Words matter. And the word “fired” implies fault — your fault. While some employees are let go for performance or behavior, millions more are caught in restructurings, downsizings, and strategic shifts spurred by investor and marketplace pressures. This cuts across corporate America, whether you’re on the shop floor, in middle management, or in the C-suite. No one is immune.
Back then, being “fired” was shorthand for showing unproductive, ill-fitting, or unethical workers the door — preferably before they stole the stapler. There are still plenty of employees who earned their pink slip fair and square. Performance and integrity issues? That’s on them. We shouldn’t shy away from holding employees accountable. But in today’s turbulent economy, the vast majority of displaced workers aren’t fired because of personal failure.
More than ever before in modern times, people’s careers are fragile, unpredictable, and subject to pressures beyond their control. The personal toll of job loss is enormous. We’ve been fortunate to work with some of the most exceptionally talented and visionary business leaders around. And even among these super achievers, a job loss shakes confidence and self-worth, threatening to erase in their own minds years of well-earned impact and success.
“Executives know the exit isn’t really about them,” says executive coach Nicole Didda. “They’ve got the performance, the reviews, the credibility. Still, the word ‘fired’ hits hard. Especially for women, it undermines confidence, making them feel ‘less than’ even when they know better.”
With an unsettling sense that control has slipped away, there’s a tendency for even the most talented and accomplished employees to self-identify as “fired” — even when the cause of their dismissal is a slowdown in the market. Poking fun at oneself for being let go may build connection, but it also undermines confidence, credibility, and faith in a better future.
These economic forces aren’t going to change, especially with AI bringing its own uncertainty and job disruption. All the more reason we need to reframe the narrative around job loss. If almost half the workforce has experienced a job elimination, shouldn’t we give the word “fired” a rest?
Let’s be more thoughtful — and understanding — in the way we treat our colleagues (and ourselves) when describing workplace departures. Let’s replace “fired” with something like: “freed for what’s next.” Let’s make the increasingly frequent business of moving on less dramatic, and a whole lot more human.
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