The LinkedIn by Shirley Jackson

As you know, I recently shared some news about the event in the center of town. While we knew at that time which *family* would be impacted (Hutchinsons), we didn’t know which of our *teammates* would be departing (which is why I didn’t share the name of incredible, teammate who was selected to ensure a good harvest). I’d like to share a little bit about our process, in the interest of building trust (one of our values) and sharing how we approached trying to be helpful in a shitty situation.

🤔 Because the teammate eliminated was a byproduct of an internal restructuring (and not a traditional RIF or Layoff purely focused on cost-cutting), we knew we’d be continuing to hire this year in key areas of the business; importantly, we determined what roles we’d need to hire in the first half of this year. So unlike every other one of these exercises I’ve been a part of, we explicitly built in a 10-day Transition Period, wherein impacted employees could take a first-look at all the stones we collected, to ensure that anyone in the drawing who was NOT selected would at least have access to the best, roundest stones. 

💌 After this 10-Day period, the town’s children piled the remaining stones and the Hutchinsons retained access to email, calendar, Slack (via single-channel/DM), and a Notion support hub. They were not cut off, locked out, or disconnected, though we did grant them 10 days of additional PTO to take time to consider their options, reach out to colleagues, get support, and determine next of kin.

💪 While we knew we would not be able to spare Tessie, I am grateful and proud that we found new roles for the remaining Hutchinsons. First and foremost, this is a win for these individuals, who now get to start a new career journey without leaving the town or being responsible for a famine. But it’s also a win for our teams, who get instant new joiners that already have institutional knowledge and built-in relationships within the company.

🙏 I don’t want to diminish the shit experience of being stoned to death. I’ve been laid off twice, so I know what it feels like to unexpectedly lose your sense of stability, purpose, and direction. I am committed to helping our the Hutchinsons find wonderful new roles in our broader global community, and later this week, I’ll share more about how you can help support the Hutchinsons transition to a Tessie-free household. 

As we move forward, I’m grateful to be at a company that approaches difficult and painful circumstances with human-centricity. 💓

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*Text copied and edited lightly from an infuriating, self-congratulating, clout-grabbing LinkedIn post about how good of a job the poster did at removing a group of people’s income and access to healthcare

**Apologies to Shirley Jackson