Corporate America is putting its staff in layoff limbo

Some companies are giving an unusual kind of layoff warning: Cuts are coming, though you might have to wait weeks or months to learn whether your role was affected.

Nike did this last week, saying in a statement that it would make decisions about affected roles starting in 2027 and beyond.

Earlier this year, Meta and GitLab also announced plans for future cuts before identifying who they would let go.

Typically, businesses notify affected employees and the rest of the company on the same day.A lengthy heads-up can give workers time to find a new job.

It might also encourage some staffers to leave on their own, potentially saving companies severance costs, workplace observers say.

At the same time, anxiety can ripple across a company.

In Nike’s statement, CEO Elliott Hill said the sportswear maker will be reducing its head count because it’s changing its operating model, and that it doesn’t yet know how many roles or which locations will be affected. “I want to acknowledge that news like this creates uncertainty,” Hill wrote. “Throughout this process, we will communicate directly, act with transparency and treat people with respect.” The announcement coincided with the release of Nike’s fiscal first-quarter results, which showed profits declined 2% as revenue fell 4%.

The company said it expects revenue to decline by a high-single-digit percentage for its current fiscal year.

In a statement, Nike spokeswoman Mary Remuzzi said the company “remains committed to being transparent with our employees and communicating updates as we have them.” She also said: “Some actions will occur over time and, in many locations, applicable local requirements and consultation processes will inform timing and execution.” Shares in Nike, which is attempting a turnaround, are down about 46% year to date.

The company last announced it was eliminating about 1,400 roles in April, though at the time it said those affected would hear directly from their leaders and HR partners starting that same day.

When Meta said in April that it would let go 10% of its workforce the following month, internal forums quickly filled up with posts from employees filled with anxiety, dark humor, and questions, Business Insider previously reported.

One commentator described the situation they were facing as “28 days of hell.” It wasn’t the first time Meta had announced layoffs before all of them took place.

In mid-March 2023, during its “Year of Efficiency,” the company said some employees would learn the next day whether they were affected, while reorganizations and layoffs in its tech groups would follow in late April and in its business groups in late May.

These broad announcements are different from the advance written notices that federal and some state laws require companies give potentially affected employees for large layoffs.

Nike, Meta, and GitLab, by contrast, alerted their broader workforces about forthcoming reductions before saying which roles would go.

Employment attorney Kevin Zwetsch said companies giving early layoff notices — in advance of what the law may require — could be looking for volunteer quitters, possibly to avoid severance payments and minimize involuntary layoffs.

The trade-off to that approach, however, is “you may lose good people,” he said, “people that you would not have picked as part of the restructuring.” Career coaches and HR professionals say employees often try to prove their value when layoffs are looming.

Yet going above and beyond generally doesn’t help, while disengaging could give the company a reason to add an employee to its layoff roster. “Working harder in the final weeks won’t move the needle,” Laszlo Bock, formerly Google’s head of human resources, previously told Business Insider.

Instead, employees are often better off using the time to network and line up their next move, said Bock, who now advises startups.

If workers know they might be out of a job, they can look for open roles elsewhere in the company, said Sarah Rodehorst, cofounder and CEO of Onwards HR, a firm that helps companies manage severance and off-boarding.

The catch, she added, is that the notice companies give needs to be specific: Flagging departments, locations, or roles most likely to get cut can help workers assess their risk of getting a pink slip.

Otherwise, a vague warning can create “a lot of anxiety” across a company, Rodehorst said.

Laura Labovich, who runs Career Strategy Group, an outplacement firm, said a month or two of notice can be ideal for workers because it gives them a head start on their job search while they’re still employed.

Employers can help, she said, by stating publicly that cuts reflect factors such as financial challenges, not workers’ abilities, and by allowing employees to take interviews during company hours.

The extra time also lets workers collect colleagues’ contact information and nonproprietary documents, such as performance reviews, that can help with their search, Labovich said.