Just a handful of years ago, when layoff decisions were made, the news was likely shared at a team meeting or in an HR office. Now, in the age of dispersed workforces and mass layoffs, virtual calls or email are often the mode of delivery for the bad news. And increasingly, laid-off employees return right to their laptops to share news of their departure with their social media circles—adding another dimension to HR’s growing layoff problem.
Case in point: When Oracle issued its 6 a.m. emailed layoff news, reportedly to up to 30,000 people, it lit up LinkedIn within minutes.
“Today I’m sharing some unexpected news. I was recently impacted by the layoffs at Oracle, alongside many talented colleagues.”
“Well guys, it finally happened. The last round of Oracle layoffs took out your favorite coworker to work with … me.”
“ ‘Yikes’ I thought to myself, being one of the many, many folks impacted by recent layoffs at Oracle. But it happens, and I will enjoy sleeping in this morning.”
“Well, after 30+ years at Oracle, I join the 30,000 or so laid off today. Quite a shock.”
Immediately, LinkedIn users changed their status to “Open to Work,” shared their work experience and skills, invited career advice and some shared frustration with how the layoffs were conducted.
“Layoffs don’t happen behind closed doors anymore, they play out in real time,” says Erin DeVito, GM, North America at experiential learning company Impact, likening the reaction that has followed so many recent mass layoffs to how teenagers use social media. “Something happens, it’s posted within minutes, and suddenly the story takes on a life of its own.”
Indeed, within hours of the email, the topic was one of LinkedIn’s leading news stories, with the top posts curated for readers being the personal message by affected employees. That’s creating a nearly impossible situation for HR functions trying to contain backlash that could damage long-term attraction efforts as well as existing company culture, DeVito says.
While the narratives shared on sites like LinkedIn after a layoff isn’t necessarily wrong, she notes, they don’t always tell the entire story, particularly the business one. Oracle’s stated reason for the workforce reduction, for instance, was to support “business needs,” which reportedly involve freeing up cash flow to fund AI data center buildouts.
The most “emotional version” of the news, however, travels fastest, DeVito says.
“And that’s the environment HR is in. Before internal comms even land, someone’s already shared: ‘I just lost my job. Here’s how it happened.’ And that quickly becomes the story.”
That takes most of the control away from HR and business leaders—over the narrative, the tone and the timing. In such an environment, it may be tempting for individual leaders or HR professionals to wade into the fray; for instance, responding to commentary that may be incorrect or seemingly unfair to the organization or offering their own takes on the situation.
“That usually backfires,” DeVito says.
Instead, “stay anchored in your values,” she says. Focus on clear communication and treat people according to your company values, even amid the noise.
“Not every post needs a response, but every action still sends a message,” she says. “And people are watching, especially when things get loud.”
HR can’t control the narrative after the layoff notices go out, but it can work to ensure the experience is steeped in company values and genuine empathy, that messaging is clear and comprehensive enough, that company statements aren’t just words on paper and that laid-off employees have access to real support and resources.
It’s an approach that can have a meaningful impact on the organization’s bottom line in the long term. Because ultimately, DeVito says, departing employees become an organization’s “loudest reference check.”
“You don’t control what they say, but you do influence what they experience,” she says. And today’s real-time layoffs are showing that “how you treat people on the way out is how everyone else decides whether they want to come in.”
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