Recently the media has been a buzz with the layoffs in the tech industry. It is even sad to have seen the company I work for take part in layoffs.
As a middle manager, the layoffs my company did are now a long running problem I have to plan for and manage for the next several years. Overnight the sentiment on the teams shifted from how great the company is and how they plan to work here for years to one of questioning when the next round of layoffs and if they will be part of it. No matter what our CEO says, or us lower managers say, the sentiment is hard to move as actions speak more than words.
It is strange now that when working with upper management as they want to gloss over the retention problem we will likely soon be experiencing caused by breaking trust with the employees. Do we, managers, really expect employees to hold trust with the company and stay? We can work to repair the trust, but ultimately it will take time and will largely move as new employees come in that never experience the trust break and current employees move on.
This rotation will add a cost we shall pay for years to come. I do hope the price was worth it. This will test my leadership skills as I work to hold together the team and minimize the damage.