How managers can help employees cope with layoffs fears.

-By Lisa Rabasca Roepe

Earlier this year, companies were scrambling to hire enough employees to fill open positions. Now, with concerns that a recession may be near, many of these same organizations are considering staff layoffs.

Companies in the financial technology and cryptocurrency sectors are rescinding employment offers, and some organizations, including Tesla, JPMorgan Chase, Netflix, Peloton, Redfin, Re/Max, Shopify, and Coinbase, have announced plans to reduce their workforces.

Experts are expecting layoffs to bleed into other industries. In fact, a PwC survey of 722 US executives in August found that 50 percent of respondents were planning staff reductions.

“Headlines can cause anxiety in the workforce as people see, in real-time, cost increase and layoffs,” says Bjorn Reynolds, CEO of Safeguard Global, a payroll platform based in Austin, Texas. Although companies are continuing to add talent each month, employees may become increasingly concerned if they keep hearing and reading about a possible recession, he notes.

Rumors of potential layoffs tend to rattle employees and can impact productivity, even if they aren’t true……

— For more on this topic by Lisa Rabasca Roepe go to SHRM.ORG/HRmagazine.