Layoffs do not solve the underlying problem for brands, which is often an ineffective strategy, a loss of market share, or too little revenue. Releases are terrible, especially when you lay off some of your best people.
Google hired over 30,000 people last year, and now they’re laying off thousands. To make matters worse, they’re laying off some of their best and brightest people. Does that make sense to anyone except the bean counters?
There is a change in consumer behavior, but too often, that change is that consumers are leaving brands that raised their prices for less expensive store brands. To make matters worse, business papers are reporting that many brands raised prices in “anticipation” of increased costs that never came.
The economic costs of layoffs are hard for ost CEOs to calculate beyond severance packages and benefits. Often the employees who are not affected lose their morale and see no reason to be loyal to their employer. As a result, their work quality declines, and the company, and its shareholders, suffer.
Like it or not, employees establish relationships via work. These people often rely on those relationships to manage workloads and expectations. When a whole team has been laid off, it hinders their decision-making and delays the implementation of new products.
Perhaps the worst part of being laid off is knowing it’s happening because of management mistakes. The people at Meta, for example, are paying the price for Zuckerberg’s stubborn refusal to back away from AI headsets which have been a failure.
Are there times when a company is justified in laying off people? Yes, of course. But when those layoffs come after you just went on a hiring spree, who will be held accountable?
Millennials should stop asking for psychological guarantees from employers and instead focus on saving more money, just in case, and keeping their resumes updated. Good companies are still looking for people; the laid-off tech workers bring a lot of knowledge and experience. They will find new jobs, and it won’t be at Google who is telling them they need to apply as a “new candidate” for open positions.
I interviewed with Google a long time ago. I was offered a position, but it meant living in Northern California, which has a prohibitive cost of living. When I turned it down, my Google recruiter couldn’t believe it and repeatedly told me, “I was passing up a great opportunity.” Everyone I interviewed had a day that consisted of “huddle meetings.” I’m not sorry I passed it up. Hopefully, many of those laid off will learn that company loyalty is a fairytale.
