Originally appeared on LinkedIn on January 27, 2023
On the north end of Whidbey Island, where I live, is the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI), a large installation. On most days, planes and helicopters fly overhead, including streamlined EA-18G Growlers, flying wing-on-wing, at hundreds of miles per hour (mph), considerably less than their top speed of nearly 1,200 mph.
If you talk to old-timers who lived near NASWI, some claim the Navy, during the 1940’s when they flew seaplanes, jettisoned fuel into the Puget Sound, making their planes lighter and safer when they prepared to land. Perhaps, it’s hearsay.
What is known is that heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, waste oils, jet fuels and other petroleum, oils, and lubricants, pesticides, and per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances have accumulated in the water and soil, resulting in part of NASWI being declared a Superfund site in 1992.
Decades later, their carelessness of dangerous liquids and foams continues to reverberate, resulting in numerous petitions and lawsuits. The nearly daily lay-offs in the tech sector feels like the jettisoning of fuel.
Steering towards lay-offs
While there are numerous reasons why companies essentially jettison workers, ranging from anticipated economic slumps to poor performing teams and groups, declining sales, excessive hiring and subsequent redundancy, cost cutting, pressure from investors, and the U.S. Federal Reserve wanting to increase unemployment to slow wage growth, and curb inflation.[1] The latter is a bit draconian, and hopefully not the key driver of employment decisions!
It’s not a sock puppet moment, but with over 50,000 employees recently let go by just five multinationals – Salesforce, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Twitter – the final tally for 2023 could exceed the 154,336 workers laid off in 2022 as dominoes continue falling, triggering smaller companies to do the same.[2]
Whatever the reason, the jettisoning of employees has a higher cost then improved earnings. In 2022, the “great resignation” began with employees resigning as the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. Months later, before massive pink slips, there was chitter chatter about employees “quiet quitting,” half-heartedly doing just enough to remain employed.
By December, a LinkedIn survey of US workers showed 61% were thinking about making a job switch in 2023.[3] Sadly, some of these workers now don’t have a choice, and are faced with the arduous task of securing employment elsewhere.
For some, being laid-off is emancipating, freeing them up to pursue other opportunities. For most, it comes with the trauma of feeling singled out, and drudgery of having to prove ones capabilities to potential employers.
Scoring an interview has roughly the same probability as getting struck by lightning, and requires sending a digital ream of resumes and cover letters, and completing untold forms asking about ones gender, race, pronouns, veteran status, and disabilities.
Who wouldn’t have an emotional disability after receiving rejection-after-rejection? According to the American Psychological Association, the loss of a job can be devastating, resulting in physical illnesses, marital strain, anxiety, depression, and even suicide.[4] There’s also the financial toll if unemployment benefits are a fraction of one’s previous paycheck.
Even after signing on the dotted line [using Docusign] the person being hired arrives with baggage. They’re less trusting and perhaps, less willing to fully commit to their new position. Like prey, they’re more sensitive to signs that their job might once again be threatened. Their fight-or-flight response kicks in as they continue looking for opportunities with more stability, less stress, better working conditions, and improved benefits.
What was tolerable prior to being laid-off, becomes less acceptable even if their new job pays more. In 2022, 39% of workers revealed their work environment negatively impacts their mental health.[5] The newly hired, once displaced worker, questions the value in working hard if it could end with a workforce reduction. A McKinsey Health Institute study found an average gap of 22% between how employees and employers perceive mental health and well-being in organizations with employers bestowing more favorable ratings.[6]
Declining before ascending
While laying off workers to save a business, such as a restaurant, grocery store, or other brick-and-mortar that depends on foot traffic, is unsettling. Booting employees from a company that’s reporting record earnings and is continuing to hire is shameful.
In 2014, my husband was laid-off from IBM, three months before he could collect his full pension. A year earlier, he’d been asked to train engineers in Brazil, who ultimately were assigned his job. In recent years, the belief IBM is the abbreviation for “I’ve been moved” has morphed into “I’ve been replaced,” with continuing news about IBM shifting US roles overseas.[7]
A company that routinely jettisons employes to improve earnings, risks their credibility and brand along with the ability to retain skilled employees, and attract and acquire new ones. Research shows the ripple effect of even a small layoff can result in a substantial increase in resignations, costing a company up to a third of workers’ annual salaries given reduced productivity, and the expense to hire temporary workers or recruit new ones.[8]
The employees who remain after a downsizing may experience survivor guilt, questioning why they were “saved,” and others let go. The short-term outcome is less engaged employees who “quietly quit,” hoping they won’t be noticed should another round of layoffs occur.
Recognizing the impact of a quick fix
It’s estimated, every year, around 0.01% of fuel used by the aviation industry is jettisoned, almost always for emergency landings. The US Air Force, on the other hand, dumps fuel about 1,000 times a year with 7,000 metric tons of fuel released into the atmosphere. Most of this fuel, because it’s highly volatile, evaporates, especially at high altitudes.[9]
Lower altitudes are a different story. If the liquid fuel reaches the ground, it can cause ground and water pollution.
Because layoffs affect people, their families, and communities, every lay-off has a negative impact. And for many companies who opt to reduce their workforce, they’re doing so not because they’re in an emergency situation, but because they choose to react by jettisoning their most valuable and defining assets, their employees.
Thanks to whoislimos for his amazing photo on Unsplash.
[1] Job Cuts Alert: Why More Companies Will Conduct Layoffs in 2023, Craig Shapiro, InvestorPlace, January 19, 2023
[3] ‘Quiet quitting is the natural sequel to the Great Resignation’ as workers still rethink their jobs 3 years into the pandemic, Business Insider, Madison Hoff
[4] Learn how to manage your workplace stress, American Psychological Association, March 29, 2022
[5] Workers appreciate and seek mental health support in the workplace, APA’s 2022 Work and Well-being Survey Results, American Psychological Association
[6] Addressing employee burnout: Are you solving the right problem, McKinsey Health Institute, May 27, 2022
[7] IBM shifts remaining US-based AIX dev jobs to India, Thomas Claburn, The Register, January 12, 2023
[8] 112 Employee Turnover Statistics: 2023 Causes, Cost & Prevention Data, FinancesOnline
[9] Environmental Impacts of Fuel Dumping, Greentumble, April 20, 2017
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