Startup CEOs Send Layoff Notes Too (Insider Comms™ From Stability AI)
The authority on mixternal communications
Which is the more difficult exec memo to write? One that:
a. Lays off 20 employees, or
b. Lays off 10% of the workforce
The answer is the same at Stability AI. This year Shan Shan Wong and Christian Laforte—co-CEOs of the tech startup—sent a note to all employees letting them know “Leadership”—capital L—needs to “right-size parts of the business.” As a consequence, they must say “goodbye to some colleagues.”
Wong and Laforte didn’t specify the number of employees being “right-sized.” CNBC reported the cuts affected more than 20 employees, ~10% of the staff.
Compare the Stability AI memo to other layoff notes (🔒):
50 Ways to Say 'Layoffs' (Paramount Global): When leadership turns to the jargon thesaurus to avoid using the L-word.
Sharing News About Layoffs via Livestream (Twitch): When a CEO takes questions about layoffs and the business from employees and customers.
When You Announce Layoffs Right Before Christmas (Etsy): So cold.
'Alexa: Lay Off Hundreds of Employees' (Amazon): As bland as they come.
A Tech CEO Explains Layoffs (Snap): One of the more thoughtful notes from a CEO delivering bad news.
Insider Comms™ is a series that shows how other corporate comms professionals communicate with their audiences—the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Two-hundred-person startups—just like mature companies with tens of thousands of employees—sometimes have to make the difficult decision to let people go. For an exec comms pro the activity is heavy, regardless of the size of the company or the number of people affected; lives are being up-ended, dreams shattered, families burdened.
But who takes the lead on drafting the bad news at a tiny company like Stability AI? Does the founder/CEO run with it from the beginning? Is there even a head of HR or Comms around to assist?
Thankfully Wong and Laforte’s memo isn’t a disaster. The note is good because it has a few things going for it:
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