Layoff wave: McDonald's asks staff to work from home while it cuts hundreds of jobs

McDonald's Corp. is the most recent company to request that employees work from home during layoffs, a policy that provoked criticism from both management experts and workers at other businesses.

According to a person familiar with the company's plans, the fast food chain instructed corporate employees to work remotely from Monday through Wednesday in order to maintain confidentiality while it eliminates hundreds of positions.

The person, who requested not to be named because the conversation involved a private matter, claimed that the choice was made out of respect for those who were impacted.

Not just laying off

McDonald's is talking with all of its corporate employees this week, not just those who are being let go, and the Chicago-based business is promoting more employees to higher roles than it is letting go, the source claimed.

Before implementing mass layoffs in November under new CEO Elon Musk, Twitter Inc. also closed its offices. In December, PepsiCo Inc. adopted a similar strategy, according to a Fox Business story.

Companies were forced to downsize suddenly and urgently during pandemic lockdowns, and virtual layoffs had become normal procedure. However, now that many businesses are back in their offices, executives can decide whether layoffs should be conducted in person or online.

Delivering pink slips virtually

Virtual pink slips issuance may provoke a strong reaction. After the episode went viral on social media, Better Holdco Inc., an online mortgage lender that fired 900 employees over Zoom, was compelled to issue a public apology.

Employees at Alphabet Inc.'s Google have criticised the firm's most recent round of mass layoffs and demanded, among other things, that future employment cuts be made in person so that staff members can bid their coworkers farewell.

While remote layoffs can be more effective and less awkward for all parties, some experts argue that it should still be standard practise to deliver the bad news in person whenever feasible.

Past large-scale layoff

According to Sandra Sucher, a professor of management practise at Harvard Business School who researches confidence between employers and employees, in the past when a company underwent a significant restructuring, such as the closure of a factory, the bosses would assemble everyone and inform them all at once. Employees would then have a one-on-one meeting with managers to discuss the news and have a chance to pose questions.

While some companies may see conducting a mass layoff virtually as more efficient than going through a process like this, Sucher says it's “kind of a false efficiency.”

While the initial news can be delivered quickly, there are countless follow-up questions — about timing, severance packages, logistics and health-care benefits. “There are some processes you don't want to do fast,” she said.

“These have always been — and I've had to do this myself — very personal and difficult conversations,” Sucher said. “But that's a human respect that we show to take accountability for the fact that we've just involuntarily separated someone from their job — and now they can't support themselves, their families. That's the most consequential act a company can do.”

Ultimately, Sucher said, “the privacy argument has a certain merit, but I don't think it's outweighed by the need to be face to face with someone.”