Layoff announcement
When you have to announce a layoff, no one benefits and it’s a hard and pressing time on everyone. Everyone usually knows when a layoff announcement is coming and the subtle signs are everywhere. The company will stop spending as much money; they’ll be having more meetings, more employee evaluations, etc. Also, a lot of people fear the dreaded lunch discussion in a public setting because they know a lot of employees use that tactic to fire people.
If you have to write a layoff announcement letter, do it in writing so that it’s more professional and has more of a sincere touch to it.
Starting to Write
First, explain exactly what’s going on to the employees and that there are going to be layoffs.
Explain what circumstances or what exactly happened to lead to the layoffs whether it has to do with budget or just simply overstaffing.
If you have any details about who is going to be paid off, state why and when the layoffs will happen.
Optional – If you haven’t already stated which employees are being laid off, then reassure the employees that the information is currently processing.
Layoff announcement Sample
Dear New York Staff,
I’m writing to all of you with great regret this morning, as I’ve had to make one of the most difficult decisions as a CEO that I’ve ever had to make. First thing next month, we will be laying off 20 of the 75 employees in the New York branch as our budget has been tremendously cut due to the sinking economy.
The board has given us the word that they will be effectively cutting our budget by a whopping 30% and this will take a dramatic impact on who we can hire, what we can pay and what we can do with resources. We’ve tried taking alternative routes such as reducing pay, but there’s no way around laying off 20 of the employees currently in the New York office.
We will be keeping everyone informed in the coming two weeks about how the process is going to go, who is going to be fired and who will be staying. With these new changes, some of you will be moved to different departments as well. In the meantime, please know that continued hard work and effort will raise the probability that our budget could be raised back to normal as we produce quality work and please our customers.
Sincerely,
Joseph Rolley,
CEO