The break-up.  The end of a relationship.  For eons it’s been a bottomless well of inspiration for artists, musicians, and writers.  And that will never change.  As long as humans walk the Earth, we will seek solace and comfort in art from the emotional pain of break-ups.

Now before you stop reading, rest assured I’m not about to offer relationship advice or opine on matters of the heart.  We stay in our lane here at For What It’s Worth.

I’ve been fascinated recently by the evolution in cultural norms surrounding the corporate or professional “break up.”

2023 was brutal in that regard.  Tens of thousands of people in media lost their jobs.  The carnage extended to the tech sector which for years was in hyper growth mode.  Unfortunately, 2024 is bringing more of the same.  Paramount is cutting heads.  So is Snap.  And, needless to say, more firings will be part of any M&A activity in the space.

Sadly, like so many things in our world, the nature with which companies are handling layoffs has become much colder and more impersonal.  There are stories of employees learning that their jobs have been eliminated when their security passes won’t let them back in the building after lunch.  Some found out when they were suddenly cut off from company email or messaging platforms.  Or they were summoned to a Zoom meeting with no notice and told by two strangers from HR who can’t answer even the most basic questions.

For years social media has been an outlet for impacted employees to express themselves.  All of us have seen, and quite likely have written ourselves, posts on LinkedIn or Twitter (X) from people who have lost their jobs.  TikTok is the latest hot medium for these communications.  People have recorded their layoff notifications and posted them for the world to see, often to the great embarrassment of their former employers.

What are we to make of the state of corporate break-ups?  

To be clear, lay-offs are part of the deal in corporate America.  No job is guaranteed.  (Except for maybe tenured college professors, but that’s a topic for another day). The pithy saying about being hacked applies just as well to our job status: “there are two kinds of people, those who have been laid off and those who will be.”  It’s a reality that everybody working in this business, especially young people early in their careers, needs to accept.  If you want to play the game, the possibility of getting cut from the team will always loom.

Companies in a capitalist system have every right to lay off people.  And how layoffs are executed and the process by which decisions about who stays and who goes won’t always be fair and just.  If those are the standards you expect, prepare to be disappointed.  (Or get your PhD and pursue the tenure track.)

Of course, you have every right if you get laid off to vent your anger and frustration on social media.  Certainly, some companies and their leaders are asking for it with their callous behavior.   But as emotionally satisfying as it is in the short term to embarrass your former company, how you handle leaving  says something about yourself to future employers.

Getting laid off is upsetting and scary for sure, but in my experience the best strategy for successfully transitioning to your next gig is to focus your energies on the future instead of ruminating on the past.  

What will serve you better than plotting revenge is crafting a compelling story about you and your career.  It’s all about your narrative.  No matter how your last job ended, what matters is how the sum total of all your experiences makes you the ideal candidate for whatever comes next.  Perhaps I’m a bit old fashioned, but I’m hard pressed to see how shaming your ex on TikTok helps tell a better story about you.

Having said that, the real, unforgivable breakdown in corporate break-ups is with employers.  Way too many companies coldly prioritize efficiency above all else.  Consumed by the fear of litigation, they over-rely on technology and legalistic, impersonal messaging in ways that display a shocking lack of fundamental decency and humanity.

Also, there is no excuse for sloppy execution.  Breaking the news by cutting people off from the building, email, or whatever is an unconscionable failure.  That can never happen.  Corporate leaders owe their people much better.  

Many of the mistakes are driven from the top by overly aggressive deadlines and poor communication.  When a company decides it needs to make layoffs, the timing is often set based on when they can reap the greatest financial advantage.  In some cases, that means almost immediately.  The waterfall effect results in a flurry of frenetic activity by HR and legal to deliver on the boss’s wishes.  

Speed kills, as they say in sports.  In sports it’s a compliment, in the world of corporate break ups, it’s not. Speed kills execution and brings mistakes.  

CEO’s who enjoy listening to the applause at the company town hall when they boast that “our people are our #1 asset,” need to put their money where their mouths are when it comes time to let people go.  Pay attention to the details of the process and ensure leaders have sufficient time to execute with the highest degree of professionalism.  

CEOs also need to stand up to boards and investors and be generous as possible with severance.  The dichotomy between the contractual protections offered to senior executives in the event their jobs are eliminated versus mainline employees has reached almost criminal proportions.

The golden rule applies, treat others as you would like to be treated.  Whenever possible the mangers with operational authority over those being displaced should be in the room.  Sometimes that may mean telling a group of people at once.  It’s going to suck no matter what for the employee, but it’s a hell of a lot classier than sending in a junior HR person whose only role is to read from a script.

Now that I’ve blasted employers, I feel it’s only fair to note, especially for young people going through this the first time, how truly hard it is from a management perspective to do this well.  I’ve executed more layoffs than I care to remember during my career.  My track record is far from perfect.  

It doesn’t take much for the best laid plans to go awry.  The old song is true, breaking up is really hard to do.  In most cases the person at the tip of the spear poorly delivering the news or prematurely turning off your email or canceling your security badge is not at fault.  They are just doing what they’re told and likely terrified that they will be next.  More reason to think twice before humiliating them on social media.

Ultimately if we truly believe that the best part of our jobs is the people, that we work in a “people business,” then we must start behaving accordingly.  Apply the golden rule.  Not just when it suits us.  Not just when it’s convenient or easy.  But always, especially when business conditions force us to make painful decisions about people’s jobs.  It starts at the top, but in a people business like ours arriving at a more humane culture for break ups is everyone’s responsibility.