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I don't think you need to be brutal about it, but being more direct would have been better here. Someone else already captured the essence, but this was all over the place and still didn't really convey that 700 people were losing their jobs.

Flowery language is fine, except when talking about money or people's career/job/livelihood (which is really money again).

There's also space between what was said in this letter and brutal honesty. It should be concise and clear.

Not everyone would appreciate your style of communication. I, for example, certainly wouldn't. Unfortunately, it would be unfeasible to customize such a letter for each employee...