Formally announce your plan to employees and other stakeholders
Your checklist
Plan for employees
Plan for media, vendors, and 3rd parties
Public relations
Plan for employees
E-mail to send to employees:
[COMPANY NAME] has been experiencing declining sales due to [REASON]. We have explored many options to improve efficiency and reduce costs. While these measures have succeeded to some extent, we find that we must reduce our workforce to ensure the financial stability of the company.
Starting [DATE], we must eliminate [NUMBER] exempt/salaried and non-exempt/hourly positions. The reduction in force will be based on business necessity by job category and then by performance ratings within the job category. We will provide you details on which job categories are affected and will meet with individual employees whose positions will be eliminated by the end of this week.
We have always valued and continue to value the contributions of all our staff and deeply regret the need for this action.
Sincerely,
[COMMUNICATIONS LEAD]
Plan for media, vendors, and 3rd parties
Write email draft to 3rd parties
Public relations spokesperson
If you will be communicating to the public, identify a spokesperson and their key messages.