Leading, Organizing & Layoffs

I saw that you have posted a summary of this discussion but thought that I would contribute my 2 cents anyway's. I have had personal experience with layoffs that I have shared in other posts but I think is still relevant here.

As I have detailed in other posts I was laid off twice from the same company. The first time I was one of 150 employees who were laid off when a division of the organization what shut down. I, unlike everyone else not an executive, was not aware of the decision until it was made. There is no way that the decision to lay people off is easy for anyone. Would I have like to have known sooner, yes. Should I have, no. During the process of making this decision I am sure every opportunity was given for the company to succeed and continue on. If those who were to be let go would have known what was coming there ultimately would have been nothing they could have done to change the outcome. There was a decision to be made for the best interest of the organization as a whole and we all believed in and trusted our executives to make that decision when necessary.

The second time I was let go we had restructured and were now an organization of 13 people from other on down. Everyone was aware of and contributed on a daily basis to the direction and decisions of the organization. I believed in and supported the vision of the company and wanted to see it succeed whether I was part of the organization or not. When the time came and we ran into financial difficulties I knew the best decision was to layoff someone or the company would not be able to continue on. I knew it was the right thing to do for the overall success of the company and so when the call came to me it was time to move on. The company is still going strong today, a year later, and I hope it does for many years to come.