'You're fired!'
Web companies built on a mission of creating transparency have tended to encourage open communication between executives, employees, and users via blogs and social media tools.
When times were good, blog posts, social network news feeds and microblogging sites were filled with upbeat news of company successes and heartfelt rah-rahs. Now that times are bad, companies are dealing with the darker side of new media: The transparent layoff.
When Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper chain, told publishers on Oct. 28 that it planned to fire 10% of its staff, a 20-year company veteran broke the news on his blog. Because there was no press release or official announcement on the company site, people "might have been blindsided" with the loss of their jobs if he hadn't done so, commented a Gannett employee.
To avoid potential issues, company execs can be proactive by writing the news themselves in a post, where they can better control the message, rather than using impersonal press releases with jargon about "downsizing" or — in some cases — saying nothing at all.
Tesla Motors, for instance, posted an announcement about the company's Oct. 15 layoffs, even before all the pink slips had been issued, writes the New York Times. It wasn't long before Gawker Media's Valleywag picked up the news, followed by traditional media reporters.
The founder of video blogging site Seismic put the news of a sizable company layoff on the company site via both a video and a written post in order to strike first, thus fending off criticism. It worked: His emotional announcement drew 66 comments, nearly all of which were supportive of his efforts. Glenn Kelman, CEO of real estate site Redfin, got 74 "supportive" comments on his blog post about the company's layoffs.
In some cases, posting the news online can benefit the fired employees. After investing advice site Cake Financial laid off 30% of its workforce — and blogged about it — some of the ex-employees were contacted by startups with job openings.
See more news about layoffs in the digital media and tech industry.
