Good morning!
We can’t get through the week without mentioning what’s happening at Twitter HQ (bear with me, here). Elon Musk’s official takeover of the social media app and the ensuing layoffs have been like a television show that none of us can turn off—even when it becomes cringeworthy. Twitter’s “layoff fiasco,” as my colleague Paige McGlauflin terms it in a new piece for Fortune, has been marked by chaotic and convoluted communication that would make any HR leader wince. Worse still, it’s left employees in a state of confusion and uncertainty about next steps.
For those who haven’t kept up with the stream of Twitter layoff news, here’s a quick recap: Staffers were given little notice that they would be terminated, and some reported losing access to their Slack and work email accounts before receiving a now infamous layoff memo from Musk. As of last week, employees had not received severance paperwork with details of what to expect in terms of severance pay. And for the grand finale, Musk is now asking some laid-off staff to return to the company.
While a degree of disarray is to be expected during a corporate shakeup, a handful of companies have proven it is possible to make staff cuts with compassion. McGlauflin points to Stripe as a shining example.
Stripe’s cofounders notably took ownership in a company-wide memo sent last week, writing that rapid growth led to overhiring and the subsequent culling of 14% of its workforce. But the founders made sure to address how the company would handle severance, health care coverage, and immigration support for former employees and assuage concerns from remaining staffers.
McGlauflin writes that the memo “provides a useful example of how to center affected employees in layoff announcements, take ownership for financial woes and leadership missteps, and provide remaining and terminated staffers with a path forward."
Read the full story and the full memos from Twitter and Stripe here.
Amber Burton
amber.burton@fortune.com
@amberbburton
