--- title: How to Limit the Loss of Trust During Layoffs description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. canonical: https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7336871/how-to-limit-the-loss-of-trust-during-layoffs/ author: Jena McGregor article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-11-30T11:30:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-28T07:07:33.536Z article:section: Charter og:title: How to Limit the Loss of Trust During Layoffs og:description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. 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Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc74417ab80041320/6998cc0707a30dd6dc77d90a/charter-sandra_356049.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- The information presented here is created by Charter, independently from the TIME editorial staff.  Time charter * [layoffs](/partner-content/charter/tag/layoffs/) ## layoffs # How to Limit the Loss of Trust During Layoffs > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME In the Loop: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition In the Loop is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution. 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It covers the reporting, scoops and conversations shaping AI and the decisions facing leaders. #### Where can I get reported AI news rather than commentary? In the Loop is TIME's AI newsletter, built on original reporting and access to the people building and governing AI. It publishes Tuesdays and Fridays and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes TIME's In the Loop? Harry Booth, a tech reporter at TIME, writes In the Loop. #### Is In the Loop free? Yes. In the Loop is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Jena McGregor](https://time.com/author/jena-mcgregor/) Managing Editor, Charter Nov 30, 2025 11:30 AM UTC  Art: Charter by [Jena McGregor](https://time.com/author/jena-mcgregor/) Managing Editor, Charter Nov 30, 2025 11:30 AM UTC Employers cut more than 150,000 jobs last month, the highest total for October in more than 20 years, [according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas](https://www.challengergray.com/blog/october-challenger-report-153074-job-cuts-on-cost-cutting-ai/). November brought even more layoff announcements, ranging from a few hundred corporate jobs at [American Airlines](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-04/american-airlines-to-cut-hundreds-of-corporate-jobs) to more than 13,000 at [Verizon](https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/verizon-cutting-more-than-13000-jobs-it-restructures-2025-11-20/). Amid this flurry of job cuts—and the threat of more to come as artificial intelligence disrupts the white-collar workforce—we spoke with [Sandra Sucher](https://sandrasucher.com/), a professor at Harvard Business School who is widely recognized for her [research on trust](https://www.charterworks.com/power-of-trust-book-sucher-gupta/). We asked Sucher about the impact of layoffs on organizational trust, what managers can do when they have to lay off people nonetheless, and how AI is impacting these dynamics. Here are excerpts from our conversation, edited for space and clarity: Sign up for Charter's newsletter to get the handbook for the future of work delivered to your inbox. Email Address You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our [Terms of Service](https://www.charterworks.com/terms-of-service/) and [Privacy Policy](https://www.charterworks.com/privacy-policy/). **What do we really mean when we talk about trust between employers and employees?** Trust is a willingness to be vulnerable to other people's actions and intentions.…The thing about trust is you can't force me to trust you. You have to behave in ways that cause me to trust you. Usually when people evaluate whether they trust an employer, they look at things like: Are they competent? What are their motives? Where do my interests show up in the list of people whose concerns \[the employer\] cares about? Do you treat me and other people fairly? When you act, what’s the actual effect of that on my life? A layoff takes away my employment. It takes away my ability to support my family. So even if everything else went really well, you still will have a hit to trust because you've just taken something away that's so fundamental to what I need, and that was part of our arrangement when I came to work with you. **There’s a statement we’ve all heard, the idea that ‘AI is not going to take your job, someone who knows AI is going to.’ How does that erode trust at the same time people see job losses happening?** That statement shifts the burden from the company to the employee. Whose problem is it? \[Do you\] think I'm a totally self-developing individual who can anticipate the needs I have that correspond to the needs you have as a business, and then train myself? As a corporation, you have a duty to let me know what \[you want me to do\] and equip me to perform that role to the standard that you're looking for. That's the job of the employer. The employee has to be willing to put in the time to dedicate themselves to being changed. **What does research really say about the impact large-scale layoffs have on organizational trust?** We know that if you want to kill trust in your organization, the first thing you should do is do a layoff. **Hopefully most don't…** But I will tell you from having studied layoffs for 20 years, that's just true. The immediate effect is on the individual who's obviously lost employment. We know from a health standpoint their health deteriorates very rapidly. They have a much higher predilection for stress-related conditions.…There's lots of research around the ill effects this has, not to mention what it does for the economics of individual families. The biggest problem for organizations is that everyone who was not laid off is looking at [what happened](https://www.charterworks.com/questions-to-ask-after-layoffs/) to the people who were. These are referred to as the [hidden costs of layoffs](https://www.charterworks.com/a-workplace-change-expert-on-two-layoff-alternatives/). There's tons of research to document that these just work their way through your organization no matter what you're doing. They will reduce people's attention to quality. \[People\] start speeding up their production because they're afraid of losing their job. They interfere with relationships that account executives have with customers.… Your ability to attract better people to your organization suffers because people go, ‘Well, what the hell? Why should I go work for them?’ **What, practically, can be done to retain trust if layoffs have to be done?** The first thing I would do is a robust program of re-employment support for the people I am letting go. Because if I'm inside the firm, I'm looking all the time at how layoffs are being managed and anticipating how I will be treated. Can I get a job inside the firm? Can you help me get a job outside the firm? Can you [help me start a new company](https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=48537) if that's something I want to do? Can you support my education needs? These are four very specific things I can do to \[help\] convince people that I'm serious about treating people who I say I value as valued. **What does a series of layoff rounds—versus a one-and-done action—do to erode trust?** A continuing stream of layoffs is destabilizing. It’s equally destabilizing to overpromise that I'll never do this again. What you want to help people understand is what are the decision points that would lead you to think about whether or not you were going to do \[another\] layoff. The mantra in managing layoffs is ‘for the right reasons, and in the right way.’ If I’m investing in our AI capabilities, that's a legitimate use of the layoff tool.…But if I'm an employee whose job is being terminated because you need to somehow cover up a management failure on your part, and you need to reduce expenses? That's a lot of the stuff that I’m seeing in some of the companies that are doing layoffs now. They just aren't making money doing what they've been doing and so they need to find costs to cut. That’s not a good reason to tell me why I have to lose my job. **Read more on trust, uncertainty, and layoffs:** * [**Redefining the employer-employee contract**](https://www.charterworks.com/the-new-employer-brand-redefining-the-employer-employee-contract/) * [**A workplace change expert on two layoff alternatives**](https://www.charterworks.com/a-workplace-change-expert-on-two-layoff-alternatives/) * [**How to conduct a layoff equity analysis**](https://www.charterworks.com/how-to-conduct-a-layoff-equity-analysis/) * [**Big tech has layoffs all wrong**](https://time.com/6261481/big-tech-mass-layoffs-wrong/) --- ## Read more from Charter [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/) [Open article: Who the Layoff Tax Hits Hardest](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/who-the-layoff-tax-hits-hardest/)  ### Who the Layoff Tax Hits Hardest [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/who-the-layoff-tax-hits-hardest/) [Open article: Block’s layoffs are an outlier. Their influence might not be.](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7382012/blocks-layoffs-are-an-outlier-their-influence-might-not-be/)  ### Block’s layoffs are an outlier. Their influence might not be. [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7382012/blocks-layoffs-are-an-outlier-their-influence-might-not-be/) [Open article: 7 Questions to Ask After Layoffs](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/6239055/questions-to-ask-after-layoffs/)  ### 7 Questions to Ask After Layoffs [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/6239055/questions-to-ask-after-layoffs/) --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7336871/how-to-limit-the-loss-of-trust-during-layoffs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7336871/how-to-limit-the-loss-of-trust-during-layoffs/"},"headline":"How to Limit the Loss of Trust During Layoffs","datePublished":"2025-11-30T11:30:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-28T07:07:33.536Z","description":"Harvard Business School professor Sandra Sucher on the research behind maintaining trust amid layoffs.","url":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7336871/how-to-limit-the-loss-of-trust-during-layoffs/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc74417ab80041320/6998cc0707a30dd6dc77d90a/charter-sandra_356049.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jena McGregor","jobTitle":"Managing Editor, Charter","url":"https://time.com/author/jena-mcgregor/"}],"articleSection":"Charter","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc74417ab80041320/6998cc0707a30dd6dc77d90a/charter-sandra_356049.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"charter-sandra_356049","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7336871/how-to-limit-the-loss-of-trust-during-layoffs/","name":"How to Limit the Loss of Trust During Layoffs"}}]}] ```