When a company announces layoffs, the first internal announcement—which can often become public—is typically a message from the CEO. Styles vary, but it usually goes something like this:

Subject: Update on our Business From: CEO

Dear team,

Today is one of the hardest days at ExampleCo. We’ve made the difficult decision to say farewell to 17% of our colleages and friends, or about 123 Examplians. If you are affected, you will receive an email shortly […]

How did this happen? Over the past 2 years, we saw tremendous growth in our business, and grew rapidly to match. But we misjudged the profound economic headwinds that would hit our business and industry. Simply put, nobody predicted the macro downturn we saw beginning last year.

I take full responsibility for this unfortunate change. To those of you affected, I want to thank you for your hard work. We will be offering all departing Examplians severance of […]

Tomorrow, we will be hosting a full company Q&A, and in the coming days and weeks, we will be revamping our roadmap to reflect our renewed focus on the core ExampleWidget product.

Despite how tough today is, I’ve never been more confident in the future of our business. We’re seeing record interest in ExampleProduct, and as purchasing budgets tighten globally, I am certain we will be stronger.

Sincerely, CEO

Bleh. I felt a little icky even writing that. So why are layoff announcements so hard to digest?

The many audiences

The reason these announcements are so unsatisfying is because they have at least 3 different audiences to satisfy, who are all going to experience (and will want to hear) very different things. You’re in one of these audiences.

Departing employees

Departing employees have it worst. They’re likely to be shocked, upset, and understanbly angry. They’re losing a job, and the hard work and trust they placed in the company may feel like.

What they want to hear: Cut the crap. Are you sorry? You better be. How did you fuck this up? What are my benefits? Are

Remaining employees

What they want to hear: Damnit. How the heck did this happen? Is my job safe? Should I go out interviewing? Man, I loved those folks.. do you feel bad? What’s going to change

Investors

What they want to hear: What’s the bottom line?

The public (if relevant)

To the general public, the CEO wants to control the narrative as much as possible. Ideally, keep it boring and out of the headlines. Hopefully this announcement is seen as a minor correction in business operations. It certainly isn’t a reason to reconsider doing business with us!

Advice for those affected: Find what really matters

If you’re affected by layoffs