Jul 19, 2020
VSA Partners, LLC Response
5yUnfortunately, layoffs are sometimes a reality in the agency world, and over its almost 40-year history, VSA has at times found itself in the position of needing to reduce headcount. In some situations, we’ve given the affected VSAers as much as several weeks’ notice. In others, like the actions we took earlier this year as a result of COVID-19’s impact on our business, we have notified the affected VSAers on their last day. In either situation, we’ve received feedback that the approach was wrong. That’s understandable because there’s really no good way to conduct layoffs. Regardless of how well-intentioned and empathetic a company is in that situation, the end result is that talented, smart, and hard-working individuals are losing their jobs through no fault of their own. Any way you approach it can only soften the blow. It can’t make the experience a good one.
Over time, we’ve combined our own observations with the feedback we’ve received to inform our approach to layoffs. It’s our belief that the shock of being informed on the day one’s job is eliminated is preferable to being in something of a limbo state for days or weeks. We understand, though, that neither results in a good outcome, and we’ve done our best to help affected VSAers transition out of the company as positively as possible given the circumstances.