Almost every day there is an update where an organisation has laid off people in thousands. It is not limited to any one industry, any one geography, any one function. I get these articles as news updates in mail box. Not a very good thing to start one’s day with. But this is the harsh reality of today’s business landscape. Rapid technology advancements and adoption, the tightening noose around profits in a highly ambiguous geo-political world is making business take some harsh calls and restructure for efficiencies. This is not the first time the world has seen this, nor the last time.
The most impacted right now are the workforce, the very workforce that helped create the technology, the people who market and sell the products and services, who serve the customer or client, who work in factories to produce product, who work in labs to research and innovate, who work in offices to maintain and protect information. This article is not just about those who have been laid off (That’s for another day), this is about those who stayed back.
In the wake of relentless waves of layoffs sweeping through corporate giants like Procter & Gamble, Google, Amazon, and countless others, a toxic residue often remains long after the departure emails are sent. It’s not just the anxiety of “who’s next?” that haunts the remaining workforce, but a complex and debilitating psychological phenomenon: Survivor’s Guilt.
Survivor’s guilt is psychological distress experienced by individuals who have survived a traumatic event that others did not. Traditionally associated with disasters, combat, or accidents, it increasingly permeates workplaces decimated by restructuring and layoffs. Employees who “survive” job cuts often grapple with:
· Overthinking & Questioning: Why was I kept? Was it fair? Did I contribute to my colleague’s departure?
· Guilt & Embarrassment: Feeling undeserving of their continued employment while witnessing talented colleagues leave.
· Helplessness: Thoughts about relieved colleagues, who might have been friends, about their situation & wellbeing.
· Anxiety & Depression at the state of the things: Persistent low mood, dread, loss of motivation.
· Feeling burnt-out, overworked and angry: with reduced workforce, new processes, new technology, there is still increased workload and this leads to longer working hours and stress.
Survivor’s guilt manifests in many ways-
· Physical Symptoms: Fatigue, insomnia, changes in appetite.
· Behavioural symptoms: Quick to Anger, increased competitiveness or loss of interest, social withdrawal
At the core, survivor’s guilt leaves the workforce vulnerable to demotivation and if left unchecked can have a ripple effect on business outcomes.
· Plummeting Morale & Engagement: Employees become emotionally exhausted, disengaged, and cynical. Passion for the work evaporates.
· Cratering Productivity: Preoccupation with negative emotions and anxiety drains cognitive resources. Focus wanes, errors increase, and initiative disappears (“Why bother?”).
· Quiet Quitting & Presenteeism: Employees physically show up but mentally check out, doing the bare minimum to avoid notice, embodying the “act your wage” mentality.
· Erosion of Trust & Psychological Safety: Layoffs inherently damage trust. Survivor’s guilt amplifies this, making employees believe leadership is uncaring and the environment unsafe. Collaboration suffers.
· Unwanted Attrition: The “survivors” aren’t necessarily loyal. Feeling guilty, overburdened, and cynical, carrying trust deficit, they become prime candidates to leave once the job market improves, taking critical institutional knowledge with them. Replacing them is far costlier than retention.
· Innovation Stagnation: Lack of psychological safety & Fear stifle risk-taking and creative thinking. Employees become risk-averse, focusing only on “safe” tasks.
· Increased Absenteeism & Health Costs: The chronic stress manifests in physical and mental health issues, driving up healthcare costs and absenteeism.
The Healing Imperative
This ripple effect can undo any benefit that the organisation hoped to achieved with the restructuring and reduction of manpower. Hence it becomes imperative for organisations, and the leadership to take cognizance of this phenomenon and deal with it proactively.
It requires building trsut, psychological safety and a culture of belonging.
· Authenticity and Transparency: Communicate the ‘why’ behind layoffs and restructuring clearly and honestly (without violating confidences). Explain the business rationale, the criteria used (as much as possible), and the future vision. Avoid platitudes and sugar coating; acknowledge the pain.
· Acknowledge the Emotional Fallout Explicitly: Leaders must name the elephant in the room. Statements like “We recognize this is incredibly difficult for those remaining, and feelings of guilt or confusion are understandable” validate experiences and open the door for support.
· Provide emotional health programs: Enable employees to recognise emotions, decode them and deal with them. Emotion resilience sessions help build resilient organisations. Enable managers to nurture Psychologically safe team environments.
· Re-Structure Workloads Realistically and steer clear of the efficiency trap: Layoffs mean remaining staff absorb more work. HR must work with managers to prioritize, deprioritize, or eliminate tasks. Unrealistic expectations fuel burnout and resentment.
· Re-Build Connection & Community: Facilitate team sessions (voluntary), safe spaces, to process the event safely, guided by a facilitator. Encourage peer support networks. Make space for people to reconnect.
· Train Managers as Frontline Responders: Equip managers with the skills to have empathetic conversations, recognize signs of survivor’s guilt, provide psychological safety, manage workloads effectively, and navigate their ‘own’ complex emotions.
· Reinforce Value & Purpose: Clearly communicate the value each remaining employee brings to the new path forward. Reconnect their work to the company’s mission and renewed goals. Recognition for navigating this difficult period is vital.
· Mitigate the “Social Media Amplification” Effect: Layoffs are public spectacles. Remaining employees see departed colleagues’ posts and news articles, fueling anxiety and anger. HR must proactively address the narrative internally with even more transparency and support.
· Focus on the Middle Managers: Often squeezed the hardest – executing layoffs, absorbing workload, managing traumatized teams, while experiencing guilt themselves. They need intensive support, clear direction, and reduced bureaucratic burdens.
· Invest in “Human Infrastructure”: Post-layoff, redirect ‘some’ saved payroll costs into bolstering the “human infrastructure”: more robust mental health benefits, manager training, team building, and culture initiatives focused explicitly on healing and rebuilding trust. This is an investment in productivity and retention.
Survivor’s guilt is not a personal failing; it’s a human response to a significant and traumatic organizational event. The recent spate of mass layoffs has created a landscape littered with walking wounded. Companies that ignore this emotional fallout do so at their peril, facing disengagement, attrition, and a crippled ability to recover. HR leaders must step up boldly into the role of healers and architects of a culture built of psychological safety and belonging. By prioritizing transparency, compassionate support, realistic workloads, and the rebuilding of trust and community, organizations can transform surviving employees from burdened, mistrusting individuals into resilient, re-engaged contributors. In the harsh reality of modern business, tending to the human infrastructure isn’t just ethical or moral; it’s the bedrock of sustainable recovery and future success. The choice is clear: manage the trauma or manage the decline.