Layoffs are sometimes unavoidable. Markets change. Costs rise. Good leaders occasionally face terrible choices.
What is troubling is how normal layoffs have become. A company misses a target, immediately cuts people, and moves on. Investors may applaud, and executives may keep their bonuses. Consultants may even call it “rightsizing.” But the people who lose their jobs, and the communities that absorb the damage, know better.
Bob Chapman, former CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, once said, “Layoffs are a failure of management.”
I agree. If bad management creates costs the workforce must pay, maybe it is time for government to get involved.
When private decisions create public costs
I believe in limited government. However, limited government does not mean no government.
When companies misled investors, government got involved. When companies created unsafe working conditions, government got involved. Why? Because the actions of one company imposed costs on everyone else.
Layoffs do the same thing. They are not just an internal business decision. They ripple through families, communities, health systems, schools, unemployment insurance, Medicaid, food assistance, and local tax bases.