Erica Diehn, associate professor of management and leadership in the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business, spoke with the Minnesota Star Tribune about the growing trend of impersonal layoffs as companies like Target turn to remote and systematized approaches. Diehn explained that virtual terminations can heighten job insecurity, erode trust and have lasting effects on workplace culture.
From the article:
... Large-scale layoffs aren’t new, said Erica Diehn, an associate professor of management and leadership at the University of St. Thomas’ Opus College of Business, but the effects on employees and workplace culture are significant.
“The reality is it’s hard on people when there’s a large layoff,” she said. “Particularly right now, the labor market is quite weak, so that adds to job insecurity overall.”
In the tech industry, former employees at major firms have described the process as increasingly “cold” and “impersonal.” Amazon said Tuesday it would laid off 14,000 corporate workers this year as part of its AI adoption strategy.
HR professionals say the problem isn’t always corporate indifference but the logistical challenge of managing large-scale layoffs across widely dispersed workforces.
