Layoff memos from tech companies illustrate how leaders need to show authentic regret over job cuts — and how damaging it can be when they don't

• Job cuts are never easy, but leaders' actions can lessen the sting of layoffs.
• Cuts at Zoom, Amazon, Meta, Twitter, and Stripe offer examples of what works — and what doesn't.

It's the rare memo everyone wants to read.

When companies lay out plans to cut jobs, some workers no doubt scan through the announcement to see how bad the reductions will be — how many jobs, which departments, whether there will be further trimming.

Anxious workers will often find details on logistics, information about severance plans, and boilerplate statements about how the cuts were a "difficult decision." But with the best memos, both remaining and outgoing employees will find something more — some solace.

Recent layoffs at Zoom; Amazon; Meta, the parent of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram; as well as Twitter and the payments company Stripe, revealed the variability in how companies handle painful staff reductions. The divergence offers a cautionary tale for some companies in how not to make difficult cutbacks worse.

Accountability, experts in workplace culture said, is key.

'Layoff processes are the ultimate test of a leadership team's empathy'

On Tuesday, Zoom laid off 1,300 workers, or about 15% of its workforce. In a memo to employees, which was subsequently published on Zoom's website, CEO and founder Eric Yuan wrote, "I am accountable for these mistakes and the actions we take today." Yuan added that he will cut his salary for the next fiscal year by 98%.

The job cuts at Zoom follow a wave of layoffs at high-profile tech employers.

In January, Amazon laid off more than 18,000 employees. Five people who spoke to Insider said laid-off employees were notified by email and did not have face-to-face meetings with their managers or HR representatives. (The email said laid-off employees would receive invitations to a "personal conversation with your leadership.")

And in November, some 3,700 laid-off Twitter employees, about half of the company's workforce, received an email that contained the requisite information about what the outgoing employees would need to do next. HR experts told Insider that the note, which arrived after Twitter the company had started revoking employees' access to work programs and communication platforms, was missing three crucial elements: sympathy, an apology, and a signature.

In contrast, when Stripe announced it was laying off 14% of its workforce, Patrick and John Collison, the company's cofounders, wrote, "We're very sorry to be taking this step and John and I are fully responsible for the decisions leading up to it."

Layoff processes are "the ultimate test of a leadership team's empathy," Justin Schmidt, the vice president of marketing at Compt, previously told Insider. Recent layoffs at some high-profile employers don't pass that test.

Mistake 1: Not apologizing or taking ownership for the layoffs

In the email to laid-off employees (you can read the full text here), Amazon's senior vice president of people eXperience and technology, Beth Galetti, wrote, "This is not a decision that was made lightly."

Twitter's memo announcing layoffs reads, "It is with regret that we write to inform you that your role at Twitter has been impacted."

Other leaders have shown more compassion in their layoff announcements — particularly in the last few months, when a number of tech and e-commerce CEOs have apologized for layoffs, Bloomberg's Jo Constantz reported. That's possibly because employees today are more likely than previous generations to speak up when they believe their employer has wronged them.

Those apologies can make a horrible situation at least somewhat better for newly unemployed workers.

On November 5, Jack Dorsey, a Twitter cofounder and former CEO who stepped down from Twitter's board in 2022, apologized for the layoffs, writing in a tweet that he "grew the company size too quickly."

Mistake 2: Not telling employees why they're losing their jobs

The email from Amazon HR points laid-off employees toward a list of FAQs, "including how to retrieve any personal belongings from your workspace and how to return your Amazon-issued equipment." The email does not explain why certain jobs were cut, although Galetti wrote, "You likely have many questions and we are here to answer them" in forthcoming information sessions.

The email to laid-off Twitter employees didn't explain the rationale behind the job cuts, though HR experts said that kind of clarity around what businesses sometimes call a "reduction in force," or RIF, is important.

"Be clear about the need and reasons for the RIF and the state of the business," Steve Cadigan, who runs the HR-consulting firm Cadigan Talent Ventures, wrote in a guide to layoffs for the workplace-culture platform Emtrain. "Let people know you considered many other alternatives and took other measures before getting to the point you had to let people go."

In the Zoom layoff memo, Yuan wrote that leadership decided which roles to cut "based on critical priorities for long-term growth, and also looked for functions that have become overly complex or duplicative." He added that, during the pandemic, Zoom's leadership "didn't take as much time as we should have to thoroughly analyze our teams or assess if we were growing sustainably, toward the highest priorities."

Other recent memos also explained the rationale behind the layoffs.

Zuckerberg and the Collison brothers cited macroeconomic factors and wrote that cutting back spending in areas such as perks and real estate wasn't enough.

"Wherever you can, be clear," Lars Schmidt, who runs the executive-search and advisory firm Amplify Talent, previously told Insider. Your clarity "will go a long way" toward bolstering your company's brand and your remaining employees' loyalty, Schmidt said.

Twitter's layoff memo mostly keeps employees in the dark. "We remain grateful for all that you have done for Twitter throughout your tenure and wish you only the best in your next chapter," the memo reads.

Yuan told departing employees that they would be "amazing assets to any company." He added, "I am deeply appreciative that you shared that talent with Zoom."

An earlier version of this story appeared on November 13, 2022.