Another wave of unemployment in 2023, how to fire employees?
According to CaiLian News Agency, that morning, Meta employees with technical backgrounds in software engineering, graphic programming and other technologies said on LinkedIn that they had been fired by the company. A Meta spokesperson confirmed to the media that layoffs had indeed begun.
One of the employees who was laid off said that the layoffs mainly involved the product-oriented technical team, and some technicians were on the layoff list next month, and many game engineers were also affected by the layoffs.
A business project manager at Facebook wrote on LinkedIn: "When I woke up this morning, I was sadly told that I was one of the many employees Meta laid off today. ”
Meta sent memos to managers showing that multiple teams will face reorganization, with the remaining employees being reassigned to work under new managers. Meta will require all eligible North American employees to work from home on Wednesday to allow time to process the layoffs.
Meta expects to lay off 4,000 jobs on the day, the company's latest round of layoffs since last November.
With advertising revenue slipping last year and stock prices plummeting, Meta announced in November that it would lay off nearly 11,000 jobs, or 13% of its workforce.
Will finance, legal, human resources and other departments be cut in May?
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced last month that in order to meet the "efficiency year" goal and make Meta a better company, it expects to restructure and lay off employees in the technology division at the end of April, and then in the business unit at the end of May.
According to a cover news report, an employee affected by the layoffs said that Meta also plans to cut financial, legal and human resources employees from May. The employee, who did not want to be named, said that Meta said that the technical team employees who were not affected by the layoffs on the 19th may also be laid off next month.
In retrospect, after so many massive layoffs, we were able to maintain continuity in our culture and retain the best employees because we did the right thing when we laid off employees. It may sound strange, but how can you do something "in the right way" that would otherwise be wrong? Here's how:
Step 1: Keep your mind clear
If the company fails to meet its financial plan, the situation is so serious that it must fire employees who have been hired at all costs, which is undoubtedly a huge pressure and heavy burden for the CEO. During our first layoff, someone forwarded me an email between employees. In the email, one of the more astute employees wrote: "Ben is either lying, stupid, or both." I remember reading this quote and thinking, "I'm so stupid." "It's hard to think about the future at a time like this, because the past can hold you to no respite, and that's what you have to face.
Step 2: Make a decision at the moment
Once a decision is made to lay off employees, then it must be implemented as soon as possible. If the news leaks, it will cause trouble and trouble. Employees ask managers whether the company is going to lay off employees. If the manager is not in the know, the employee will think he is stupid. If he knew, he would either have to lie to his employees to leak the news further, or remain silent, further agitating the crowd. We didn't handle this dynamic during the first round of layoffs at Loudcloud and Opsware, but we did reasonably well in the next two layoffs.
Step 3: Have a clear understanding of the reasons for the layoffs
After entering the redundancy process, board members sometimes say something positive to comfort you. They may say, "This is a great opportunity to simplify business processes." This may be true, but don't let this disturb the mind and send the wrong information to the company. The company laid off workers because it failed to deliver on its plans. If the only reason for a company's layoffs is a personal performance issue, that's a different story. The real reason for the layoffs was the company's poor performance. This distinction is critical, because the message to the company and the people who are laid off should not be "layoffs are necessary, we need to take this opportunity to evaluate everyone's performance", but "the company is not doing well, and in order to continue to grow, we have to bear the pain of laying off some good employees". Admitting defeat may not seem like a big deal, but trust me, it's actually pretty remarkable." Trust me" is a phrase that CEOs say to their employees every day - trust me, our company has unlimited prospects; Trust me, this will be of great benefit to your career; Trust me, this will make you happy life. However, a single layoff shattered that trust in an instant. To rebuild trust, you have to tell the truth.
Step 4: Train managers
The most important step in the overall layoff process is to train the management team. If untrained managers are placed in the extremely awkward situation of layoffs, most of them will not be able to cope.
There is a golden rule for training managers: their own employees must fire themselves, they can't offload the work to HR or a tougher colleague, and they can't hire an outsourcing company to do it, as in the movie "In the Clouds."
Why is it so strict? Why not find some strong managers to step in and do this tricky task for you? Because people won't remember every day they worked for the company, but they will remember the day you fired them. They will remember every detail of that day, and these details matter. The reputation of your company and the reputation of your managers depend on how you perform: hold your head high and stand up to the employees who once trusted you and worked hard for you. Employees will think: Since you hired me, I am diligent in my work for you, and I hope you will have the courage to fire me personally.
As long as it's clear that managers have to lay off their employees themselves, then they need to be fully prepared for this:
1. Briefly explain the current situation to employees, telling them that this is the result of the company's poor management and has nothing to do with personal performance.
2. Make it clear to employees that there are too many employees and layoffs are non-negotiable.
3. Know all the relevant details of the benefits and subsidies provided by the company's plan.
Step 5: Address the entire company
Before implementing the layoff decision, the CEO must address the entire company. In informing the overall situation, the CEO must explain to managers the rationalization of layoffs. If this is done well, it will be easier for managers to lay off employees. It's important to remember what Bill Campbell, the former CEO of Caijie Group, told me: words are for those who stay. These people will care a lot about the way you treat their colleagues. Many of the employees you lay off are close to the people who stay, so be sure to treat them with respect. After all, the company has to move forward, so you have to scale and not over-apologize.
Step 6: Be sure to let people see you, you must be present in the company
After addressing the entire company and telling everyone that many will be fired, you may be reluctant to walk around the company and talk to everyone, preferring to go to the bar for a few tequila drinks. Don't do that. Be sure to be present in the company, be sure to let everyone see you, and be actively involved in the company's affairs. Everyone wants to see if you care about them. The people you lay off want to know if they still have a relationship with you and the company. Be sure to talk to people, help them get their stuff into the car, and let them know that you appreciate the effort they put in.