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-Article: Herd Stupidity: Layoffs
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Herd Stupidity: Layoffs
A recently published interview with Stanford Professor Jeffry Pfeffer reinforced what I have always believed that Layoffs don’t Work. Spurred by the recent rash of Tech Layoffs Pfeffer Sandford professor, author of Dying for a Paycheck and Business Myth Buster was interviewed by Melissa De Witte.
Here are the commonly held myths that Pfeffer noted about layoffs:
Myth: Layoffs are good for stock price: Research says NO.
Myth: Companies perform better after you “cut the fat”: Research says NO All the employees are looking over their shoulders to guess if they will be next, kills productivity and creativity.
Myth: Layoffs cut cost: Research says NO and not just NO but layoffs are quite expensive. Severance packages are expensive. And if layoffs are voluntary your best most confident people leave and the less courageous stay. You exit talent and that you will need to rehire them when the “economy picks up.” You will pay them to leave and give incentives for them to come back.
Known human cost: (Some of you know these from personal experience.)
-Layoffs increase the odds of suicide by two and a half times.
-Layoffs increase mortality by 15-20%. Being laid off is Stressful and leads to depression, overeating, increased smoking, alcohol consumption and drug abuse.
So why do companies routinely do layoffs?
-Herd behavior, or as Pfeffer most delicately put it, “Social Contagion” (AKA Stupidity) Companies pride themselves on analytics and data-based decision making. I cry BS. They believe in Old CEO’s Tales (not to be confused with old wives’ tales which are more accurate). “Wall Street loves a good downsizing”, “This will motivate/wake people up”, “We’ll clean out the deadwood” See all the Myths above.
Going against the herd:
The company that is perennially rated the best company to work for by Fast Company and Fortune is SAS Institute in Cary, North Carolina. They have NEVER laid anyone off since its inception in 1976. During that time, of course, there have been difficult economic times. In the 2008 downturn Dr. James Goodnight asked all his employees to be careful on what they spent, and he promised no layoffs. He kept his word. He also hired during the 2008 recession noting it’s a good time to find talent. They save an estimated 67 million dollars by having a 4% turnover rate vs. the average of competitors of 22%. These are the facts not myths.
Don’t these companies know THEY ARE THE ECOMOMY?
Because of Social Contagion (colloquially: monkey see monkey do) Layoffs become the thing to do. When large companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, and Netflix do layoffs it will make splashy headlines as we have seen. And as Pfeffer points out companies outside of the tech sector have jumped on the get ahead of the coming recession bandwagon just as many economists are predicting a mild or perhaps no recession at all. But when does the cure become the disease. When do fears of a downturn and preemptive layoffs CAUSE the RECESSION?
They cut people but never work.
When organizations decide to cut people, they may or may not apply some thought to who, when and why to cut. What they never do is cut the work. So, what happens is the same amount of work, projects and initiatives must be done by fewer people. Leading to more stress, longer hours less satisfaction and more people looking for a better gig with humane sensible leaders. The punishing costs of being laid off are terrible. The hidden and little studied costs are those who are left behind to keep the organization running with less help.
Since most companies do rounds of layoffs (currently Meta 10,000 more) the pain multiplies geometrically for those laid and the those left holding the bag.
We were in a meeting lately where a business owner stated he was going to have a layoff for the purpose of generating fear so that people would respond to their demands to return to the office. Power politics at its worst.
As always, we invite your comments.
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Susan Van Vleet Consultants, Inc.®
An International Consulting Company
692 Camino Verde
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360, USA
PHONE (303) 660-5206
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