The Hidden Costs of Layoffs

From Microsoft to Google to Meta, many of the world’s biggest tech companies announced layoffs in 2023.

But Harvard Business School professor Sandra Sucher, who has been studying layoffs for years, says that companies often overlook their hidden costs: lost institutional knowledge, weakened employee engagement, higher turnover, and lower innovation. She says that it can take years for companies to bounce back from these setbacks.

In this episode, you’ll learn better ways to approach layoffs—with real-world examples from Twitter, Nokia, and Fidelity Investments. You’ll also learn how to regain your employees’ trust in the aftermath.

This is the second episode in a special series highlighting the four best leadership episodes of 2023, curated from across Harvard Business Review’s podcasts.

Key episode topics include: leadership, layoffs, human resource management, managing people, talent management.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Why Many Companies Get Layoffs Wrong (2023)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.