So, I've got comments from both ends, but I think your advice is super interesting, especially from the employer-side of things.
>A lot of people who get laid off want to know why them and not a peer. Was their peer a better performer at the same pay grade? Or was their peer doing the same job for less money? Is the company looking to eliminate senior roles? Junior roles? Or was the selection completely random?
Hm. So, as an employee, I wouldn't believe any of those answers, were the boss to give them to me. As someone else said, "Severance... everything else is just words" - but it is important to remember that most people are not as cynical as I am.
As an employer, though, that advice is interesting... because really, it seems kind of shitty to say "I'm sorry bob, but it turns out that Joe is just three times more effective than you are. I think he's just smarter." which is what I'd say if I really was giving the unvarnished truth. I mean, a lot of times, there isn't really much Bob could do about it; he's just not as smart as Joe is; it's not really his fault.
but my instinct, when I don't know what the right thing to say, is to just tell the truth, so your advice appeals to me. but it just seems like this is one of those 'does my butt look big' situations where keeping my damnfool mouth shut is the best option.
Is this what you would want to hear? How would you feel if the boss told you someone else was three times as effective as you were and you disagreed with that assessment?
>That way the person let go knows whether and how to adjust their performance going forward at their next job so they're more likely to survive that company's inevitable layoffs.
As an employee, I say that you always want to be in the first round of layoffs. The severance is usually best at that point, and even if the company did a good job and fired the people who were, say, half as productive, those people did some work, and that work still needs to get done. Guess who gets to do it? You! the "Lucky" person who didn't get laid off!
I've never gotten the axe in a layoff... I've been fired, but that's a different thing. More than once I've ended up quitting after the first or second round of layoffs because the company expected me to work twice as hard for the same money (and no possibility of a raise) with half the support I had before.