From Layoffs to Loyalty: Building Alumni Networks That Work

People Managing People

Layoffs are often treated like a dirty secret—a rushed, impersonal process designed to move people out the door with as little friction as possible. But the way you offboard employees says just as much about your company culture as the way you welcome them in. In this episode, I sit down with Jena Dunay, founder of Recruit the Employer and host of Culture Uncovered, to talk about how organizations can approach layoffs, exits, and alumni relations with dignity—and why that matters more than ever.

We dig into the bad habits that keep companies scrambling at the eleventh hour, the power of communication over cash, and why alumni networks and boomerang employees should be a core part of your talent strategy. Offboarding isn’t just the end of the employee lifecycle—it’s the part that makes the circle whole.

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Chapters

1. Offboarding with Human Dignity (00:00:00)

2. Common Offboarding Mistakes Organizations Make (00:03:18)

3. Creating Alumni Instead of Ex-Employees (00:08:13)

4. Boomerang Employees: Why They Return (00:11:20)

5. Offboarding Beyond Layoffs (00:15:48)

6. The Future of LinkedIn (00:19:48)