Workers desire the flexibility of remote work — until it comes to layoffs. Then, the coveted lack of rigidity can become distressing.
As organizations restructure and layoffs become commonplace, remote workers are questioning their roles in workplaces where they've never set a physical foot. The management firm Korn Ferry recently stated that a good portion of remote workers feel they have a target on their backs; work-from-homers are 32 percent more likely to experience layoff anxiety, according to a survey from HR consultant Humu.
It's true that managers tend to prefer their teams on-site. Around 96 percent of executives say they notice and value work done in-office "far more" than work done remotely, according to a survey from software firm Envoy. Plus, more organizations are requesting workers' return to office, concerned their pandemic productivity has expired. It's not a risk many leaders are willing to take in an economy riddled with unknowns.
When it comes to layoffs, there's not firm evidence that remote workers are first to meet the chopping block. However, more organizations are taking advantage of online layoffs' ease. McDonald's asked employees to work from home as it issued layoff decisions in early April, following in Twitter's footsteps, The Washington Post reported April 11. An Amazon employee told the Post she logged into work one day to find that she was locked out of most internal systems, and her calendar had been cleared. In her one remaining meeting — a 15 minute "organizational update" — a manager read from a corporate script, saying her position had been terminated.
Some workers argue this method is inhumane, particularly when an employee has served a company for years. Being laid off over Zoom feels comparable to being broken up with over text.
However, some leaders tout remote layoffs for the security they offer an organization — no chance for disruption or destruction on an ex-employee's way out — and the privacy they give eliminated workers.
"If I were getting laid off, would I rather be informed in a conference room and then be escorted out the hallway when I'm having very intense emotions, or would I rather hang up the Zoom call and then go cry in my pillow at my house?" Jessica Kriegel, chief scientist of workplace culture at Culture Partners, told the Post. "It's much more compassionate for the employee to be able to have that safety."
Remote workers are in uncharted territory when it comes to layoffs, but Sharon Egilinsky, a senior leader on Korn Ferry's ESG and sustainability solutions team, advises them to "read the room."
"If your team is mostly remote, you're OK," Ms. Egilinsky said. "But if everyone else is in there, you should be concerned."