Dare Obasanjo

Studies show layoffs cause morale issues and lead to less committed employees which can take 12-18 months to recover to previous levels.

Normally this would cause retention problems of the best employees except that in tech where everyone is doing layoffs, the entire industry is now a place of reduced morale and commitment.

There’s nowhere where the grass is greener.

https://hbr.org/2024/10/research-the-long-term-costs-of-layoffs?trk=storyline-feed_main-feed-storyline-activity-card_reshare_feed-article-content

Research: The Long-Term Costs of Layoffs

While layoffs can lead to short-term financial benefits, research shows just how much of an impact they can have on employee engagement, morale, and loyalty — and how long that negative impact can last. Humanizing the layoff experience can help lessen the impact and set your business up for a more rapid recovery, but remember to go into the decision to do layoffs with clear eyes: There’s no such thing as a quick business win without a human cost to the business, and your rebound is likely to take years rather than months.

Harvard Business Review
Oct 12, 2024 at 4:52pmWeb
Show threadGeorge StationOct 12, 2024
@carnage4life I expect higher education to be like this, sooner rather than later. High morale is a fiction, a pretense these days.
Show threadJoefrey Kibuule, MDOct 12, 2024
@carnage4life Some people attempt to switch to other industries, not many are fairing better.
Show threadDominic HoptonOct 12, 2024

@jeffkibuule @carnage4life there’s the train of thought that it’s just that tech has reached maturity and is no longer any different from any other industry.

The rocket has burned through its second stage, and now we’re just in a slowly decaying orbit.

Show threadPurpleOct 12, 2024

@carnage4life This is "funny" because it reminds me on an acquittance of mine who has his own small company, and who was taught that laying off the bottom 10% least productive of your employees is good for morale, and even I back then was like "that sounds like BS, I would be terrified, even if I was the most productive employee.

I haven't finished reading the whole article, but it seems to be even worse than I thought.

Show threadMichal Bryxí 🌱Oct 12, 2024
@carnage4life Yup. I would be curious what's the net calculation in cases where management decide to layoff people to save money. There will be major dip in productivity right after. And possibly longer lasting echo even years later.
Show threadSablebadgerOct 13, 2024
@carnage4life can confirm