More Laid-Off Workers Got Severance During the Pandemic, But That’s Over Now
Almost two out of three organizations offered severance to departing employees in 2021, but that figure is now less than half.
Some workplace trends that became more popular during the pandemic have endured, like remote work. More generous severance benefits are not among them.
Just 42% of global employers offered severance to all laid-off employees this year, a survey from Dutch recruitment firm Randstad NV found, down from 64% that did so in 2021. The current figure is also below the 44% of firms that extended severance back in 2019. US employers were the least likely to offer severance for all employees, with just one in four doing so. In the UK and Germany, about half of firms did so. It’s not a trivial matter, as more than 90% of the 430 firms surveyed said they plan some sort of workforce reduction in the next 12 months.