"Layoffs kill people," says Jeffrey Pfeffer. And they don't cut costs or improve productivity
Over recent months, tech companies have been laying workers off by the thousands. It is estimated that in 2022 alone, over 120,000 people have been dismissed from their job at some of the biggest players in tech — Meta, Amazon, Netflix, and soon Google — and smaller firms and startups as well. Announcements of cuts keep coming.
What explains why so many companies are laying large numbers of their workforce off? The answer is simple: copycat behavior, according to Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
This piece originally appeared in Stanford Business Insights from Stanford Graduate School of Business. To receive business ideas and insights from Stanford GSB click here: (To sign up: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/about/emails)