতে অস্বীকৃতি.
ওয়ান্ডলিক বলেন, পদত্যাগের ঘোষণার জন্য সবচেয়ে মৌলিক প্রয়োজন মানবিক, নম্র হওয়া এবং আর কোনো ক্ষতি না করা। ক্ষমা চাওয়ার ব্যর্থতা বিপর্যস্ত বেঁচে থাকা ব্যক্তিদের পাশাপাশি অসন্তুষ্ট শিকারদের সমালোচনার দিকে নিয়ে যেতে পারে যারা এই দিনগুলি সোশ্যাল মিডিয়াতে ক্রমবর্ধমানভাবে তাদের অসন্তোষ প্রকাশ করছে।
"মানুষ মনোযোগ দিচ্ছে," তিনি বলেছিলেন।
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