[yk_42]

It's quite stressful when even half the people you know get laid off.

I worked at a startup that began expanding very quickly in early 2008 (i.e., the worst possible time in recent history). When the economy collapsed that summer and they couldn't raise capital, they had to do layoffs.

That in itself isn't really interesting, but the way they carried out the layoffs was... suboptimal. At some point on a Tuesday, they had the HR manager walking around the cubicle areas, tapping people on the shoulder and calling them in for a meeting. After that, they would return to their desk, pack up their stuff, and leave the building forever.

No one really knew what was going on and those of us who hadn't been tapped by this "Angel of Death" were confused and afraid that we would be next on the list. It wasn't until after the herd was culled that management told the rest of us what happened.

I'm no HR expert, but there must have been a better way to do that.

[pavel_lishin]

Did management explain that this was surely the only round of lay-offs, and did people manage to stifle their laughter, or keep from rolling their eyes so hard as to snap their optic nerve?

I bet installing a nursery for colicky babies in the now-empty cubicles would have less of an impact on productivity.

[yk_42]

I don't quite recall what they told the rest of us, but another 20% of the remaining employees submitted their resignation within a few weeks. Those who stuck it out were given the option to receive payment as stock and take a pay cut.

I think they may have considered your colicky-baby-nursery idea as a way to make up for office space costs, but they eventually settled on renting 33% of the floorspace to another company.

[HalibetLector]

The first startup I worked for called a company meeting and pretty much said everybody was laid off except those who were told beforehand that they weren't. The kicker is, I was a contractor (at that point) and wasn't allowed in the company meetings. I came in the following monday and worked half a day in an empty office before one of the HR people asked me what I was doing.

[pointpointclick]

That actually sounds nice when compared to one company I worked for. They laid off our entire development team via an email. Adding injury to insult, nobody has received their final paycheck.

[moocow01]

Thats more common than you think unfortunately - Ive seen that exact scenario happen a couple times. That or calling everyone into a room and telling them they have been laid off.