Handle layoffs with compassion during social distancing: ILO

New Delhi: Millions have lost their jobs and more are set to sit home without work. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), nearly 195 million full-time workers are at job loss risk as industries after industries are shutting operations.

In such a scenario when firing employees is the only way to keep the organization running, how do you handle your feelings of guilt and sadness? How should you deliver the news when you can't meet face-to-face?

According to Harvard Business Review (HBR), as the Covid-19 global health crisis looms, the task is "emotionally and cognitively overwhelming."

"This experience for most of us is unfathomable. There's a great deal of uncertainty and people's minds are whirring," says Joshua Margolis, a professor at Harvard Business School.

About 40 crore workers in India working in the informal economy are at risk of falling deeper into poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, according to the ILO report. The tension is magnified when you're also worried about your own fate, according to Kenneth Freeman, Dean Emeritus at Boston University's Questrom School of Business. "You're human and you're going to have a lot of those 2 AM moments," he was quoted as saying.

Here are some tips to lessen the guilt associated with firing employees in such tough times.

"If you decide layoffs are necessary or others have made that decision for you, then make sure you're prepared before you reach out to the affected employees," according to the HBR report.

People are likely going to have a lot of questions about the timing, their benefits, and severance.en if you've presided over layoffs in the past, overseeing them during the coronavirus outbreak will be different for one key reason: they won't take place in person because of social distancing measures.