In today’s economic climate, where difficult decisions become inevitable, there’s a striking disconnect between how companies believe they’re supporting departing employees and what those employees actually experience. The LHH Outplacement and Career Mobility 2024 Trends Report reveals a sobering reality: while 45% of HR teams report providing comprehensive transition support, including continuing health insurance coverage, only 10% of employees say they received it.
This isn’t just about a numbers gap – it’s about real people facing one of their most vulnerable career moments without adequate support guiding their next steps. Having experienced a layoff firsthand, I’ve witnessed how the gap between intended and actual support can leave departing employees feeling abandoned when they need guidance the most.
The traditional approach to offboarding often resembles a hasty goodbye, where companies hand over a PDF filled with phone numbers and website links, expecting employees to navigate complex decisions about health insurance and benefits on their own. Imagine if this was how companies handled onboarding for new employees by simply sharing a PDF and wishing them luck as they go it alone?
This disconnect isn’t born from a lack of empathy. Rather, it stems from an outdated approach to service delivery that fails to meet the moment. While we’ve revolutionized how we welcome employees with sophisticated onboarding platforms, our farewell process remains stuck in the past.
The costs of this gap extend far beyond the immediate impact on departing employees. In the digital age where every employee experience can become tomorrow’s viral LinkedIn post, companies can not afford to neglect the offboarding experience. A reported 69% of remaining employees face burnout on their teams following layoffs, partly due to witnessing how their departing colleagues were treated at exit.
With 73% of companies considering or implementing layoffs in 2024, we’re at a critical economic and human juncture. Last impressions matter just as much as first ones – perhaps even more so in our interconnected world where an employer’s brand directly impacts future talent acquisition.
The future of offboarding isn’t about merely providing resources – it’s about ensuring those resources translate into real, accessible support when employees need it most. This isn’t just about fulfilling moral obligations – it’s about making smart, cost-effective business decisions that yield long-term benefits for both employers and employees. Because at the end of the day, how we say goodbye isn’t just about ethics – it’s about building a sustainable, respected business that people trust. That’s not just good karma; it’s smart business.
Andy Hamilton is CEO and Co-Founder of When, an AI-powered post-employment platform that aims to make the offboarding process more compassionate.
