Opinion
Five minutes on WhatsApp is no way to let an employee go
"Not every company can offer six months’ pay, and different organizational changes call for different approaches." writes Aviv Weizmann. "But every leadership team should ask how it can reduce the harm to people and handle departures fairly and respectfully."
A friend who lives in India recently told me he had lost his job during a five-minute WhatsApp call, with no advance notice. Five minutes to absorb the fact that his daily life had changed, his income had stopped, and the workplace that had been part of his life was moving on without him.
Having spent most of my career in the international tech industry, I have encountered organizations with very different management cultures. My friend’s story brought home to me just how much the way a company parts with its employees reveals about its culture. In that moment, statements about people, belonging, and care either take on real meaning - or lose it.
Imagine someone sitting in a boat drifting away from the shore, leaving behind the community they once called home. The pain in that image lies in the separation: until yesterday, I was one of you. From today, I am expected to carry on alone. Leaving a workplace can evoke a similar feeling. Someone who attended meetings, solved problems, and felt they belonged is asked to return a laptop and leave behind routines, relationships, and a professional identity. Alongside worries about the mortgage and the next job come questions that are harder to say out loud: Did what I did matter? How will I explain this at home? What will I do tomorrow morning? When the news is delivered abruptly, with no time to ask questions, understand, or say goodbye, the upheaval can also bring a sense of being erased.
Companies need to know how to part with their employees. A difficult business decision can still be carried out with sensitivity and respect. Management’s responsibility extends beyond the moment the news is delivered.
Canva recently offered an example of this approach. As part of a restructuring affecting 22% of its workforce, 1,270 employees are expected to leave, while others will change roles or locations. The company promised departing employees at least six months’ pay, alongside emotional support for families, help finding new jobs, and continued access to email and Slack through the end of the week so they could say goodbye on their own terms. It also announced grants for departing employees who want to start a venture, without taking an ownership stake.
These details have human significance. The opportunity to say goodbye to colleagues honors the years spent together and the relationships built along the way. Support for families recognizes that news of a job loss reaches the dinner table, too. Help finding a new role can restore some of the confidence that has been shaken.
During Airbnb’s layoffs in 2020, the company announced that a significant part of its recruiting team would help departing employees find their next roles, and invited them to join a public talent directory. It put its organizational expertise and connections at the service of people who would no longer work there. This acknowledges something important: ending someone’s employment does not diminish their value.
Microsoft recently offered eligible employees in participating teams across four countries a voluntary exit program, with financial support and career-planning resources. It is too early to assess the program, but having a say in the decision may help preserve a sense of control during a period of uncertainty. For that to happen, the choice must be genuine, the terms clear, and the time to consider them sufficient.
Alongside this human responsibility sits the legal framework. In Israel, legislation and case law provide protections including a hearing before dismissal, advance notice, and severance pay subject to eligibility. These protections are intended to ensure a fair process and soften the financial impact, even if they cannot eliminate it. However, protections differ in other markets. In the United States, for example, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not require severance pay, although obligations may arise from agreements or other laws, and advance notice is required for certain mass layoffs. India also has notice and compensation provisions for employees covered by the relevant rules. My friend’s account does not establish whether his legal rights were violated, but it certainly raises questions about how he was treated.
These legal differences make a multinational company’s responsibility all the more apparent. Even where severance pay is not mandatory, a company can choose to provide it. It can give employees time to prepare, career guidance, and emotional support. The absence of a legal obligation does not erase a human need.
A multinational company is part of the cultures and communities in which it operates. Its decisions reach into homes and families, shaping the trust people place in it. It must adapt its support to local realities while maintaining a consistent commitment to employee dignity. A person’s dignity should not depend solely on the strength of the protections their country provides.
Moments of change and departure test whether an employer’s brand matches its employees’ actual experience. Promises of belonging and care become meaningful when they are backed by honest, clear, respectful communication and humane treatment, including in difficult moments. When promises and actions diverge, campaigns lose credibility and trust in the organization suffers. Employees who experience humiliation or spend weeks relying on rumors remember how they were treated long after the restructuring is complete. A moving video cannot undo a humiliating experience, and a promise of transparency cannot make up for weeks of rumors. Organizational change calls for honest explanations, listening, room for questions, and individual conversations that acknowledge what the news means to the person receiving it. Employees need time to understand what will change, express concerns, and receive answers - even to questions management finds uncomfortable. Those who remain see it all, too. In the treatment of their departing colleagues, they see their own possible future and learn how much they can trust the organization’s promises.
Not every company can offer six months’ pay, and different organizational changes call for different approaches. But every leadership team should ask how it can reduce the harm to people and handle departures fairly and respectfully. Compliance with the law is the starting point; responsibility extends beyond what the law requires. Anyone who has invested their time, skills, and energy in a company deserves an honest explanation, a chance to be heard, and practical help taking the next step. Five minutes on WhatsApp is not enough.
Aviv Weizmann is a marketing and communications leader driving brand strategy, business growth, and organizational change in the global tech industry.
