Anatomy of a layoff

Planet Money

NPR

Business, News

4.6 • 29.8K Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2024

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

By one estimate, 40 percent of American workers get laid off at least once in their careers. And when that happens, companies will often say, "It's not personal. It has nothing to do with you or your performance. We're just changing priorities, making a strategic shift."

It's like the business version of: "It's not you, it's me." And just like a breakup, it feels terrible.

This happened to a man we're calling V, who was working at the same company as his husband when he got laid off. And for V, the experience felt shocking. It left him and his husband with a lot of unresolved questions.

On today's show, the story of that layoff. And we help that couple get some answers by taking their questions to an HR expert who gives the low-down on lay-offs.

This story is adapted from a 3-part series on layoffs produced by Yowei Shaw for her show, Proxy. The layoff series was edited by John DeLore with research and reporting help from Kim Nederveen Pieterse. You can listen to the full layoff series from Proxy wherever you get your podcasts, and you can support the show and find out more by going to patreon.com/proxypodcast. And you can check out her original song "Gold Star" on Spotify and YouTube.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from NPR's sponsor, Organic Valley, the farmer-owned cooperative dedicated to providing ethically sourced food from small organic family farms.
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0:17.0	This is Planet Money from NPR.
0:28.0	At some point in our work lives there's this experience that a lot of us will have. We'll get laid off. By one estimate 40% of American workers
0:32.7	get laid off at least once in their careers.
0:35.5	And when that happens, there is this thing
0:37.7	that companies often say.
0:39.4	It's not personal, nothing to do with you
0:41.6	or your performance. We're just changing priorities, making a strategic
0:44.8	shift. It's the business version of, it's not you, it's me. And just like a breakup, it feels terrible.
0:52.4	And it can leave you with a lot of unresolved questions.
0:55.0	Hello and welcome to Planet Money I'm Amanda Aronchik. Today on the show we are
1:00.4	collaborating with a new podcast it's proxy, and it's from our friend
1:04.9	Yoway Shaw, who is formerly of NPR's Invisibility.
1:08.0	Yoway's been documenting how a layoff affected one couple and left them searching for answers and she helps them get those
1:15.7	answers by taking their questions to someone who can give them the lowdown on
1:20.4	layoffs. Support for this.
1:23.0	Support for this podcast and the following message come from WISE, the app that makes
1:37.3	managing your money in different currencies easy. With WISE, you can send and spend money internationally at the mid-market exchange rate, no guesswork,
1:47.0	and no hidden fees. Learn more about how WISE could work for you at WISE.com.
1:52.0	Support for this podcast and the following message come from wise,
1:56.4	the app that makes managing your money in different currencies easy.
	...

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