ByLaureen Knudsen,
Forbes Councils Member.
Laureen Knudsen helps professionals navigate AI-era career disruption. Fortune 1000 transformation executive and Top 100 Women in Tech.
This fall, HR leaders across the country will be handed a mandate: Reduce headcount. The rationale will be familiar. AI is handling work that used to require full teams. Margins are under pressure. Leadership wants to move fast.
You'll coordinate the compliance, the process, the communication and the difficult conversations that nobody wants to have. Most of that is prescribed. Legal requirements, manager training, severance calculations, WARN Act timelines; the infrastructure of a reduction in force doesn't leave much room for discretion.
