It seems like 2024 has only just begun but many companies have already announced layoffs. After tech’s big “year of efficiency” in 2023, many thought layoffs had tapered off for now. But major tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Instagram have cut workers this month.  Citibank was one of the first big banks to announce layoffs this year, as many banks reported lower Q4 profits. And biopharma companies like Lonza, Bayer, and Novavax announced their intentions to cut their workforce. BlackRock, Nike and Intel also joined the lists of companies planning layoffs.

It’s clear that layoffs will continue to happen in 2024. Unfortunately, many leaders have recently made significant missteps when sharing layoff news. Here are three mistakes leaders make during layoffs and here’s what to do instead:

LAYING PEOPLE OFF OVER EMAIL

Google recently made headlines not just for announcing layoffs, but also for choosing to rely on email to notify employees that they were no longer with the company. They sent an early morning email, then locked employees out of the company’s systems and disabled security badges. Former Google engineer, Jeremy Joslin, tweeted: “It’s hard for me to believe that after 20 years at #Google I unexpectedly find out about my last day via an email. What a slap in the face.”

Google is not alone. In one instance, United Furniture let go of 2,700 employees over email and text messages that some employees woke up to seeing in the middle of the night on their phones. In 2023, Amazon let employees know over email that “You are no longer required to perform any work on Amazon’s behalf effective immediately.” In 2022, Meta employees woke up to emails in their inboxes letting them know they were terminated. Vox notified workers via email that they had been let go 15 minutes after a company wide memo went out. IT tech company, PagerDuty not only let individuals go over email, but chose to include a Martin Luther King Jr. quote about overcoming adversity.

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