Layoffs take jobs away, but also steal managers’ mental well-being

Every year on World Mental Health Day, attention rightly turns to the pressures employees face: burnout, anxiety, financial stress and the uncertainty of an unstable economy. But one group often absent from this conversation are managers themselves, particularly during moments of corporate downsizing.

Layoffs are usually discussed in terms of their effect on those losing jobs. Yet managers, tasked with implementing those decisions, shoulder their own burden. They must deliver difficult news while preserving trust and morale in the teams that remain. The emotional impact of this double role is rarely acknowledged.

“Serving as both executors of difficult business decisions and empathetic people leaders, managers often grapple with feelings of guilt, anxiety, and stress,” said Anant Bhalotia, Founder and CEO of Anadrone Systems. “Preparing managers to acknowledge and navigate these emotions ensures they are equipped to lead with compassion and resilience should workforce reductions ever become necessary.”

Although his own company is insulated from layoffs for now, Bhalotia stressed the importance of addressing this hidden stressor as part of a broader agenda for workplace well-being.

The emotional labour of leadership

For managers, layoffs involve more than logistics. The process is often deeply personal. Delivering news that disrupts livelihoods leaves a psychological mark. Studies in the UK and US have shown managers experience heightened stress, guilt and sometimes burnout after redundancy rounds, though these effects rarely feature in corporate disclosures.

Bhalotia argued that waiting until a crisis hits is too late. “Even in stable environments, HR must take a proactive stance to build managerial capacity for potential future challenges,” he said. Managers who are unprepared for the emotional demands of layoffs are more likely to struggle with their own mental health — a reality that has ripple effects on organisational stability.

The CHRO-turned-CEO outlined several ways companies can better protect managers. These include:

• Empathy-centred training. Specific programmes to equip leaders with skills in sensitive communication, stress management and compassionate leadership.
  
  

• Accessible mental health support. Counselling services and Employee Assistance Programmes designed for managerial needs, not just frontline staff.
  
  

• Transparent communication. Keeping managers fully informed about organisational change so they can act with clarity rather than confusion.
  
  

“Abstract commitments are not enough,” Bhalotia noted. “What matters is ensuring managers are equipped with tools to handle both the business decision and the human consequence.”

Rethinking leadership for mental health

On this World Mental Health Day, Bhalotia called for mental health to be elevated from a secondary concern to a strategic priority at board level.

“This can be achieved by embedding empathy within leadership cultures, incorporating well-being into strategy development, and committing resources that support sustained mental well-being for all employees, especially those in leadership roles,” he said.

In his view, leadership must now be judged not only by quarterly performance but also by its ability to safeguard psychological safety and long-term organisational health.

Technology, often seen as a driver of job cuts, can also be part of the solution. Bhalotia argued that digital tools, used wisely, can ease managerial strain.

• Automating administrative tasks allows managers to spend more time on human-centred leadership.
  
  

• Data analytics provides insight into workforce risks, enabling proactive intervention before problems escalate.
  
  

• Digital well-being platforms can offer resilience training, access to counselling and workload monitoring.
  
  

“Technology can reduce pressure when it frees managers to do what only humans can: lead with empathy,” he said.

The culture question

Policies alone are insufficient without cultural reinforcement. For Bhalotia, empathy must be cultivated in calm times so that it becomes instinctive during turbulence.

“A culture of empathy must be deliberately cultivated during stable phases to effectively support all stakeholders during workforce transitions,” he said.

That culture, he argued, should include robust outplacement support for employees being let go, but also explicit recognition of the emotional burden carried by managers. “Acknowledging the emotional labour managers undertake in delivering difficult news is critical,” he added.

In his view, compassion must be embedded as a continuous value, not activated selectively during crisis.

Ultimately, reducing the mental toll of layoffs requires reducing the need for them. Bhalotia pointed to systemic workforce shifts that could help:

• Continuous learning. Investment in employee development to build agility and reduce the risk of obsolescence.
  
  

• Flexible workforce models. Dynamic talent deployment to anticipate demand changes without recurring mass layoffs.
  
  

• Compassionate governance. Policies that hardwire transparency and humane decision-making into workforce strategies.
  
  

“Advancing towards sustainable workforce planning requires systemic change,” he said. “It is about anticipating change, not merely reacting to it.”

Mental health is everyone’s business

This World Mental Health Day, much of the conversation will focus on employees experiencing stress and burnout. Bhalotia’s reflections are a reminder that mental health is an ecosystem issue — it spans everyone from junior staff to senior managers.

When layoffs occur, empathy often ends at the exit interview. But managers delivering the news return home with their own silent burdens. Supporting their well-being is not indulgence; it is a business imperative.

As Bhalotia concluded, mental health must be embedded in leadership cultures as a core strategic concern. Only then can organisations protect not just their employees, but also the leaders who carry the weight of difficult decisions.