Preparing for Layoffs in Tech
What to know about layoffs as a tool of last resort, and how to execute them humanely if there’s no other choice.
Q: We will need to execute layoffs to reduce our burn rate. I’d love advice on how to do this with as much humanity as possible.
This is a question from a startup CTO at a company struggling to raise the next round of funding. Sadly, layoffs are speeding up at tech companies and in the coming months we will likely see more layoffs across the sector.
In this issue we go through this difficult topic from a variety of angles. We cover:
The impact of layoffs
Do layoffs help the business?
Ways to reduce spend before doing layoffs
Preparing for a layoff
Executing it
After the layoff
Case study: layoffs at Deliveroo in 2020
Poorly executed layoffs
Subscribers have access to the document 🔒 Preparing for Layoffs: a Checklist as well, linked at the end of the article.
Let’s start by taking a step back: