Why some companies fail the ‘humanity test’ with virtual layoffs

Terry Compton’s 24 years of English as a second language program at a Toronto university ended in March 2020 with a four-minute Zoom call.

She said her director’s camera was off and a “second-in-command” told her and her colleagues that they had been permanently fired due to the impact of COVID-19.

“It felt inhumane and cruel,” she said Cross-country control.

Compton said the chat feature was turned off in the meeting and follow-up questions were not allowed.

“To make matters worse, the next day we all received emails inviting us to the annual instructor party. I don’t think the other departments were told we were leaving.”

Vass Bednar, executive director of McMaster University’s master of public policy in digital society program, said virtual layoff etiquette is evolving. “We don’t have standards yet,” Bednar said. “And this is a good opportunity to place them.”

While some employers are urging employees to return to their offices after the pandemic, recent research from the US nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research shows that job openings for new hires in Canada report an increase in one or more days worked at distance by a factor of five or morebetween 2019 and 2023.

Most Canadians who have tried remote work want it to remain an option. a research published last year by the Environics Institute for Survey Research notes that the number of respondents who prefer to work from home to the office has increased between 2020 and 2022.

But career coach Sarah Vermunt said it’s important to keep in mind “if you work completely remote — if you get hired through Zoom — you get fired through Zoom.”

Outboard like you on board

Stories of massive virtual layoffs like Compton’s became notorious during the pandemic, especially in 2021 afterward Better.com CEO Vishal Garg laid off hundreds of employees in a Zoom webinar.

Vermunt said Garg made a mistake in reporting the news in a way that focused on how it affected him rather than the impact on employees.

Another example in 2022 saw reports from online used car dealer Carvana disconnecting employees from work apps like Slack before sending them an invite to a Zoom meeting where employees will receive confirmation if their jobs have been cut.

“I think the reason why people are having such a hard time with it now and there are so many reports of negative incidents is because for the most part people just don’t know how to do it with kindness and humanity yet,” Vermunt said of online layoffs .

“It’s still a little awkward.”

Bednar thinks companies should take seriously how they terminate people in a virtual world.

“If you’re hired online, you’re not hired in a way that’s highly automated with a pre-recorded video or, you know, someone is interviewing you and they’ve got their camera out.” That same level of decency should be applied to layoffs, she added.

Looking back on her experience, Compton agrees.

“I gave them almost two hours of my time to get the job. So I don’t think it’s too much to ask to give us even 10 minutes each.”

Bednar wonders if a bad reputation for how virtual layoffs are handled could affect a company’s hiring efforts.

“I almost wonder if people would ask in their first job interviews, ‘In the event of a mass layoff…how is this company prepared to operate? What can I expect?'”

She also believes more procedures and planning are needed when firing remote workers, such as clear rules for handling company equipment that can communicate the layoff news.

“I think companies should look at those tools as kind of a write-off. And that’s part of the reason you have to think about offboarding ahead of time, because you also want [a plan] by [a] cybersecurity and a privacy perspective if someone keeps the hardware.”

How to communicate the news

Vermunt understands the underlying logic of why companies would risk bad press to maintain a barrier when mass layoffs happen.

“It’s a way of trying to control the situation… let’s say you fire a group of 10, 20, 50 or 100 people, you don’t necessarily want everyone to have their mics on.”

There are ways to emphasize an interpersonal bond in long distance communication. Certain things, such as signal delays that make people seem less friendly are hard to control, but many people fall into the trap of looking at themselves during a Zoom call.

Vermunt tells customers to look into their computer’s camera to make eye contact.

LOOK | What it’s like to get fired via Zoom:

What it’s like to get fired via Zoom

Joanne Gallop was fired from Canopy Growth in a mass layoff of 200 employees – via the video chat platform Zoom. Illustrations by Chelle Lorenzen.

In a scenario of mass layoffs, she said one-on-one follow-ups are an important gesture. That’s something Compton echoes as she reflects on her experience.

“I think a little one-on-one humanity could have made the whole thing a lot better.”

Bednar isn’t sure digital communications will ever rival the physical version for cues and body language, but does think technology is changing layoff scenarios on a number of fronts.

In the recent past, she said company leaders have been more isolated, but they may need to be more aware of how to conduct layoffs because “suddenly your CEO is being tagged on Twitter or being chirped on LinkedIn.”

Even if they don’t break the news themselves, a Zoom call during a layoff could potentially put executives more in the thick of the real-time response than in the past when the word was handled by middle management.

Bednar also said to keep in mind that new technology is always popping up in virtual communication, such as virtual reality headsets.

“Maybe we have some kind of new augmented reality that will soften or soften these interactions by getting closer to feeling like we have a more kind of authentic human connection.”