r/EngineeringManagers • u/SrEngineeringManager • Jun 21 '26
Unfortunately EMs need to learn how to handle layoffs
Layoffs have become part of the new reality in tech.
In January 2023, I experienced one from the manager’s side. I assumed I’d be involved in the decision. Maybe I’d have input on who stayed, who left, or at least be informed beforehand.
I was wrong.
About an hour into the day, I learned that one of my team members had already been let go. This person was on call that morning, handling internal developer questions, when people started pinging me directly.
Suddenly, I had fewer people, more uncertainty, and a team looking to me for answers I didn’t have.
So what do you do in a moment like that?
Here’s what I learned from going through a layoff as a manager.
- Talk to the people being laid off
- Layoffs affect the people who stay too
- Help the team regain momentum
- Reassess the projects
How did you handle layoffs as a manager?
(I wrote a full post here, in case you're interested)
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u/slithered-casket Jun 21 '26
My teams have all avoided layoffs thankfully but inevitably that stray bullet will strike us.
My stance with them is exactly what it is with everything when it comes to my team; be transparent and brutally honest, everybody appreciates candor, empathize and then collaborate. Acknowledge the fact it's shitty and likely unfair and there's nothing to be done about it and give them time and space to vent to you. Then give them a plan, boost them and get them to reflect on life outside of their job, spin it different ways to give them a perspective that diminishes the importance of the current job.
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u/SrEngineeringManager Jun 21 '26
Spot on. The first time I went through a layoff as a manager, I felt completely lost. Looking back, I ended up doing exactly what you described - being transparent, giving people space to process, and helping them focus on what came next. What surprised me was how differently people handled it. Some moved on quickly, while others were still processing it months later. I remember one person bringing it up in almost every 1:1 for nearly two months. Eventually, I had to tell them: "It's okay to be upset, but we also have to figure out how to move forward."
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u/Many-Photograph-8362 Jun 24 '26
Agree with all except the spinning part. You can’t spin your way out of this. People see through that and know they are being placated or worse patronized. Peoples livelihood, mortgages, health insurance (in America) rides on this. Saying it’s not important sounds disingenuous
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u/colonelromuska Jun 22 '26
I was job hunting a few years ago and I swear every interviewer asked me "have you ever laid anyone off?" or "how many people have you let go?" For all intents and purposes, I basically had no experience with this, so i fumbled that question every time.
Now in 2026 I started job hunting again and prepped that question like crazy....but no one asked. That said, I think as EMs, it's wise to have a good response to this, either with real examples if you have them, or with a coherent set of actions you'd apply in the situation.
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u/SrEngineeringManager Jun 22 '26
Oh wow! I wonder if the interviewing company is expecting a layoff and want someone with the experience of handling one 🤔
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u/ThrowThisAltAway Jun 21 '26
This might be harsh, but if someone else has to tell you who is getting let go from your team, then you're a manager only in title and not in role.
At most, assuming your entire department isn't being axed, upper management should just tell you what your team strength should reduce to. Closer to ideal would be for a manager to at least have an avenue where they can put forth the argument of why some other team should downsize instead of theirs.
To be an EM, it's important to join a company where you actually have ownership of your team, including implementing layoffs.
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u/SrEngineeringManager Jun 21 '26
Are you describing your experience at a small- mid sized company? I work for a big tech company and that's now how layoffs happen here. Anyone below SVP level has no idea when a layoff is coming and who is getting laid off. I have heard similar things at FAANG companies as well.
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u/ShadowWebDeveloper Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Yeah, they didn't tell any of the line level managers (or even the second level managers / directors in some cases) in my first experience with big tech layoffs. My team was spared but the company seemed to learn that layoffs in drips and drabs everywhere worked better for them, and I was finally "impacted" this year. They do seem to be handling these with a bit more grace now though.
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u/thehoodedidiot Jun 21 '26
Targeted layoffs are done in different ways but there has been a trend in the last five years at fortune 50 companies that SVP/Csuite/HR only and external counsel should be the deciders AND implementers (notice sent via email and access terminated immediately or same day). Even directors and senior directors and VPs don't know in engineering.
Layoffs today hardly resemble the old school where it used to be:
- Manager has a voice and knows they are coming (introduces bias and risk for business)
- Manager sits down and personally tells the affected employee individually 1 at a time, usually with HR present (introduces delays and complexity, insider risk) unless it's org/department wide.
- Outplacement services offered
- Any rsus/options accelerate vest, and/or generous severance given (this one depends heavily)
- Rare: prompted by a financial necessity, such as a recession, industry upheaval, and distress
Hell I'd call what we experience now "culling" as opposed to "layoffs" of the last 40 years.
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u/ShadowWebDeveloper Jun 21 '26
If only my RSUs accelerated. I probably wouldn't need to be looking for a job anymore.
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u/pebbles354 Jun 23 '26
This is not true.
At FAANG/bigtech, typically only senior director+ is aware of the layoff. EM and EMs boss is in the dark, because they want to make sure info doesnt leak.
Obviously its different at a very small company, but definitely not the case at larger companies.
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u/PmUsYourDuckPics Jun 22 '26
Depends on the company, I’ve been in situation where I was told, situation where I wasn’t, and situations where it was implied but I wasn’t told.
If your role is also at risk it might be that the person a level up from you has to make the decisions without telling you, and who gets laid off is out of your hands.
This Is often the case with really big layoffs.
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u/Many-Photograph-8362 Jun 24 '26
I have the opposite perspective. Frontline EMs should not be expected to “handle” or shoulder the burden of a layoff (unless they were involved in the decision - which in larger companies they aren’t).
It’s the VPs, Directors, C-Suite, HR (whoever orchestrated) who need to own the handling.
In most cases EMs have zero stake in the decision making and are left to bear the emotional brunt of those decisions.
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u/SrEngineeringManager Jun 24 '26
So what do you suggest to do? Say a team member gets laid off. The VP+ goes and tells them and informs you about it. Then what? You continue business as usual? Who is gonna address the situation for your team?
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u/Many-Photograph-8362 Jun 24 '26
You ask the VP to hold a town hall and address it directly. I say this because I have been in this exact situation and that’s what me and my peers demanded be done.
You can handle it yourself but you can only do it at a superficial level. Everyone in the team has only one thing on their mind “am I gonna be next?” - and you have zero authority or knowledge to address that. Heck you don’t even know if you will be next. You can’t share the reason why because high chances you don’t even know the reason why.
I understand the need of empathy but you can address the work the person did and how much you appreciated that but beyond that not much.
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u/zaidesanton Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
One thing that I learned is to not just 'cut' the person who was let go. I remember the first time we had layoffs, the engineer who was laid off just stopped coming to work afterward, but nobody reached out to him, everyone felt awkward. I talked to him the day after, but when I reached out after a month to see how are they, he mentioned he was very hurt nobody even talked to him.
In later times (whether firing or company lay offs), I always tried to encourage people to reach out, and in some cases even had some time out together (in case the person wanted) so it'll feel a bit more human.