Layoffs affecting HR and DE&I could mean tough times ahead

As tech companies across the country conduct layoffs on what might seem like a daily basis, some are even lightening their HR departments.

Since last year, Salesforce, Amazon, Meta, and Redfin, to name a few, have cut members of their HR and DE&I teams, according to Layoffs.fyi and Bloomberg. Google’s global director of mental health was laid off along with “many people” in her group, and Twitter’s DE&I team has been reduced from 30 people to two.

These changes stand in stark contrast to the promises employers made two and a half years ago to prioritize diversity, social responsibility, and employee well-being. As companies continue to deal with labor market unpredictability, they may find that cuts to HR and DE&I leave them ill-equipped to handle the workforce challenges created by layoffs and economic uncertainty, sources told HR Brew.

“We have a newfound respect for human resources and the important role it plays in helping to keep organizations agile and resilient during highly volatile times, and we’ve lived through that via the pandemic,” JT Saunders, chief diversity officer at Korn Ferry, told HR Brew. “Inclusion really is good management, at the end of the day.”

Increased turnover. Voluntary departures are not uncommon after layoffs and can lead to a phenomenon known as “turnover contagion.”

“People feel like their job is a little uncertain. They may feel like they’ve lost the people in the organization that really excited them about coming into work every day,” Rachel Callan, head of behavioral science at manager-training software company Humu, told HR Brew. “Any time there’s some sort of shock, it really triggers somebody to start thinking about what else is out there.”

Curing turnover contagion—which, Callan explained, involves driving a sense of belonging, transparency, and trust—often falls to HR leaders, who are now also tasked with repairing employee networks and engagement with a smaller staff.

Overwhelmed managers. Managers have, understandably, struggled during the pandemic amid *everything going on.* Callan said they need more support from HR to get employees through these times.

“It’s very emotional to go through layoffs, whether you’re the person being laid off, or you’re a person who’s lost a close colleague, or there are layoffs happening and that makes you more concerned about your job security,” Callan said. “Managers need that support because they’re not mental health professionals.”

To help managers better understand their teams, and make the connection between employee satisfaction and financial performance, Callan recommended that HR teams conduct a post-layoff survey.

“What are those key pain points for my high performers? What could drive them to be leaving? What’s driving dissatisfaction for folks in a critical business unit?” she asked. “Focus your fire where it counts."

Less inclusivity. When layoffs impact DE&I teams, it sends a message to HR professionals that their efforts are a nice-to-have and not a business necessity.

“I would expect [DE&I and HR leaders] feel pretty undermined and concerned, having not yet had the time to produce real culture change,” Heidi Brooks, a senior lecturer in organizational behavior at Yale School of Management, told Fortune.

It sends a bad message to other employees, too. “Organizations who think their employees aren’t going to notice that their words are not matching their actions is really unfortunate,” Callan said.

If companies downsize DE&I teams, their representation numbers could dip, along with HR’s ability to attract and retain diverse talent. This, Saunders said, can affect business outcomes, such as a company’s ability to serve diverse customer bases.

“We have encouraged our clients to stay focused on DE&I…not only in terms of being a kind of place that will continue to recruit the best talent, but it’s also an expectation from consumers,” Saunders said. “They want to buy from companies or engage with companies who have a social impact mission…organizations can’t afford any more not to understand this issue and embrace it.”—AK