By the Numbers: Fear of layoffs and AI have far-reaching organizational effects
As employees brace themselves, communicators can educate to ease anxiety.
Uncertain economic headwinds and unclear pictures of the future have led some organizations, both big and small, to make job cuts. With layoffs at major companies including Google, Meta and Microsoft this year, it would be easy to think that layoffs are on the rise across the board.
But according to a report from MarketWatch, layoff figures are on a slight downswing year-over-year. The report found that 70% of employees are bracing themselves for perceived impending layoffs, whether they’re likely to happen or not. More than half (55%) of employees who took part in the survey believe that the national unemployment rate is higher than it was during the height of the COVID pandemic (which topped out at 11%), despite it currently being just 4.1%.
While layoffs pose a major risk to a company’s external perception as a financially viable place to work, fear of layoffs also puts a big dent in your corporate culture. Communicators must instill a sense of psychological safety as the norm, and minimizing a sense of foreboding around job cuts is a component of that.
Layoff perceptions across generations
While layoffs don’t usually affect one generation more than another, the MarketWatch survey shows that perception and reaction to the threat of them does vary a bit across different generations. The survey found that 70% of all surveyed workers are taking steps to prepare for layoffs, but those specific preparations look different in varied age groups.
For instance, while just 24% of all workers report actively searching for new work when they feel that layoffs might be in the near future, that number spikes to 47% of Gen Z employees For Boomers, many of whom are at or around retirement age, it’s just 4%.
Anxiety surrounding the workplace isn’t good for an employee’s sense of wellbeing, which can impact company culture. But communicators needn’t just stand by helplessly — some steps can be taken to ease anxiety and show that the organization cares about employee welfare.
If you sense employees are fearful of layoffs and anxious about the company’s future direction, you need to overcommunicate with them. Sure, you can’t always reveal what next steps might be in store when layoffs are part of the equation, but you can provide resources for people to deal with them. They can include:
- Guiding affected employees to complimentary job search help for a given period after a layoff.
- Holding question and answer sessions with leadership for remaining employees.
- Consider comms approaches that are customized depending on generation.
There are different solutions, but when it comes to easing employee worries, doing nothing is not an option. Use the power of messaging to chart the way forward and provide support when needed
Technology concerns with job security
Another big driver of employee concern focuses on advancing technology, particularly around AI’s role in displacing people from their jobs. The survey revealed that a high number of employees felt a sense of pessimism about whether their jobs would exist following the current generative AI revolution. This is especially prevalent among younger generations, and a sizable group of employees feel their roles will disappear within five years because of AI.
With AI becoming a more integrated process in roles across many organizations, comms pros need to know how to talk about it. Remember that AI can’t think on its own, and it’s only as powerful and useful as the human minds employing it for a given task.
While AI’s capabilities as a tool to unburden more menial work tasks is exciting, it’s important to remind employees that at this stage, that’s what AI is — a tool to streamline and automate menial work tasks. Human beings who think critically are what make an organization what it is and give it both cultural and innovative power. Don’t forget that, and be clear in communicating that to your employees too — hearing it might help put some minds at ease.
Living in fear of a layoff isn’t something anyone should have to go through. But by communicating with transparency and providing timely and pertinent messaging, comms pros can work to ease some of this apprehension.
Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time, he enjoys Philly sports, a good pint, and ’90s trivia night.
