Self-esteem is never increased by losing a job. However, it hurts worse if your business uses layoffs to fire underachievers. For example, Salesforce revealed this week that it is laying off 10% of its employees after asking managers to evaluate staff members and, not surprisingly, select their bottom 10%. In the meantime, real estate agency Compass is getting ready to lay off its “lowest-performing” staff for the third time in eight months.
Late last year, Amazon put pressure on managers to identify underachievers. Since then, it has started its largest-ever corporate round of layoffs. The layoffs is expected to result in the loss of 18,000 employees.
The media attention surrounding the firing of allegedly poor employees prompts the question. How are these former employees perceived now that they are abruptly back on the job market? Do people think they’re problematic or lazy? Are they given a “scarlet F” since they were essentially let go for subpar performance?
Generally, recruiters report that hiring managers are more sensitive and understanding now than when it came to candidates who had been let go in this way. For that, thank the pandemic.
“If you’d asked me this question four years ago, I would say that most recruiters probably would look at the candidates in a negative light,” Dan Roth, a veteran recruiter and consultant who works in Big Tech, said. “But the pandemic, as awful as it’s been, has created more empathy. Everyone knew someone affected, so recruiters now take a more compassionate view.”
Massive layoffs amongst computer professionals
In addition, a competitive employment market makes it impossible for hiring managers to be overly picky. The US added 223,000 jobs last month, which was more than expected. Job growth is still high. According to data, there were over 10.5 million open positions in November, more than the 6 million unemployed Americans looking for work.
Despite a slowing economy, data indicate that recruiting for computer workers is still strong. According to research from the digital employment website Dice, job postings for tech-related positions increased by 25% from January to October last year compared to the same period in 2021.
Additionally, according to a report by the workforce data source Revelio Labs. It revelaed that more than half of the computer professionals laid off last year. They found new jobs within three months with higher pay than their former ones.
But it’s unclear whether tech hiring will remain strong as the new year begins and recession fears grow. And there’s a reason for the saying that it’s simpler to find a new job when you already have one. However, recruiters claim that individuals fired for allegedly poor performance are not at all excluded from consideration.
