Layoffs
and helping people understand the "why".
I’ve sat in enough reduction meetings to recognize the look.
HR squirming in their seats. Legal checking their notes for the third time. Leadership delivering practiced talking points that answer nothing.
And then someone asks the question everyone’s thinking. “Why is this actually happening?”
The room goes quiet. Everyone suddenly very interested in their laptops.
I get it. There are things you can’t say. Legal constraints. Competitive concerns. Information that’s not public yet.
But the silence costs more than the transparency would.
In my experience, when someone understands the business reality and can see the “why” behind the decisions, it helps them move on to what’s next.
Not immediately. Not without anger or disappointment. But eventually.
What breaks people isn’t the layoff itself. It’s the vague corporate speak that treats them like they can’t handle the truth.
“We’re realigning our strategic priorities.” “We’re optimizing for efficiency.” “This reflects our commitment to sustainable growth.”
Translation: we’re not going to tell you what’s actually happening.
I’ve watched people get laid off and leave with dignity because someone was honest with them. “Revenue didn’t come in where we expected. We overbuilt the team. We made a bet that didn’t work out.”
And I’ve watched people get laid off and leave bitter because all they got was corporate nonsense that insulted their intelligence.
The difference wasn’t the outcome. It was whether someone treated them like adults who could handle reality.
Here’s what happens when you’re not transparent.
The people who stay don’t trust you. They watched you lay off their colleagues while saying everything’s fine, the business is just “evolving.” They know that’s not the whole story. And now they’re wondering when you’re going to lie to them too.
They start job hunting. Not because they think another layoff is coming. Because they don’t want to work for leaders who won’t tell them the truth.
The morale doesn’t recover. You can’t rebuild trust when people feel like they’re being managed instead of informed. Every town hall after that feels performative. Every “we’re being transparent” statement rings hollow.
And you miss the opportunity to actually solve the problem.
Because here’s what most leaders don’t realize. Your employees probably already know the business isn’t doing well. They see the missed targets. The cancelled projects. The hiring freeze that’s been in place for months. They’re not stupid.
What they don’t know is what you’re going to do about it. And whether they can help.
I watched a company do layoffs without explaining the real situation. Morale tanked. Six months later, they did another round. Then another. Each time with the same vague language about “strategic realignment.”
The people who were left felt like they were just waiting for their turn. Nobody was innovating. Nobody was taking risks. Everyone was in survival mode.
Meanwhile, the problems that caused the first layoff never actually got solved because nobody brought the team into solving them.
So why do we keep doing this?
Legal tells us to say as little as possible. That every word is liability. That transparency creates risk.
Leadership worries that honesty will panic people. That if you tell them the business is struggling, everyone will leave. That maintaining confidence requires maintaining the appearance of control.
HR gets stuck in the middle. We know people deserve the truth. But we also know we’re not the ones making the call on what gets said.
So we end up delivering messages we don’t fully believe, answering questions with non-answers, and watching people lose trust in real time.
From my perspective, we’re solving for the wrong risk. We’re worried about legal exposure or employee panic. But we’re not worried enough about the long-term cost of dishonesty.
2025 was a rough year for layoffs across the US. And 2026 might not be better. So I want to challenge leaders to be more transparent with employees about where things actually are.
If the business is not doing well, say that. Not in corporate speak. In actual words. “We expected revenue to be X. It’s Y. Here’s why. Here’s what that means.”
People can handle bad news. What they can’t handle is being treated like they’re too fragile or too stupid to understand reality.
If the business needs changes, say that too. And then ask for help. You may get some of your best ideas for change from your employees.
Picture this. Instead of announcing layoffs with vague language about strategic priorities, you tell your team the truth. “We’re not hitting our numbers. We built a team for growth that didn’t materialize. We need to get our costs in line with revenue. That means we’re reducing headcount.”
Then you tell them what you’re trying to protect. “We’re making these cuts to preserve the core team and the work that matters most. We’re trying to avoid death by a thousand cuts where we just keep bleeding people slowly.”
And then you bring them into what happens next. “We need ideas. We need to operate differently. If you see ways we can be more efficient, more effective, better, tell us. We’re listening.”
Here’s what happens when you do that.
The people who stay know where they stand. They’re not wondering when the other shoe will drop. They know the situation. They can make informed decisions about their own careers.
They actually help solve the problem. Because you’ve given them context and permission to think differently. Some of your best ideas for change will come from mid-level ICs who see things leadership doesn’t.
While leaders are paid a lot to push the direction of the business, it’s like only allowing one part of your brain to make decisions. Instead, think about how you engage more areas. Bring more people into the tent. Ideas can come from anywhere.
I’ve seen how even people without fancy titles can bring game-changing ideas. But only when they understand the problem you’re trying to solve. Only when someone’s honest with them about what’s actually happening.
Make transparency the default, not the exception. In your town halls. In your team meetings. In the one-on-ones where people ask the hard questions.
You don’t have to share everything. But you should share the truth about the things you do share. No corporate speak. No practiced talking points that say nothing. Just honesty about where the business is and what you’re trying to do about it.
Train your leaders to have real conversations. Not to hide behind HR or legal. Not to deflect with vague language. To actually answer the question someone’s asking, even when the answer is hard.
And for HR and legal, push back when the guidance is “say as little as possible.” Ask what we’re actually protecting by staying silent. Ask what we’re risking by losing trust.
You know whether your team trusts you to tell them the truth. You know whether people feel like they’re being managed or informed.
If you’re heading into a difficult conversation, a restructure, a reduction, anything where people are going to ask hard questions, ask yourself this.
Are you going to treat them like adults who can handle reality? Or are you going to give them corporate speak and hope they stop asking?
One of those builds trust even in hard moments. The other destroys it.
Which one are you choosing?