Even with summer upon us, there are few signs that companies have stemmed the flow of layoffs that have rocked the corporate world for the past year. In fact, the tech industry seems to be setting new records: This year, employers have cut 200,000 jobs and counting, according to Layoffs.fyi, far outpacing the rate of layoffs in 2022.
For hiring managers and HR leaders, this tumultuous period has brought a host of challenges, chief among them retaining employees and keeping morale up through rounds of layoffs. The companies that are still hiring in this market are courting prospective employees who may have recently lost their jobs or are skittish in the face of so much uncertainty.
Melanie Naranjo, head of people at compliance training startup Ethena, sees this as a moment for companies to reevaluate how they approach hiring and retention. “Candidates just aren’t willing to take uninformed risks anymore,” she says. “They don’t want to join companies where they feel like they don’t have all the information, or they feel like maybe something is being hidden or could catch them by surprise.”
Naranjo shared with Fast Company how Ethena is navigating this period and why companies shouldn’t shy away from transparency. (This interview has been edited for clarity and space.)
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