Coronavirus | Boss criticised for controversial response

With the latest Government figures confirming that UK unemployment has risen by over 50,000 to 1.35million in the three months leading to March, it seems that the threat of redundancy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic still looms over the UK jobs market.

Wide-scale redundancies are evidenced by the news that Rolls-Royce's Aerospace Division will be letting go of 9,000 workers, as has been reported by numerous outlets. However, whilst redundancies are a sad necessity in these times, how companies handle the traumatic experience of letting staff go is a key concern for leaders.

The wrong way to handle layoffs

Whilst no way of delivering redundancy announcements is ideal, CEO of the Derby-based aerospace company, Warren East, was branded ‘appalling’ for appearing to smirk in a BBC interview in which he discussed the significant downsizing – Metro reported.