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← Back to IdeasImproving the Ex in 'Exit'
As our persistently unconventional economy shifts with every fluctuation in interest rates, the news and the market, we keep seeing deep reductions in the workforce, particularly in tech. In 2023, more than 191,000 workers at U.S.-based tech companies were laid off,¹ spanning massive organizations such as Google and Microsoft all the way down to smaller startups. Add in the potential for disruption from new technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) and shifting political headwinds, and the trauma of a mass exodus on both those leaving and those who stay is tough to ignore.
Although the majority of exits are not layoffs—66 percent of exits in November 2023 were voluntary separations2—these very public reductions in workforce highlight a key moment in the employee experience (EX) that often gets ignored: the way to handle things when employees leave. We call that key stage of the employee journey Wish Me Well, which, for most employee departures, happens one voluntary quit at a time. And too often, companies aren’t prepared to make the most of this moment. Worse, they handle it in ways that damage the experience for more than those leaving.
A good employee experience is cultivated at every stage of an employee’s journey, and too few companies think about how Wish Me Well should go for employees leaving the organization. Handling exits shouldn’t just be a job for HR—it’s a key component of your employment strategy as well as your brand. This paper explores the ways in which businesses benefit from leaning in and learning from employee departures, which they should take as seriously as bringing them on board. Treating this stage of the employee experience with creativity and, most important, humanity delivers brand insights and operational benefits that could otherwise be lost.
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