Layoffs from the Founder’s Perspective

> It’s not just the layers of secrecy and professional lying that’s required

Absolutely not. Many companies do layoffs transparently, with notice, even so far as to offer voluntary severance, and they all do just fine. Some execs seem to live with this paranoia that when people get laid off, they turn into dangerous werewolves with the singular focus of sabotaging the company and running it aground, and hence must be curtailed. It's a categorical failure of leadership to show such distrust and disdain towards your employees.

If you do it transparently employees on the chopping block know they are there and can look for other work, those that aren’t don’t have to worry about it and can keep doing what they always do. It’s a trade off but if lying is your culture it’s going to become real obvious to your high performers