Why Many Companies Get Layoffs Wrong

From Microsoft to Google to Meta, many of the world's biggest tech
companies have been announcing layoffs recently. Their explanation
is usually that they overhired and need to cut costs. But Harvard
Business School professor Sandra Sucher, who has been studying
layoffs for years, says companies often underestimate the
downsides. Layoffs don’t just come with bad publicity, she
explains. They also lead to loss of institutional knowledge,
weakened engagement, higher turnover, and lower innovation as
remaining employees fear risk-taking. And she says it can take
years for companies to catch up. Sucher is a coauthor of the HBR
article "What Companies Still Get Wrong About Layoffs."