Why it’s in your interests to keep your employees

Over the last month, we’ve seen staggering mass layoffs at social media giants Twitter and Meta (formerly Facebook), with the latter getting rid of 13% of its staff - that’s 11,000 people, and the former firing nearly half of its people…via email. 

While times are hard across the board within the tech sector - Amazon also looks set to cull thousands of workers imminently - mass firings without due diligence or proper aftercare can have a detrimental effect on a brand and how the public eye views it. 

You see, most of us aren’t Silicon Valley billionaires. Most of us are likely to feel more akin to those getting the boot than those doing the booting. We don’t - both as workers and consumers - like to align ourselves with companies that treat their employees poorly. Therefore, it’s in everyone's best interests to keep your employees. And keep them happy, too. 

We’re only just recovering from The Great Resignation that followed the Covid-19 pandemic, where people seemed to decide that there was more to life than grinning and bearing bad employers, causing mass resignations across the globe. Unless you want the people you have left to walk out with your fired employees, it’s worth taking the time to figure out if there are alternative ways to reduce costs and, if layoffs are a must, how to go about them with dignity. 

Layoffs are often the first place businesses go when they need to slash costs, but there are plenty of other things to look at before getting rid of your most valuable asset: people. For example, have you implemented a remote work policy to cut down on office rent costs? In some cases, the cost of renting an office can be as much as 20% of your business income. Switching to a downsized or completely remote model could mean you save funds that could keep on crucial employees. 

Similarly, have you given laid-off employees the chance to stay on as outsourced workers? As was the case with Twitter, after the mass firing of half of its staff and en masse resignation that followed after, Elon Musk realised many of these people were needed to keep the platform running. Of course, the first port of call here is to ensure you’re not firing employees that are integral to keeping the company afloat but, as a secondary measure if costs are too tight, perhaps there is feasibility to offer these employees outsourced roles, rather than cutting them off from the business entirely? 

Cutting costs can weigh heavy on the hearts of businesses. It’s a tough gig. That’s why it can be a great option to work with someone to support you through navigating these kinds of changes, whether that’s a switch to remote work or creating an outsourcing model that saves you money. 

At Remotify, we can help you with all of this and more. Feeling the pinch and wondering how remote work and outsourcing can help? Get in touch with a member of our friendly team today!