What was it like leading up to the layoffs
I'm curious about what discussions were taking place in the time leading up to layoffs. LinkedIn has just had a round of layoffs for recruiting. However there were no company-wide announcements of any sort. The company blind forum is constantly talking about layoffs and there are lots of complaints about leadership not standing up and communicating about these layoffs. Is this the general feeling that everyone goes through right before massive layoffs?
When I worked at Airbnb when covid hit, the Blind lounge was hysterical about layoffs. And then before Meta layoffs, Meta lounge is the same. Blind is a doomspiral of negativity. Everyone criticizes leadership and is cynical. I swear everyone who had layoffs the lounge is the same.
Recruiters are the first sign. Now start paying attention- when leaders ask hard questions, about what’s working or not… they’re preparing
They should be more transparent for it. Usually they can share some financial reports and that will indicate something in all hands meeting.
Management start asking about your projects, eta-s, impact more often than usual.
For my team it was almost like the spread of a new pandemic disease. Delayed approvals for projects and unclear priorities were the first sign. Having to request reapproval for headcount for already funded and denied. Had headcount repurposed, all future headcount on hold while awaiting next year targets. Then silence. Then random pings from contractors from other orgs looking for work. Random pings became steady and daily. Then my contractors were being asked by their vendor to confirm contract dates because extensions were being denied. Then notices from leadership about contractor end dates being forced. Then rumors of “even AWS is being impacted”. Shit got real when that quote was spreading. Then came the word games. Org pause, not freeze. Bits of information from everywhere except HR. In manager meetings rumors were being shared about massive reorgs across the company and major resignations. Then texts from family about articles/leaks of company wide hiring freeze before it was announced internally. And so on. Sigh.
Every company Blind forum talks about layoffs - this time they were right
How was communication from leadership before and even during layoffs?
During… radio silence. I think it’s all pre-planned though, including the “all-clear” message.