Your team survived the layoffs. Now comes the harder part.

Over 45,000 tech roles have been cut globally this year. ASML and Ericsson alone account for nearly 3,600 in the #Netherlands and Sweden. Manager engagement has dropped sharply, particularly among leaders under 35. 55% of managers expect further reductions before the year is out.

But what about the people that stay after the layoffs?

Survivor syndrome

Survivor syndrome is a well-documented phenomenon in organizational psychology, first framed by David Noer in the 1990s.

When a team goes through a restructuring, the people who remain experience a predictable number of responses: guilt, anxiety, reduced trust, and a quiet withdrawal of effort.

What's also interesting is that the word grief appears in the clinical literature deliberately when describing this syndrome, because what employees lose is not just colleagues, but a version of the psychological contract they had with their organization.

First priority should be stability, not results

Research consistently shows post-layoff productivity in remaining teams drops by 20% or more in the months that follow. Discretionary effort, a.k.a. "going the extra mile", is the first thing to go when psychological safety is disrupted. Having managed restructurings at significant scale across my HR career, I watched this pattern repeat consistently.

The first priority for most leaders after the layoffs is achieving momentum: leaner, stronger, forward. That instinct is understandable but counterproductive. Failing to acknowledge what just happened and how it has impacted the team erodes trust faster than the restructuring itself.

If I was leading a post-layoff team today, here's what I'd do first:

• Name it before you move past it. Not an inspiring speech but a direct, brief acknowledgment that something significant happened and that the discomfort in the room is expected. This is a fundamental pillar of courageous leadership, as described by Brené Brown.

  
  

• Rebuild safety through consistency. Show up the same way every day, follow through on small commitments, and let the team see the ground is stable before asking them to run on it.

  
  

• Watch the quiet ones. The performers who go slightly silent and stop volunteering ideas are your early warning signal. You will need to have an open conversation about what it will take to earn their trust if you want them to stay.

The leaders who come out of restructurings with their teams intact are the ones who are not afraid to be vulnerable and prioritize safety and stability over immediate results and performance.

Reach out if you are navigating this right now and want to think it through with someone who has managed it before.

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Sparking Leadership #41: a weekly series on human-centered, sustainable #leadership. Hit the like button to share the love and follow for real talk and practical tools. In the meantime, lead with spark!