In a global survey, 73% of employers are undertaking or considering layoffs in 2024, pointing to reasons such as performance issues, a misalignment in employee skills, and financial pressures, according to an Aug. 13 report from LHH, a talent solutions provider under the Adecco Group.
Amid these layoffs, HR leaders are increasingly using redeployment strategies to address skills gaps and investing in outplacement services to support outgoing workers as they transition.
“Our findings underscore that HR leaders are acutely aware of how technology is impacting the skills needed for organizational success,” Russell Williams, senior vice president of career transition and mobility in North America at LHH, said in a statement.
“In the face of economic challenges, employers are increasingly reassessing whether their workforces are meeting these evolving needs, while also looking at how technology can be harnessed to support their employees’ growth both within the organization and as they depart,” he said.
Based on a survey of more than 3,000 HR leaders and 8,100 white-collar workers across nine countries, the primary drivers for layoffs have “significantly” shifted from over-hiring to poor performance (30.2%) and lack of appropriate skill sets (29.7%).
Redeployment programs — which focus on retaining and reskilling talent — have gained traction, with 82% of HR leaders saying they’re considering redeployment as an alternative to layoffs. The shift toward redeployment has been notable in the past year, LHH said, as the proportion of HR leaders with redeployment initiatives has increased by 25 percentage points since 2023, now reaching 47%.
Layoff support has also increased in popularity, with 43% of HR leaders saying they provide career coaching services and 45% saying they provide access to outplacement services. However, only 10% of workers said their employer provides career coaching and 9% said their employer provides outplacement services, which indicates a lack of employee awareness and need for additional communication.
Significant worker burnout worldwide could also lead to reskilling opportunities. About 69% of workers said their teams are burned out, and 25% of HR leaders said they’re worried about increased workloads leading to burnout, up from 6% in 2023. This opens the door for reskilling and redeploying across internal roles, as well as leadership development opportunities to drive retention, LHH said.