The IT Nerd

News is filtering out that Facebook’s parent company Meta is planning to lay off thousands people. Keep in mind that Meta has already laid off thousands of people not too long ago, which means the following:

It’s uncommon for a company to conduct multiple rounds of layoffs, according to data from Crunchbase. Last year, around 9% of the 433 tech companies it tracked laid off workers more than once. 

That might be because it’s generally considered bad practice to do multiple rounds, said Kerry Sulkowicz, the managing principal of the Boswell Group, which advises CEOs and boards on people and culture issues. “Doing layoffs in dribs and drabs creates instability,” he told Insider. 

“When a CEO does this, it’s important to communicate that this is a difficult decision, and to the extent possible, to do it one fell swoop.”

One bout of layoffs can leave a dent in employee morale; a second round can be devastating. Surviving employees often mourn the loss of their colleagues and feel guilty they were spared. 

They’re also likely to feel extra nervous about their job security: Instead of focusing on the work at hand, they’re looking over their shoulders, which is not good for their productivity or sanity, said Sulkowicz.

“They’re constantly wondering, ‘Is there another round coming? Am I next?'”

If I were working for Meta, I’d be mass emailing my CV right now as one could argue that Meta is not a great place to work right now. The problem is what with the failure of SVB right now, it could be really difficult to find a safe landing spot. But you have to try I suppose as anything is better than the stress of wondering what the lifespan of your career at Meta is going to be.

This entry was posted on March 14, 2023 at 11:19 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Facebook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.