An interesting question. Once a mistake is made, what response do we hope for? Truthfully, once enough mistakes have been made, you can't have people happy, y

An interesting question. Once a mistake is made, what response do we hope for? Truthfully, once enough mistakes have been made, you can't have people happy, you can only have less UNhappy. Speaking off the top of my head (The question really does deserve more thought): * Announce what steps have been taken to not have this happen again. Show some sign of actual regret that this happened. * Don't spring it on people. Normally there's a progression before layoffs: hiring freeze to allow headcount to reduce over time, rumors and acknowledgements that allow headcount to further reduce, informed end-dates and severance packages. While rumors have been swirling, this is WAY too many people for this to be the surprise it seems to have been. * Be careful with contractors. Contractors didn't get any severance. On the one hand, positions of temporary duration practically BEG to be contracts. On the other hand, contracts should (according to my personal and subjective moral outrage) have defined durations and be renegotiated in advance, not end as a sudden surprise if you've fulfilled your part. If you know these are temporary positions, contract appropriately. And, if you've screwed up ENOUGH - yeah, pay people to make up the difference. Don't pay them to do nothing, but these are all professionals of varied skills. Use that. "Hey everyone, we're going to reduce headcount because we don't have enough active work to justify your positions. But we had a record year, so you all have a job for another month, and your tasks in that time are to add value for the company. Build a guide for newcomers, put together a marketing proposal, write a tool for internal use, whatever - you know what the company needs, and now you have a chance to do it." Anything here would be an improvement over what we've seen.