Abstract

Recent labor market trends show continued layoff activity alongside reduced hiring, especially in the information and technology industry, highlighting the growing prevalence of layoffs across organizations (Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 2026). Large-scale workforce reductions or massive layoffs have important indirect effects on remaining employees in the organization—layoff survivors (Armstrong‐Stassen, 1994). Layoffs create significant uncertainty and ambiguity, leading survivors to reassess organizational support, job security, and future prospects (Brockner et al., 1992). Although organizations may possess more information about the reasons for layoffs and future workforce decisions, official communication may not necessarily provide it. In such situations, survivors often face information asymmetry and may seek out additional sources to make sense of the event. These other sources of information can vary in content and credibility. We use signaling theory to explain how differences in signal attributes, credibility, and the underlying information asymmetry influence how survivors interpret layoffs. Survivors typically receive official email communication regarding layoff events. However, previous research has largely overlooked how the mode of communication (Lilly et al., 2024), particularly external channels such as social media platforms (e.g. LinkedIn) that include laid-off employee narratives, influences their understanding of the event. As a result, it remains unclear how externally communicated signals differ from official internal communication in shaping survivor interpretations and subsequent responses in the context of layoffs. We propose a mixed-methods approach to examine communication source effects on survivor interpretations, perceived organizational support and outcomes such as turnover intention. The findings aim to provide practical implications for organizations managing communication during layoffs and for employees navigating multiple information sources when evaluating organizational support and making subsequent career decisions.

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