Have you ever had to lay people off?

[Wrexis]

A termination/firing and layoff both signify the end of employment, but the former is based on employee performance and the latter has to do with a change in business direction.

One of our projects at work has been unexpectedly terminated 8 months in. It was an 18 month contract, so we took on some hires which we will have to let go.
I have to let go of 3-7, with some we're hoping to absorb into other departments.

It sucks honestly. These people did absolutely nothing wrong, and the work has been timely and of good quality. The client changed their mind.
We'll treat them fairly and they're getting several months pay (still being worked out), and they're in IT so the market is decent.

Still it makes me wonder sometimes about how someday I'll lay someone off and it'll be the last job they might have (in terms of getting back into the workplace).

 

[Jag]

I've done both. Fired people and been fired. HR also reports into me, so i deal with terms alot.

Most of the time I try to communicate with as much empathy as I can. I also try to give them time to process, but not overly drag out a painful process. Also try to get them focused on next steps, rather than obsessive over what just happened.

Years ago after a term, I had a kid accidentally get tangled up in my telephone cord and tripped when he got up to leave. Pulled the phone off my desk, knocked stuff all over the place and tumbled to the ground. I felt sooooo bad for him but he was ok.

If the term is for performance, the person shouldn't be totally surprised. If they are, then that's on management.

 

[The Riot Inside]

Unfortunately, I've had to both terminate and lay people off and it sucks. No real way around it. At the same time though it isn't like it is your personal fault these folks are losing their jobs so don't beat yourself up about it. Take this experience and continue to try and do right by your team that remains.

 

[gozu]

If they're not pushing 60, I wouldn't worry about laying off IT people. They have essential skills that are highly relevant and sought after.

Last time I got laid off, it was one of the greatest things to happen to my career. I've often thought about thanking the person who got me off that sinking ship.

 

[Nexus2049]

Yes, I let a few people go when I was acting Store Manager of a Five Guys. I was never trained on how to properly do it, so I 100% did not fire them properly, but it was due to dependability.

 

[Mezentine]

Yup I've had to do both. Its rough every time, but its easier when its for financial reasons because you can honestly tell people its not their fault. I've had someone react pretty poorly to being fired for performance reasons, even after like three months of "Your coworkers are having these problems working with you, we need to see improvements rapidly"

 

[hikarutilmitt]

Not my direct responsibility but I've been "involved" in a few before, and it was always for performance reasons. And when I say performance reasons, I mean they were, quite literally, not doing their job. Nothing we've done that for has been because of some bullcrap metric system like a call center (which I've worked in, hence my utter disdain for the method), it's been because they were simply not doing the job, in at least a few cases actively not doing it. I've had at least two people I know (not literally know, but...) absolutely despise me for doing it, despite my best efforts to the contrary.

I've always taken the stance that if someone isn't performing well but is trying, that's a failing on their support system (management, escalations, me) to arm them properly to have them do a good job. I cannot justify letting someone go, or even suggesting it, if they're at least trying. Maybe they need to be taught properly? Maybe they need to be taught properly again? Differently? Anything to keep from letting someone go, because jobs are important to both the person and the business. My expectations are rather high, to be perfectly fair, but they're also not unattainable.

 

[Tygre]

Making people redundant is almost always horrible. The one exception being when you know the company is going under and so getting them their redundancy before that happens is by far the best thing you can do for them.

Firing people is fine.

 

[B'z-chan]

Redundancies are the worst kind of firing's. I had a much easier time letting someone go for performance or behavioral issues. I was gutted when I was given the task to let go of a small group of perms while I was working as a contractor. I had nothing I could offer to make their transition easier to handle. The company wouldn't do it themselves because they didn't want to be associated with the firings. I was the one they yelled at and harassed for the weeks following till their termination date came. I never want to be in that situation ever again.

 

[Omegasquash]

Been "laid off", but that was a retail job at a small shop where the owner and I didn't see eye to eye.

I haven't laid someone off, but I have had to fire someone. Probably best to say that they did things on company internet that one should not do on company internet. Pretty cut and dry on that one.

 

[CatAssTrophy]

Yeah, though to be fair, I didn't do the actual firing. I was the ASM for the shop and the employee never worked any shifts directly with the real manager.

Spoke to the manager about a litany of issues with the employee and that we really needed someone in that role that would actually perform the duties assigned, and she agreed. Told me that I had final say on it, and I sadly had to tell her he needed to be given the boot.

He came in to the shop one day (as a customer) and talked a bunch of shit at me from behind the counter and left. Sorry you sucked?

 

[Jedi2016]

Yes, for both reasons. The "firing" was the less pleasant of the two, but the more necessary.

 

[BennyWhatever]

I used to be an assistant manager at a Sprint Store in 2007-2009 or so, back when people came in stores and bought flip phones and stuff. I had a good friend who I thought would be great at sales, and he was. Unfortunately he was unreliable and was late a lot. Then, he was a no-show for Black Friday. That was the last straw and the owner told me since I got him hired, I had to be the one to fire him. That's the only person I've ever let go.

 

[Judau]

Kevin, Jim, Pam, Kelly, Toby, Oscar, Meredith, Phyllis, Stanley, or the temp. If any of you wanna meet me for a drink, I'm going to be at Poor Richard's. And the rest of you can go to hell!

But seriously, I haven't been on either end of that exchange, thankfully, and I can't imagine being the one to tell someone that they're fired/laid off. Well, maybe if their performance is exceptionally shitty...maybe then, but otherwise, I'd feel horrible.

 

[Lakeside]

I've laid off 13 people directly and it's a miserable thing. First person was my pregnant secretary. She was great but business was slumping and I could fill in her role. I brought Kleenex in case she got emotional, then she was my rock while I cried.

From there it was a downward spiral and officially it was due to the business, but went with a lot of low hanging performance fruit first. One individual in particular had intentionally defied me on an important project so I was able to let him know that's why. He was an engineer with 40 years of service and I was less than 30 years old, so he didn't take it well. Fuck that guy.

One young person saw it coming and wore a weight belt under his clothes so he could pretend it was a bomb. I was tipped off at the last minute, so I pulled in security and a police/bomb squad response. Absolutely buried that kid in the "find out" stage of fucking around.

I've been involved with making the decision to yeet people for performance reasons since, but I've not been the individual to notify.

 

[Aldi]

Both. I had to have a very hard chat with 2 people who I was very close to as they were committing fraud against the company, and another time i was sat in a room with 9 other people and had to deliver the news that they were being made redundant. There have been other occasions but those two were the hardest.

 

[Relix]

I have, for performance reasons. I hate it though

 

[Holyoneturtle]

I had a student assistant who was not being very productive. She was always on her phone, which normally I wouldn't mind. But she was always talking to someone. Gave her sufficient warnings but she wouldn't change. Luckily, I didn't have to fire her, student assistants have to be re-hired every semester. And when the new year came around, I didn't want to bring her back. In my head, I considered it a firing.

 

[nihilence]

I had to furlough people during COVID. Sucked.

Also had to fire someone after a coworker looked them up on Google and they were a sex offender. They were at a wave pool, and were standing behind little girls so they would crash onto his crotch etc. (He was not my hire.)

 

[Onebadlion]

I've terminated lots of people, voluntary and involuntary. Big layoffs, restructures, settlements, lots of conduct or capability firings.

It's usually a tough and unpleasant thing to do, but there has also been quite a few situations where I've been looking forward to giving someone the boot.

 

[ultra7k]

Yes, for performance reasons.

Unpleasant especially when the water works get going.

 

[Soundscream]

Yes, but only for performance issues and everyone deserved it.

 

[Mobius 1]

No, and I genuinely dread the day. I imagine with time it will happen, and it will be a sad day.

 

[19thCenturyFox]

I'm not cut out for this shit. I even laid that out during the job interview for my current job to make sure I'm not going to have to make these kinds of decisions.

 

[DarthSpider]

No, thank God. I think the act of having to let someone go would make me physically ill.

 

[RichardHawk]

Yep. Sad thing is I gave the dude a ton of chances and he just kept fucking up (he was put on a performance improvement plan). Nice enough guy but he was not able to do the job and I have no clue why someone hired him.

 

[oni_saru]

Going to fire someone soon. I believe my boss will handle the actual firing.

But it's all based on mine and my co-manager's reports so i still feel extremely guilty. We've tried different strategies and still mistakes keep happening.

Not looking forward to it.