When layoffs become normal, we must pause and rethink
Layoffs were once whispered conversations, shared cautiously over coffee or behind closed doors. Today, they dominate headlines, LinkedIn feeds, and dinner-table discussions across continents. “Restructuring” has become a familiar corporate euphemism, cutting across
industries-technology, manufacturing, media, retail, and even sectors once considered recession-proof. What was once an exception has slowly turned into a harsh, everyday reality of modern working life. Let us be honest-layoffs are painful. Not just for those who lose their jobs, but for teams that stay behind, leaders who deliver the news, and organisations that lose years of institutional knowledge overnight.
While layoffs are often justified as business decisions driven by market forces, cost pressures, or shareholder expectations, the human cost is rarely given equal weight. The uncomfortable truth is that, in many cases, layoffs may not be entirely avoidable. Businesses do operate within economic constraints. However, what deserves deeper reflection is how these decisions are made-and whether alternatives are genuinely explored before people are let go.One such alternative is redeployment.
We live in an era where professionals are far more multi-skilled than previous generations. An engineer today understands project management. A marketer knows data analytics.
A customer support professional may be adept at operations, training, or quality management. Yet, during restructuring, talent is often viewed through a narrow lens-current role, current team, current cost. What if organisations paused to ask a different question: where else could this person add value? With modest training, mentorship, and guidance, employees can transition into new roles within the same organisation. Redeployment not only preserves talent but also strengthens loyalty, morale, and organisational resilience. It sends a powerful message-that people are assets, not expendable line items on a balance sheet.
And even when redeployment is genuinely not possible, there is still a responsibility that organisations carry. The least we can do is support departing employees with dignity-through referrals, career guidance, access to networks, or reskilling support. A warm handover into the job market costs far less than the long-term damage caused by cold exits. Beyond individual impact, layoffs ripple outward into the economy. When people lose jobs, spending slows. Discretionary purchases are postponed. Investments are put on hold.
Money circulation reduces, and the economic engine begins to stutter. In this sense, layoffs are not just a corporate issue-they are a societal one.
A workforce under constant fear cannot drive sustainable growth. This is not an argument against business prudence. It is a call for business conscience. Restructuring should not be a reflex; it should be a last resort. Leaders today are not only accountable for quarterly results but for the ecosystems they influence. Talent, once lost, is not easily replaced.
Trust, once broken, takes years to rebuild. In a world where layoffs have become common, choosing empathy, creativity, and responsibility can set organisations apart. Because, at the end of the day, economies recover, markets shift-but people remember how they were treated when things fell apart.
The writer is an expert who writes on education, development, and social issues; views are personal
