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#YourCareer : The Split-Screen Job Market: Low Unemployment, High Turnover, Plenty Of Openings—And More Layoff Headlines. Great REad!

June 11, 2022/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Becky Frankiewicz recently returned from hobnobbing at Davos with other top business leaders, and the president of ManpowerGroup North America couldn’t help but notice a disconnect while she was there. On stage: Plenty of chatter about the prospect of a recession, and what that could look like for jobs and the economy. But in at least 15 different conversations with C-level executives she had while at the global meetup of titans, just one said they were pulling back on hiring.

“The data isn’t necessarily matching the narrative,” Frankiewicz tells Forbes. “We’re seeing a bit of a diverging job landscape, yet the labor market as a whole is still very tight.”

Every day seems to bring a tale of two job markets. On the one hand, data, like Friday’s better-than-expected jobs number, shows a labor market where unemployment remains low and the economy continues adding jobs, even beating economists’ forecasts. Earlier this week, the Labor Department reported that job openings slipped but hiring demand remained strong, while the turnover rate stayed high.

Yet on the other hand, the news cycle seems to bring near-daily stories of hiring freezes and layoffs, particularly in the technology sector and among startups. Tesla’s Elon Musk, Reuters reported Friday, wants to cut jobs and pause hiring amid what he reportedly called a “super bad feeling” about the economy. Other big tech companies, like Meta and Microsoft, have said they will slow hiring in certain parts of their business. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in early May it would treat hiring “as a privilege.”

Meanwhile, job cuts tracked by the aggregator site Layoffs.fyi found that at least 15,000 tech workers lost their jobs in May, with cuts at companies like Bolt (25% of its workforce), Klarna (10%) and Carvana (12%), as well as many smaller startups shedding workers.

Headhunters say they’re seeing a drastic shift in how people are responding to inquiries in recent weeks, especially in sectors or at job levels where stock equity plays a role.

“Even a month ago we were going through hoops, doing everything we could to get people to respond to us—multiple messages on LinkedIn platforms, multiple social media platforms, text messaging,” says Jeff Christian, CEO of the executive search firm Christian & Timbers. “Now we’re seeing a 70% increase in response rates. People are curious. And they’re afraid.”

Higher interest rates, geopolitical turmoil and a continued global pandemic—combined with a punishing stock market—have made investors pump the brakes, leading more venture-backed companies to slow or cut hiring. In May, Forbes reported that an internal poll of Andreessen Horowitz’s portfolio companies showed that more than half were pulling back on 2022 hiring.

“It’s about companies not being able to access funding or at least get the valuations that they’re hoping to achieve—that’s very much the driver for some of these layoffs and hiring freezes,” says Glassdoor economist Daniel Zhao. He’s seeing similar trends in mortgage-related jobs in financial services, which are also dependent on interest rates.

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Article continued …

But he says that while there is clearly a lot of concern about the economy, the headlines about job cuts are “not really showing up yet in the data as a wave of layoffs that would be comparable to past perceptions or downturns.” Overall, he says, the “holistic picture is still one where employer demand is extremely high and there aren’t enough workers to fill those jobs.”

Zhao says it’s common at an inflection point in the economy, like where we find ourselves now, to see stories that suggest two directions. At such times of change, “it’s always a little bit difficult to square the anecdotes that you hear with the data as it moves in real time.”

Still, he thinks some things are different about the current economic intersection. All of the focus on the “Great Resignation” over the past year or so, as well as the difficult time many industries have had finding workers, could influence what they do going forward. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see employers continue to focus on trying to retain and attract workers, even if there is a moderate downturn,” he says.

Brian Kropp, Gartner’s vice president of research, points to other disconnects he’s noticing. “In the past, revenue and staffing moved almost perfectly together,” he says. “Three months from now this could be different, but at least right now, the relationship between revenue and hiring is just not as consistent and highly correlated as it’s been before.”

That could be due to the backlog many companies already have when it comes to staffing unfilled roles, as well as the increased churn Kropp thinks companies will see as hybrid work allows people to switch jobs more frequently. “The labor market for places that aren’t impacted by concerns about interest rates or concerns about stock equity—that labor market? It’s still red-hot, going a thousand miles an hour.”

Just like many companies have learned lessons that “just-in-time” supply chains couldn’t withstand the havoc of a global pandemic, they’re also learning the same lean approach can hurt them when it comes to talent. Frankiewicz says many employers—especially those with the resources to hire more workers—have adjusted to more of a “just-in-case” philosophy when it comes to their workforces to try to avoid understaffing. At a time when more workers aren’t even showing up to their shifts, says Frankiewicz, it’s “not just in case I can’t find the talent, [but] just in case I can’t fill the shifts.”

Recent data from ManpowerGroup shows talent shortages reaching the highest levels in 16 years, and Frankiewicz said in an email about Friday’s jobs report that “the tension is palpable, yet the reality is optimistic.”

She wonders how the current market could impact a downturn. “We’ve never faced an entry into a recession like what we’re facing now” with such a tight labor market, Frankiewicz says, saying two key differences are a structural change in the number of workers in the economy, citing lower birth rates, and the demand for technology skills not only in tech firms, but across all sectors. “It’s why we’re having this conversation—because there is no playbook.”

Forbes.com | June 3, 2022 | Jena McGregor

#JobSearch : How To Talk About A Layoff Or Furlough In A Job Interview. You will Be Asked About your Career Moves and Layoff(s).

October 28, 2020/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Mass layoffs and furloughs have been announced across a variety of industries — travel and leisure, media, energy, financial services, etc. (Business Insider keeps a running tally here). While losing your job may be more commonplace now, it can still be difficult to talk about, especially in a job interview, where you might feel less confident admitting any negative news.

You will likely be asked about your various career moves and transitions, especially your most recent ones. You may also be asked about any gaps in your resume. Finally, with layoffs prominently featured in the news and top of mind for many, the interviewer may ask you outright if you were downsized.

The good news is that, with so many people affected, there is less stigma attached to being laid off or furloughed. The better news is that you have control on how you talk about a layoff or furlough. You can minimize the negative impact of being laid off or furloughed and still ace your job interview by taking these five steps:

1 – Address what the interviewer really wants to know

Remember that the purpose of the job interview is to determine if you’re the best candidate for the job. The prospective employer wants their problem solved. They really aren’t focused on you, except for what you can do for them. In the same way, they don’t really care about your layoff, except what it might reveal about how good an employee you will be.

A layoff or furlough can impact you negatively if the prospective employer thinks you were let go for performance reasons. You can counter that by confirming that you were one among many and not singled out for cause. The prospective employer might worry that your time away from work has eroded your skills. You can counter that by keeping your skills and expertise updated. The prospective employer might assume your recent bad experience has soured your attitude or work ethic. You can counter that by showing high energy and enthusiasm during the interview.

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Article continued …

2 — Keep your answer concise

Concise means just enough information. You don’t want to say too little, such as avoiding talking about the layoff or furlough at all. This makes it appears as if you’re hiding something. At the same time, you don’t want to say too much and keep referencing it throughout the job interview. This is like going on a date where the other person spends the whole time talking about their ex! The incident is in the past, and the job interview is for the future. You want to assure the prospective employer that you only have eyes for them.

3 — Keep your tone neutral and non-judgmental

The prospective employer wants to hire someone who will be committed and a positive addition to the team. If you bad mouth your previous employer, your next employer will worry you will say the same about them. Even if the layoff or furlough was handled terribly or you felt you were treated unfairly or you have whatever good reason for having a negative opinion about your past employer, keep your tone neutral and non-judgmental when you explain what happened. (it helps when you keep your answers concise!)

Getting to a neutral tone when you are talking about a difficult issue is something you may need to practice. As a longtime recruiter, I have sat in too many interviews where the candidate clearly still harbors negative feelings toward a past employer. Outline in advance what you will say about the layoff or furlough. Practice saying it until you can do it without getting emotional – e.g., sad, angry, defensive. Role play with someone else who will probe on this issue to make sure you’re comfortable talking about it. (Read more tips here on how to handle a hostile interview.)

4 — Refocus the interview back to the job opening

The likelihood is that the interviewer will move on quickly after hearing a satisfactory explanation for your layoff or furlough. But you can help move the interview along by initiating the transition back to the job opening at hand. For example, as you talk about your recent job, you mention that you left because you were laid off, and then you immediately highlight the skills, expertise and experience you gained at the job that is relevant to this particular opening. No need to wait for the interviewer to sign off on your layoff explanation and give you permission to move on. The job interview is a conversation, a two-way street, and you can control the agenda as much as the interviewer by refocusing the interview on the job opening.

5 — Line up references to support your story

Too many job seekers wait till they have an impending job offer before lining up their list of professional references. It takes time to reach your references and confirm that: 1) they agree to give you a reference; 2) you have their most updated contact information; and 3) they know what to say to give you the strongest and most relevant reference possible.

Number 3 surprises some people, but you need to coach your references. You don’t need to tell them what to say word-for-word (and legitimate references won’t want you to do that anyway). However, you need to tell them what jobs you’re going for so they can highlight the relevant aspects of your previous work together. This includes talking about the circumstances surrounding your layoff or furlough – even if only to confirm that it wasn’t performance-related. Having your references lined up in advance, including someone who will corroborate your account of the layoff or furlough, will make you more confident and comfortable in your job interview.

You determine how strong a candidate you are, not your layoff or furlough

Being laid off or furloughed is the end of that job, but certainly not your career. You can still come across as a strong candidate during the job interview by highlighting the skills, expertise and experience you do have. Remember that the prospective employer is focused on hiring a solution to their problem, not your layoff or furlough at all.

Forbes.com | October 28, 2020 | Caroline Ceniza-Levine

#YourCareer : Companies Don’t Care About You: The Days Of Corporate Loyalty Are Over And It’s Time To Take Control Of Your Career. A MUst REad for All!

October 12, 2020/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

We all understand that corporations solely care about revenue, profits and their shareholders. CEOs and top brass hyperfocus on their own financial interests. It’s hard to blame them, as this is how the game is played.

Lately, it seems that the chasm between the uber-wealthy and the average American family is the greatest we’ve seen since the bygone era of robber barons. The top 1% are thriving during the pandemic, while the rest of us are desperately trying to survive and eke out a meager living. More than ever before, a small group of powerful CEOs and executives have usurped the lion’s share of their company’s money by awarding themselves lavish salaries, stock options and bonuses.

The Covid-19 pandemic seems to have enhanced the chasm between the average worker and the upper echelon. This marks the beginning of the end of corporate loyalty. It’s obvious that we’ve been forced into a new era of free agency. The companies clearly don’t care about the workers and now the workers need to care about themselves.

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Article continued …

Here’s a great example exemplifying the callous, nonchalant behavior of corporate executives toward employees. In late March, Covid-19 hit the United States hard. A then record-setting 3.28 million people filed for unemployment benefits for the week ending March 21. At the time, it was the highest level of claims in reported history. Those numbers seem quaint now, as more than 60 million Americans have filed for benefits since then. Due to the drastic health, economic and job-loss crisis, prominent CEOs—many from financial services and Wall Street—promised that they would not lay off workers through 2020. Six-plus months later, a number of these companies are now laying off employees.

Here are just some of the large corporations that have changed their minds about their pledge to hold onto workers:

Citigroup: “Citigroup will continue laying off roughly 1% of its global workforce, the company announced on Sept. 14. The cuts end a previous commitment to pause layoffs amid the pandemic.” A cursory search of Citi’s online job postings shows that around two-thirds of the listings are outside of the U.S. This reflects an ongoing trend of Wall Street banks relocating jobs to lower-cost cities within America and to other countries.
Goldman Sachs: “Goldman Sachs is cutting 400 jobs, or 1% of its workforce, after briefly pausing job cuts amid the pandemic, Bloomberg reported on Sept. 30.”
Wells Fargo: “On July 9, Bloomberg Law reported that Wells Fargo is preparing to cut thousands of jobs,” and has plans to start chopping “more than 700 commercial banking jobs.”
Deutsche Bank: “The bank announced it was restarting job cuts—part of an 18,000-position cull it launched last July but paused…as the coronavirus crisis bred uncertainty.”
HSBC: “HSBC resumes 35,000 job-cut plan, ending [Covid-19] ‘pause.’”
Salesforce: “Salesforce started to lay off 1,000 of 54,000 employees on Aug. 26, according to the Wall Street Journal. The news comes one day after the company posted record sales. In March, CEO Marc Benioff pledged a 90-day freeze on layoffs.”
LinkedIn: “LinkedIn said it would cut 960 jobs, or 6% of its global workforce, on July 21. The cuts will impact hiring and sales positions.”

Some of the companies focused on a 90-day commitment; although, the spirit of the intent was for the year. To be fair, at the onslaught of the outbreak, it wasn’t conceivable that the pandemic would still be in place seven months later nor did they foresee the rampant damage caused to the economy.

Since then, companies across all industry sectors executed massive layoffs. For instance, Disney recently let go of about 28,000 workers and the airlines plan to terminate about 35,000—if the government (U.S. taxpayers) doesn’t give them another $25 billion after the initial $25 billion bailout.

Without any empathy, corporations ruthlessly cut out middle managers to save money and hire younger, less-expensive workers. To squeeze even more money out, they’ve relocated jobs from big cities, such as New York City, to lower-cost states and foreign countries to pay people a fraction of what their predecessors earned. When companies run into trouble and file for bankruptcy, they lay off thousands of workers without any hesitation. The executives and CEOs who mismanaged the business remain and continue to collect fat paychecks.

Large sums of money have been allocated toward technology, robotics and artificial intelligence. The goal is to eventually replace real-life human workers with sophisticated technology. Robots don’t take coffee breaks, vacations, eat lunch, gossip or argue over sports and politics. They dont require health insurance nor do they talk back or call in sick.

Predictions of AI taking over jobs are so great that former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang called for Universal Basic Income to be paid to Americans. Yang’s thesis is that once tech takes over, millions of Americans won’t have the skills to hold a decent job. Their only answer is for the government to provide a living income to help them get by. While on a podcast with Yang, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said that—fairly soon—AI will write better code than his current software engineers. His dire forecast is that tech will eat the lunch of everyone and no one is safe.

A large number of iconic American companies filed for bankruptcy protection during the course of the pandemic. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, but somehow, the top brass paid themselves millions in bonuses. It rises to a level of incredulity when a CEO gets to cash in for driving their company into the ground.

It looks like conditions will worsen. With millions of Americans out of work, companies can aggressively dictate the terms. They’d think, “Why shouldn’t we lowball salaries and increase the demands of employees? Where else would they go? With less opportunities available, people won’t have a choice but to accept whatever they can get.”

As the job-loss crisis continues to grow and millions of people look for work, corporate management will feel free to summarily dispatch employees at will. Managers will realize that they don’t have to deal with a difficult worker, as there will be a line of people forming to take the person’s place—if fired. There won’t be a need to offer larger wages and better benefits, as there will be someone else who would gladly take the job to put food on the table and a roof over their family’s head.

It used to be that you could graduate from high school, find a decent job, afford a nice home, two cars and raise your kids in a quiet, bucolic suburban neighborhood. You would work at the same company for most of your adult life and receive a pension when you retire. If your children wanted to go to college, it was affordable and cheap—by today’s standards. If you didn’t desire the higher-education route, it was deemed perfectly respectable to pursue a trade or become a blue-collar worker instead of going to college.

The reality is that this new post-Covid economy could be harsh, cold and unforgiving. To battle back against this, you need to view yourself as a free agent. You can make your own destiny and shouldn’t solely rely upon your employer.

The key is to become thick-skinned, resilient and self-reliant. You will have to be mentally and emotionally tough to deal with all of the new challenges. You will have to constantly learn, reinvent yourself, pivot, acquire new jobs, start side hustles and find new ways to create value.

It might seem scary at first, but there is the sweet taste of freedom when you accept that you can control your own fate and don’t have to depend upon the whims of a large, faceless and uncaring corporation.

The bottom line is, due to these scary emerging trends, you need to look out for yourself. Even if you’re gainfully employed, it’s imperative to keep your eyes open for new opportunities. Prepare a just-in-case Plan B, C and D. Start networking right now and don’t wait for the dreaded call from human resources asking for a quick meeting. Update your LinkedIn profile and résumé. Learn new skills and technologies required for our changing economy. Find secondary tertiary ways to get an income stream, so that you’re not entirely dependent upon a salary. Get active on social media, reach out to recruiters, research new types of potential careers, attend online career-oriented events and do whatever it takes to hold onto your job for the time being.

Forbes.com | October 12, 2020 | Jack Kelly

#JobSearch : How To Restore Your Confidence After A Layoff. The Coronavirus Outbreak has Triggered Unprecedented Mass Layoffs and Furloughs.

July 9, 2020/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

The coronavirus outbreak has triggered unprecedented mass layoffs and furloughs. So, if you’re one of those people affected, you’re not alone. Yes, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic. But no matter what the circumstances are, a layoff can be devastating to one’s self-confidence.

“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” Maya Angelou

People often define themselves by what they do for work, so you may experience a job loss as a loss of personal identity. To get past your own feelings of failure and inadequacy, here are five ways to restore your confidence after a layoff.

Remind yourself it’s not you

It can be easy to feel shame and embarrassment after a layoff. Don’t. Restore your confidence by making it a point not to take it personally. Remind yourself that these are tough times, and millions of people are in the same predicament. It’s not a reflection of your performance, just the current economic situation.

Take time out

A layoff can be a blessing. Sometimes it’s the universe’s way of opening a new door for us. Consider this the perfect time to take a step back and review your career trajectory. Did you even enjoy what you were doing? Do you want to stay in the same industry? Taking advantage of this crucial downtime to assess your situation can help to restore your confidence. In fact, doing this important inner work can be more beneficial than immediately jumping into a new job. Especially a position that won’t provide the fulfillment you deserve.

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

Surround yourself with positive people

This is a time to be surrounded by people who are positive and uplifting. Stay away from the “energy vampires.” These are people who consciously or not, drain your emotional energy. If you find yourself spending time with someone and you feel like they suck the life out of you, that’s an energy vampire.

Restore your confidence by surrounding yourself with people who show by their actions that they care about you and have your best interests at heart. That will go a long way in helping you achieve a healthy mental outlook. You may even want to enlist the help of a coach or mentor to help you unpack your feelings, hold you accountable and devise a plan to achieve your ultimate career goals.

Review your finances

After a layoff, it’s common to feel uneasy about what’s next. Before making any career moves, review your financial situation. This will give you a chance to determine where you stand from a cash flow perspective. Many people come out of this exercise with a renewed sense of confidence and optimism. You will feel relieved knowing exactly how much runway you have until you need to secure that next job opportunity. Crafting a solid plan will help alleviate stress and ease any feelings of financial uncertainty. You’ll also want to cut back on your expenses for a while, eliminating any non-essential items.

Get involved in meaningful work

Try to get involved in meaningful work as soon as possible, even if it’s only on a volunteer basis. And if you’re concerned about social distancing, you can volunteer without leaving your home. Points of Light is one organization that is committed to empowering, connecting and engaging people and organizations with virtual opportunities to make a difference that are meaningful and impactful. Volunteering will make you feel good, help you learn new skills and broaden your networking base. Who knows, over time, it may even turn into a permanent, paid position.

Layoffs and furloughs are the new normal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bounce back better than before. As Maya Angelou once said, “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”

Author: Caroline Castrillon Contributor

Forbes.com | July 8, 2020

#YourCareer : We’re Seeing Wage Deflation, White-Collar Layoffs And Pay Cuts. A MUst REad for ALL!

June 18, 2020/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

The U.S. Department of Labor reported 1.5 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week. This was the 13th consecutive week that the U.S. witnessed over one million in new claims. Roughly 45.7 million people have now filed for unemployment since mid-March.

“wave of more higher-end unemployment” hitting white-collar workers making more than $100,000 per year, as employers increasingly question the value these employees bring“

Unfortunately, the frighteningly large numbers, along with other data, show that we’re still going through tough times. The first wave of Covid-19, entering into a new unknown phase, looks like we’ll face continued white-collar layoffs, pressure on middle management, pay cuts and wage deflation.

The figures from this and prior weeks illustrate persistent job losses with insufficient new hiring to compensate for the massive amount of unemployment. Daniel Zhao, senior economist at Glassdoor, wrote, “As we distance ourselves further from the historically high initial claims seen this spring, the tens of millions that remain unemployed are an increasingly important signal of labor market weakness.” Zhao added, “The flattening of continuing claims indicates that there isn’t enough hiring to overcome these continuing layoffs.”

The first wave of layoffs were highly concentrated in sectors, including restaurants, travel, leisure, hotels, retail, gig-economy and low-wage jobs. Now, it seems white-collar jobs have been impacted too.

Guy Berger, Ph.D., the principal economist at LinkedIn, prepared the LinkedIn Hiring Rate (LHR), which offers a snapshot of the job market. Berger indicates that we haven’t seen a meaningful pickup in new U.S. job starts. He reports that hiring is still down more than 30% below last year. Many of the job gains are due to workers returning to their previous employers—rather than people starting newly created jobs. The economist contends, “It will take a long time before the labor market returns to pre-COVID levels.”

“Obviously, I think these people will take another job with a pay cut.” He continued, “If you’re making $100,000 and you’re staring at the abyss of no income and you have de minimus savings, especially if you have a family to feed, I think that $75,000 similar job would look pretty attractive even as an interim step.”

According to Jed Kolko, chief economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab (which is part of Indeed.com, the large job aggregation site), his study concluded that the current trend in job postings was 34% lower than in 2019. This was an improvement compared to when new listings turned down about 45% from the same time last year. White-collar roles, such as software development postings, are 36.3% below last year’s trend. Banking and financing job postings are down 51.3%.

The recent monthly jobs reports have been dreadful. The May jobs report looked surprisingly strong. However, when a glaring, misleading error in the may jobs report was noticed, it showed that the U.S. may actually be at 20% unemployment. Delving into the footnotes of the numbers, the jobs report has been inaccurate for the last two months. The Bureau of Labor Statistics admitted that its household survey takers mistakenly counted about 4.9 million people as employed, although they were unemployed. Had the mistake been corrected, the unemployment rate would have risen to 16.1% in May. The corrected April figure would have been more than 19.5% rather than 14.7%.

Investment management DoubleLine CEO and billionaire Jeffrey Gundlach warned of white-collar layoffs saying, “COVID-19 reveals who’s ‘swimming naked.’” This relates to a famous Warren Buffet adage, “When the tide goes out, you find out who is swimming naked.”

In this instance, Gundlich contends that as people worked from home, he got a sense of what his employees were really doing. Gundlich particularly paid attention to who in his organization consistently responded the quickest. They were the workers below middle management. He believes that they are the ones who are doing the actual work.

Gundlach was pleasantly surprised that junior workers rose to the occasion and was disturbed by the disappearance of mid-level management. He complained, “I wonder where they’ve gone. I’m starting to wonder if I really need them.” Gundlach said that he checked with peers who felt the same way.

This test led Gundlach to predict that there will be a “wave of more higher-end unemployment” hitting white-collar workers making more than $100,000 per year, as employers increasingly question the value these employees bring. We’ve already witnessed the “juniorization” of the workplace—a movement by senior executives to carve out middle management in cost-saving measures. In cost-cutting measures, middle-manager roles were eliminated in reorganizations. The managers’ more junior staff then reports directly to a higher-level executive, thereby saving the company money.

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

Matthew Klein of Barron’s points out that the latest jobs report for May is showing signs of the virus’ impact hitting higher-end jobs—calling it a white-collar recession. It was reported that employment has dropped 5% in professional services, management, finance, insurance, real estate, media and tech. People working in advertising, radio, television and newspapers saw a decline of about 10%.

Many jobs were saved that otherwise would have been lost due to a new growing trend. A large number of companies have elected to cut the pay of some—or all—of their workers instead of enacting massive layoffs and furloughs. These corporations run the gamut, spanning many different sizes and all across industry sectors, including HCA Healthcare, Aon, ESPN, Tesla, the Chicago Cubs, Vice Media, BuzzFeed and others. A recent study by the Conference Board found that 537 public companies cut their top manager’s pay from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jack Dorsey, the dual CEO of Twitter and Square, announced that he’d allow his employees to continue working from home “forever.” Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and other CEOs followed up with their own decisions to allow people to work remotely on a permanent basis.

While this sounds noble and magnanimous, there’s an underlying threat to workers. Here’s the Facebook catch: employees will have to tell their boss if they move to a different location. According to Zuckerberg, those who flee to lower-cost cities “may have their compensation adjusted based on their new locations.” He ominously added, “We’ll adjust salary to your location at that point. There’ll be severe ramifications for people who are not honest about this.”

Zuckerberg can now scout for talent all over the country and world. This could be the worst trend for workers, as CEOs arbitrage the best and cheapest job seekers globally. Facebook will source job applicants who possess all of the right skills and experience and live in lower-cost places and pay them less money than they’d receive working in San Francisco.

To make matters worse, we’ve seen a slew of layoffs. Just this week, HSBC and AT&T announced thousands of job cuts. Iconic American companies, such as Hertz, J.C. Penney, Pier 1, Neiman Marcus, J. Crew and others have filed for bankruptcy protection, which will cause more job losses.

These events will cause a “short-term deflationary” impact on white-collar workers. Gundlach said, “If a $100,000 white-collar worker gets laid off, I think that they just stare in the mirror in the morning, with just fear in their eyes, looking at their own eyes because what are you going to do?” he said. “A lot of people don’t have any savings, not enough savings. If a certain swath of the employment population has a significant layoff in the echo of the pandemic, which I think is coming, then they’re probably going to be looking for a job and there won’t be many openings relative to the unemployment pool with that type of a skillset.”

Gundlach added, “Obviously, I think these people will take another job with a pay cut.” He continued, “If you’re making $100,000 and you’re staring at the abyss of no income and you have de minimus savings, especially if you have a family to feed, I think that $75,000 similar job would look pretty attractive even as an interim step.”

Sadly, all of the evidence points toward wage deflation and middle-management, white-collar layoffs and pay cuts.

Forbes.com | June 18, 2020 | Jack Kelly – Senior Contributor Careers I write actionable interview, career and salary advice.

#YourCareer : In A Sign Of The Times, Cold Zoom-Call Firings Are Now Common. Great REAd!

June 16, 2020/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Tough times bring out the best and worst in people and companies. Since the Covid-19 pandemic started, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in bad behavior. There’s been riots, cities set ablaze, looting of stores, killings and acts of police brutality.

The manner in which employees have been downsized tells a lot about the company and our overall current culture.

On a lesser level, but still disconcerting, social media—as well as the mass media—has become a volatile cocktail of toxicity and hate. It’s not surprising that this lack of empathy and coldness has crept into the corporate world. The manner in which employees have been downsized tells a lot about the company and our overall current culture.

Last week, 24 Hour Fitness, a privately held national chain of about 430 gyms with 22,000 workers, fired employees via a phone call. According to The Wall Street Journal, the gym’s Chief human resources officer, Tami Majer, sent an email to workers asking them to participate in a phone call to discuss “important company updates,” indicating that they’ll be paid for their time. On the call, the employees were told that they’ve been let go. There wasn’t any in-depth discussion around severance packages, benefits or any other color provided as to what’s going on.

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It’s understandable that 24 Hour Fitness had financial problems. Like thousands of other companies deemed non-essential, the gym chain was forced to close down its facilities. While many people say that gyms are indeed essential, as they’re important to our physical, mental and emotional health, it was viewed by medical professionals as a breeding ground for catching and spreading Covid-19 and couldn’t remain open.

For about four months, the company still had to pay rent, insurance and other expenses, while not receiving any revenue. Under these circumstances, it’s hard to sustain an enterprise composed of hundreds of locations with expensive equipment. One of its competitors, Gold’s Gym, with 700 locations worldwide and self-described as “the world’s trusted fitness authority for more than 50 years,” recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

24 Hour Fitness did send an email to the people impacted by the layoff explaining the rationale and reasons behind the layoffs, along with important information surrounding the terms of their dismissal. CEO Tony Ueber said, “These are painful decisions, and we do not make them lightly.”

This isn’t a one-time thing. There have been an alarming number of companies that have laid off people in the same cold, impersonal way.

Ridesharing company Uber previously announced a layoff of 3,500 employees, representing 14% of its workforce. In a sign of the times, with employees working from home, Uber informed the job-loss casualties via an online Zoom call. The head of Uber’s customer service office, Ruffin Chaveleau, told workers that today was their last day at the company.

Chevaleau soberly shared that Uber’s business was hit hard. The company’s business dropped by over 50%. She said, “With trip volume down, the difficult and unfortunate reality is there is not enough work for many front-line customer support employees.” Chaveleau added, “As a result, we are eliminating 3,500 front-line customer support roles. Your role is impacted and today will be your last working day with Uber.” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said of the downsizing, “We’re focused on navigating through this crisis that absolutely leaves us in a position, a stronger position, as the world starts to recover.” Khosrowshahi announced that he will be forsaking his base salary.

Bird, the scooter-rental startup, fired 406 employees in a harsh “Black Mirror” style. The unsuspecting workers were asked to log into a one-way Zoom call, after being informed that all other appointments were cancelled. A disembodied voice read a script informing the person that they’ve been laid off. Their Slack and other accounts were shut off and given end dates.

The airline industry has been one of the hardest-hit sectors by the pandemic. The federal government called for the cessation of nonessential travel. Even with essential travel, potential passengers have steered clear. In response to the dramatic decline in flights and acknowledging that the fortunes of airlines won’t turn around anytime soon, they’ve enacted massive layoffs.

The airlines received billions of dollars from the government to bail them out. The federal bailout for the airline industry barred layoffs, involuntary furloughs or pay cuts for employees. The airline executives, including United Airlines, were cold and harsh. United didn’t even try to hide the fact that job cuts are coming as soon as the required period to retain employees ends. Once the prohibition is lifted, as early as Oct. 1, the workers will receive their pink slips. To add insult to injury, workers were told to take unpaid or lower-paid leaves in the interim.

Wonderschool, ZipRecruiter, WeWork and the Wing have all used Zoom to inform employees that they’ve been terminated.

Airbnb took a different, more enlightened approach. The company announced that it was downsizing 25% of its workforce. Roughly 1,900 people out of the company’s 7,500 total workforce will lose their jobs. What’s different about Airbnb is the manner in which the company informed employees of its plans.

In a message to staff, Airbnb cofounder and CEO Brian Chesky said, “Some very sad news. Today, I must confirm that we are reducing the size of the Airbnb workforce.” Chesky then advised his employees that he will be transparent and offer details, so that everyone is fully aware of what’s happening. He was forthright and didn’t try to spin the narrative, as he stated, “We are collectively living through the most harrowing crisis of our lifetime, and as it began to unfold, global travel came to a standstill. Airbnb’s business has been hit hard, with revenue this year forecasted to be less than half of what we earned in 2019.”

With all of the stress and anxiety we’re all going through, it’s almost understandable how corporate executives can lose sight of the feelings of the people who’ve been selected for downsizing. It’s important for them to remember that they are human beings. Getting fired is an unpleasant and—at times—life-altering experience. In light of the current job market, in which over 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment since mid-March, it’s one of the worst times to be let go.

Due to Covid-19, it’s hard to conduct face-to-face meetings, but maybe this should happen anyway—with the appropriate precautions, of course. At the very least, instead of mass firings, companies could allocate the time to fully express courtesy and respect to their people by speaking with everyone individually.

The people involved with downsizing have to be transparent, empathetic and share the reasons why their employees are being asked to leave. A sufficient amount of time must be set aside to discuss and answer any and all questions related to the layoffs. The human resources professionals or managers should provide all of the necessary facts and relevant information regarding severance packages, whether or not job search assistance is offered, if there’s a chance to be rehired and other important matters.

David Ulevitch, a general partner at the preeminent venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, offered advice on how to compassionately conduct layoffs while employees are working remotely, “The layoff may cause serious financial and psychological distress. It will also force them into a wrenching emotional disconnect from their friends and colleagues.” He advised managers, “Your duty as a leader is to do everything in your power to give them as many resources as you can and offer them the most dignified exit possible. This will take careful thought and planning.”

Just because we’re living in volatile and chaotic times, it doesn’t mean that corporations can abrogate their responsibilities to their employees when they need hand-holding, reassurance and guidance the most.

Forbes.com | June 15, 2020 | Jack Kelley

#JobSearch : 6 Outside-Of-The Box Ideas To Find A Job Or Stay Relevant Post COVID-19. A Must Read!

April 29, 2020/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

There will be great damage wrought on the job market in the wake of COVID-19. We have already witnessed 26 million jobs lost with an anticipated millions more to come. Many industries will suffer badly for years to come.

You’d be doing yourself a disservice to presume that your job is safe and sound. If you’ve lost your job or are concerned about the safety and long-term viability of your career, you need to plan ahead of time and not wait for the ax to fall.

Here are six outside-of-the-box things you can do to stay in the game and keep the momentum of your career going.

1. Make Yourself Indispensable

It’s reasonable to presume that once companies restart there will be hiring freezes and downsizings, as management won’t have any clarity as to the future of its business prospects. You want to be the one who’s asked to stay on. Start right now by making yourself indispensable. Stay in close touch with your boss and other leaders at your company to determine what they need to succeed and how you can make their lives easier. Do everything in your power to effectively get things done and become the go-to person when there’s a problem. Let the powers that be know you’re the person who takes decisive actions and makes things happen. It’s an aggressive approach, but tough times call for bold actions.

If you’ve lost your job, you don’t want to wait on the sidelines for too long. At first, employers will understand that you were impacted by the pandemic. After months pass, hiring managers will question why you weren’t picked up when others were already rehired. They’ll begin to doubt your abilities. Since there will be so many other people in the job market, they can easily move onto other candidates if they see that you haven’t been doing anything for the last bunch of months.

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

2. Take On Contracting Roles To Stay Relevant

These are usually short-or-medium-term temporary roles. Companies will most likely hire more contractors rather than full-time permanent employees. There are fewer risks and obligations to hire someone on a short-term basis. It buys time as management tries to figure out how things will change and what its ultimate needs will be.

By working on a contract with a company, you will make new contacts, build your network, and have the possibility of being converted to a permanent employee. It also shows prospective employers that you’re industrious, picked up new skills, and stayed relevant.

3. Pivot Or Reinvent Yourself

If you’re in a career that was irrevocably damaged, you need to reinvent yourself or pivot to a new line of work. Sometimes a hot area becomes cold overnight. The opportunities dry up and you have to move onto something different. Use this time to start preparing a “Plan B” for the possibility of things going south. This may entail going back to school to learn skills for a new type of career, obtain accreditations and certifications, or accepting a job at the bottom and starting all over again in a new field.

Pivoting is a little different. Find a way that your skills, experience and knowledge can crossover into another field. You may have to take a couple of steps backward financially, but you can start rebuilding and quickly grow your career again.

For example, after the financial crisis, Wall Street traders lost their well-paying jobs. Then, technology was implemented that further crushed the careers of traders. These high-flying guys (yes, they were mostly men) hated the compliance department—the internal police-type people who oversaw their actions and wrote them up when they violated the rules.

The unemployed traders with little or no options became enamored with compliance. They’d say “Hey, I know all the ins-and-outs of trading and all the games that are played. I’ve seen all the tricks of the trades and understand the mindset. I’d be a great compliance officer!” They were right. Investment banks hired a large number of former traders in compliance and supervisory roles, figuring they could effectively deal with their former peers and have an insider’s knowledge of what they’re up to.

4. You May Have To Relocate

You’ll need to be open-minded and make adjustments to your life. There will be cities and states that fare better than others and offer more opportunities. If you are only fishing in one small pond, you’re missing the entire ocean of fish. It’s not easy to pack your belongings and family to leave town for another city, but it’s something that you have to seriously consider if where you currently live doesn’t provide you sufficient opportunities to find a new job or grow your career.

5. Remote Jobs Will Become More Prevalent

One of the more positive consequences of the coronavirus is that companies have recognized that people can effectively work from home. The chief financial officers realize that the company can save a fortune on pricey, big-city rent. The human resources professionals understand the benefits of having happy workers who are required to schlep into work on crowded buses and trains that take over an hour each way.

Start searching for job listings that offer that work-from-home arrangement. Even if a job listing doesn’t say that the company is open to work-from-home options, ask anyway. You have nothing to lose.

6. Start A Business

If you have a bit of an entrepreneurial streak in you and you’ve lost your job, you can create your own job. Start a small business with a corporate LLC designation and hang out a shingle saying that you’re open for business. You can offer them advice, guidance, and counsel you gave to your former employer to an array of businesses that need help, but don’t have the financial wherewithal to hire.

Either you can make a go of it and make some money or it’s something smart to have on your résumé. When you go into an interview, if the business doesn’t work out, you can say, “After working X amount of years in Y field, I built up an expertise in the space. I’ve always dreamed of starting a business and thought this was the right time to take a chance and do it. After running my company for a while, I’ve learned a lot and helped many businesses. However, I now realize that I prefer working at a large organization. This was a great learning experience and I grew from it and would like to return to what I really love doing, which in this job that I’m interviewing for.”

The keys to navigating the new post-COVID-19 world entail working hard to show your value so that you keep your job, preparing to reinvent yourself, pivoting to another career, taking on short-term assignments to stay relevant, having an open mind to moving where the jobs are and trying to ask companies if they’d allow you to work remotely. Lastly, you can always create your own job by starting a business offering your experience, skills, and knowledge.

Author: Jack KellySenior Contributor Careers

I write actionable interviews, career, and salary advice.

Forbes.com | April 29, 2020

#YourCareer : 16% Unemployment This Summer: CBO’s Prediction And How To Prepare For It. Are you Processing This?

April 26, 2020/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

The economic fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic is expected to be drastic and last much longer than first believed. On Friday, the Congressional Budget Office updated its 2020 and 2021 projections for the U.S. economy. CBO is forecasting that unemployment is likely to rise to 16% and then hold at levels of 10% through the end of 2021.

If you’ve learned that your company will soon begin layoffs or that your job is being eliminated, you have to get your mind around processing the bad news, and then you have to take action.

This is mind-blowing. It was just February that the U.S. economy had been riding a wave of record-level low unemployment with numbers as low as 3.5%. Can it really be that in neck-breaking speed unemployment could rise from 3.5% to 16% by summer? Yikes!

Are you processing this? It was also announced this week that 26.5 million new jobless claims have been filed since mid-March. When you add this to the fact that CBO’s economists and analysts are predicting 3rd quarter unemployment of 16%, you get the picture.

f this is to be, it means that unemployment will exceed the 14% high of the Great Depression as soon as this summer. And then it’s expected that it will remain excessively high and hover around 10% (the peak level of the Great Recession) all the way through 2021. If these predictions prove true, millions more Americans will become unemployed, and they will stay that way much longer than most had hoped.

This drastic increase in unemployment numbers was first reported in early April when the first of five straight weeks of devastating job reports started rolling out. Five weeks ago, The Guardian summed it up this way. “America’s decade-long record of continual job growth came to a shuddering halt on Friday as the US unemployment rate rose for the first time since 2010.” That first week it was 701,000. So we’ve gone from 701,000 new jobless claims to 26.5 million in a stunningly short time.

With the CBO predicting that it’ll get much worse before it gets better, here’s my recommendation for how you can better prepare for it.

Pay attention to what your company and others are doing.

Whether you are employed or unemployed today, pay attention. Whether you think your job is at risk or you’ve already lost it, pay attention. And whether you think your job is safe and secure and will remain that way, still pay attention. It’s up to you to do what’s necessary to own your career. You can’t afford to blindly leave your career—and financial security—in the hands of others. None of us can.

Stay in the know about what’s happening in the economy, with your employer, with your employer’s competitors, with your employees and all across your industry, and then ask lots of questions. Find credible sources of information—organizations, companies, and people—and follow them.

Find out who’s hiring and who’s not; who’s making pay cuts and who’s dolling out pay raises. If the core of your network is comprised of people rooted in a dying profession or a dying industry, take notice. To stay informed, you want to build a network that includes people who work in growing professions and industries for the future. Take notice of the companies that are disrupting themselves as a way to stay competitive and those who can’t seem to embrace anything beyond legacy systems and processes.

And, if you find that your job isn’t actually at risk today but you’re considering a career change, first assess what career capital you can leverage and how to go about doing it. I recommend you set time aside to answer these six questions before making any voluntary moves.

Learn where the demand is.

When making decisions about your job or career, it’s important to know what’s driving demand because demand is a huge catalyst for input (sales, business exchanges, deliverables, resources, money, innovation, time, etc.). Where you see a need—where you see demand—focus on it. Search out the companies and industries that are likely to be called on to meet demand so that you can better determine who is likely hiring now or will be hiring soon.

Conduct your own analysis by learning the answers to questions such as these.

What are the essential products and services the economy needs now?
What are the essential services and programs of the future?
Where is the demand in the economy?

By figuring out answers to these kinds of questions, you can make better decisions about which companies to seek out and which ones to avoid for hiring opportunities. Hence, you can better manage your career for the long haul.

If you’ve already lost your job, focus here.

Sometimes you can do everything right. You can play to win and still lose. You can manage your career on an upswing and still have it take an unexpected downturn. Things happen. Sadly, even bad things happen, and they happen to good people far too often.

If you’ve learned that your company will soon begin layoffs or that your job is being eliminated, you have to get your mind around processing the bad news, and then you have to take action. It’s very important that you immediately file for unemployment, learn about the available mortgage protection programs if you are struggling in that area, and take care of yourself. Read this advice for more specifics on what to do next after learning of a pending job loss, a termination, a layoff, or any other decision that otherwise leaves you unemployed.

It’s okay to feel disappointment, anger, sadness, and an array of other emotions during such a time. Give yourself the space to process the news and your feelings about it. But by all means, you’ve got to keep it moving and lockdown that next job as quickly as possible.

Author:

Terina AllenContributor

Careers

I cover careers, professional advancement and leadership development.

Forbes.com | April 26, 2020

#CareerAdvice : #ChangeManagement – How to Deal with These 4 Types of #ChangesAtWork …From Getting a #Promotion, #CompanyRestructure, #Layoffs, to Working with a New Boss.

August 6, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

When it comes to your career (or life, really) very few things are certain. There is one thing you can count on for sure though. Throughout your professional life, you’ll continue to encounter change, big or small, positive and negative, voluntary and involuntary.

When you experience these changes–you have two choices. You can either actively resist it, or you can accept it and figure out what you can learn from, and how to, leverage the situation. In most cases, the latter is usually the smart option. As Jennifer Harvey Berger previously wrote for Fast Company, in a world that’s only going to become more complex, “shifting your mindset is the only way to not only cope but also make the journey more fun and successful.”

Here are five of the most common changes you can expect to see at work, and how to deal with it so you can continue to thrive in the workplace.

GETTING A PROMOTION

Congratulations! After over-delivering on project after project, and exceeding all your goals that you set with your manager when you started your job, your employer is finally rewarding you with a change in title and an increase in compensation. You’re exhilarated, but you’re also a little confused. What do you do now?

First off, start with figuring out what you will no longer take on, time coach Elizabeth Grace Saunders wrote in a previous Fast Company article. Assuming that your promotion comes with more responsibilities, you will probably need to learn how to master your new tasks, and you won’t be able to do that efficiently if you have to do that on top of your old job. This requires trusting other people, which can be difficult if you have controlling tendencies. But as Saunders pointed out, the higher you move up, the more you have to depend on others. So start to learn to let go of your micro-managing tendencies, and trust that you’re not the only one who knows how to do everything.

It might be counterintuitive to prioritize personal well-being like sleep and exercise. But as Saunders noted, when you are required to perform at a high level, you need to be stricter about making these things a priority. After all, they have a major impact on your productivity. That’s not something you can compromise when you’re required to perform at the next level, Saunders said.

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Continue of article:

COMPANY RESTRUCTURING

Very few things make employees as anxious as a company reorganization. Regardless of whether or not you survive the re-org, you’re sure to face some big changes. The first step, whatever the outcome, is to acknowledge what you went through, Neil Lewis, co-founder of Working Transitions, told Gwen Moran in a 2017 Fast Company article. If you survived the re-org and felt “survivor guilt,” give yourself permission to feel them. Then slowly rebuild your confidence by assessing what kind of opportunities you can take on to grow, and whether there are any gaps in your skills that you can fill. Lewis also urged that you shouldn’t be afraid of reaching out to your colleagues who have left the organization. After all, they’re a crucial part of your professional network.

If the re-org results in a layoff, The Muse’s Jenni Maier recommends that as soon as you’ve had time to process the news, let your network know you’re looking. When Maier was laid off from her role, she desperately wanted to keep it quiet, but because she was unhappy with (and wanted to change) her situation, she decided to be open about the fact that she was back in the job market. She wrote, “The majority of the interviews I went on after being laid off came from friends-of-friend leads. Leads I never got before I lost my job because no one knew I wanted them. And the position I ended up getting at The Muse? That “in” came from a former manager’s friend.”

GETTING A NEW BOSS

Your happiness and success in your job has a lot to do with the relationship that you have with your boss. You might spend a long time building this relationship, but people move on, and one day, they might leave. You find yourself reporting to someone new, and you want to establish their trust and respect, quickly.

How do you do it in a way that doesn’t come off as bragging? As Gwen Moran previously wrote in Fast Company, the first step you should take is to build in some “networking” time with your boss–whether it’s coffee, or scheduling some time in a calendar for focused discussion. This way, you can start to learn their goals, working styles and any new ideas they might have, and work to amend your priorities where appropriate. Be proactive in terms of identifying where they might need help–that’s an easy way for you to secure some quick wins to help them shine, which builds goodwill quickly.

A CHANGE IN COMPANY CULTURE AND PROCESSES

Sometimes what the company looks like when you joined looks nothing like the company you’re still working at 2 years later. This especially common in a startup–which tends to start without structures and systems in place. As the company scales, those things become necessary, and sometimes, it can change the company culture, entrepreneur Matt Barba previously wrote for Fast Company.

The first step is acknowledging that structure isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and simply accept the fact that it comes with company growth. If you feel like there are some cultures that the company used to have that you want to reinstate–there are ways you can do that without needing approvals from the higher-ups. As SYPartners’ principal Joshua-Michéle Ross said at the 2017 Fast Company Innovation Festival, you can create deep transformations with tiny steps. He went on to say that one of the ways to do this is to create “rituals that solve a problem.” In the case of Airbnb, for example, the home-sharing company found itself with far too many internal meeting as the company grew. Their solution? they started filming the meetings and editing them into digestible content–which solved a problem and got rid of unnecessary bureaucracy.

Your brain might be averse to change, but with time and a shift in perspective, you can learn to accept it. And if you train yourself to be comfortable with uncertainty, you might just see opportunities as a result of those changes that you might not have had otherwise.

FastCompany.com | August 6, 2018

#Leadership : Take These Steps To Boost Morale After #Layoffs …The #Employees who Remain After a Round of Layoffs will Likely have High #Anxiety. Here’s How to Lessen the Impact & Get Everyone Back on Track.

February 21, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

You might think that employees who survive layoffs feel lucky or valued, but a study by outplacement provider RiseSmart finds that surviving team members have unique challenges that can hurt their productivity, and 43% of companies are not prepared for the impact.

“Most of the focus is on the employees who are leaving, and that’s understandable,” says Dan Davenport, president and general manager of RiseSmart. “Not enough attention is paid to the impact on the surviving employees by companies.”

Anxiety and a drop in morale are commonly felt, says Davenport. “Employees wonder what’s going to happen next,” he says. “They’re also worried about their former coworkers who are leaving the organization, wondering if they’ll land on their feet. This can lead to a loss of productivity.”

Companies need get in front of the potential impact by putting a plan in place, says Davenport. “You can’t eliminate the impact on productivity and morale when you have a layoff, but you can do a lot of things to minimize impact,” he says.

HAVE A GOOD COMMUNICATION PLAN

Start by sharing as much information about the layoff with the survivors as possible. Most managers aren’t adept at delivering this kind of information, so provide training when necessary, says Davenport. “They need to understand how to address the team,” he says. “Prepare them with messaging and notification training to make sure the process is a smooth one and doesn’t lead to legal liability.”

Be transparent about what is happening, how many people are affected, and how positions were selected, Davenport continues. “Reducing headcount is a business decision,” he says. “Explain how laid-off employees are being cared for, and be transparent about the future. Talk about what to expect when going through stages of transition and how work will be distributed, and discuss the possibility of future layoffs.”

Not delivering the right message or even ignoring it altogether can have a sizeable impact on business; 70% experience a negative impact on future talent acquisition efforts, and 81% report a negative impact on brand, according to the study.

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HELP EMPLOYEES DEVELOP RESILIENCY

Another tactic that can help surviving employees move forward is offering lessons in resiliency, suggests Davenport. Consider holding mindfulness training in the office, such as meditation or journaling classes. Learning how to “build in a pause” when reacting to situations will help employees learn how to process information and take out emotion before they react. Engaging in gratitude exercises, such as by journaling, can also increase positive emotions and reduce stress.

“It’s important to help employees keep their focus on the future,” says Davenport.

HOLD ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE MORALE

Finally, arrange events where employees can get together and share feelings, suggests Davenport. “Employees need to feel safe and comfortable in sharing,” he says. “It takes three months or longer for your surviving team to return to productivity. If you don’t do anything, it can take longer.”

Share your vision of the company’s future and connect each individual employee to the goals you have set, Davenport says. Offer career development, provide coaching, and encourage mentorship programs.

“Employers need to understand that employees who remain will experience the same stages of grief and loss as the employees who were let go,” says Davenport.

FastCompany.com | February 21, 2018 | BY STEPHANIE VOZZA 2 MINUTE READ