USA 
United Kingdom
PayPal, the payments management giant, is the latest multinational employer to slash its workforce, following the likes of Facebook and Apple in significant downsizing.
The firm confirmed this week that it would cut around seven per cent of its current workforce, meaning around 2,000 people will lose their jobs.
Whilst this number seems drastic, it pales in comparison to others such as Google, which cut 12,000 jobs in January, and Amazon, which cut a whopping 18,000.
However, whilst Google and Twitter have been accused of mismanaging the redundancy process, it seems that PayPal is taking a more ethical route.
This week, CEO Dan Schulman called for “compassion for each other”.
“Change can be difficult – particularly when it includes valued colleagues and friends departing,” he wrote in a statement seen by the Telegraph.
“Staff leaving will be treated with the utmost respect and empathy,” He added, noting that he was “confident we will come through… together with compassion for each other”.
How to make people redundant, the right way
In the current rocky economic climate, it’s inevitable that layoffs will happen. Even the most ethical of firms cannot prevent having to downsize on occasion.
However, there is indeed a way to conduct this process ethically. For starters, learn from the mistakes of Google and JP Morgan and ensure that staff are told in good time, and in an appropriate manner.
Midnight emails, or simply blocking entry cards to offices are not an ethical way to let staff know that they no longer have employment.
Despite the need to reduce headcount, you can help those being made redundant by offering coaching for future interviews, highlighting people on LinkedIn and other professional platforms, offering financial help throughout the job search process and even simply offering wellbeing support through what is, of course, a traumatic process.
