These days, lots of companies are downsizing their workforces. Most people believe that layoffs only occur for economic reasons. While it is true that financial concerns can lead to layoffs, this isn’t always the case. Poor leadership and bad hiring practices can also result in job losses.

When it comes to CEOs, one college professor said it best: you can tell a great one by the way they navigate through the bad times. On average, CEOs in 2022 have been enjoying good times – especially those in the tech industry. But with every highs comes lows, and that begs the question: what makes a bad CEO?

As the CEO of a company, you have a lot of responsibility. Not only do you have to worry about yourself, but you also have to worry about the entire organization. Many CEOs don’t exercise doing random audits to check the function of their companies from the bottom to mid level, where many of the problems are. This can be a big mistake.

Despite being one of the most well-known and successful companies in the world, Google has been facing some criticism in recent years regarding their hiring process. Complaints from applicants on forums range from recruiters being unresponsive or rude, to a lack of information about what to expect in subsequent rounds of interviews. There have also been reports of program interviews positions being conducted by employees who are not proficient in that particular tech role, as well as potential candidates being flown out for interviews only to have no one show up to meet with them.

The interview process ranges from five to seven rounds, with a hiring committee that can take months to make a decision. If you are finally hired, you then have to wait until they find you a team. All of this is listed on forums and has not been addressed. This is where the CEO needs to step in and make changes that can help the company with a better work flow but he refuses. Instead Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently told employees late last month that they must improve productivity due to fierce economic headwinds.

As a leader, it is your job to ensure that your organization is streamlined and efficient. In the midst of inflation and economic downturn, you can improve productivity by making sure that your hiring practices are effective and that communication within your organization is clear. By ignoring forums and not looking at what your other departments are doing or even who they are hiring, you put productive and useful staff members at risk of being laid off.The economic downturn is not the only reason for layoffs but the lack of looking at other departments, decision making and streamlining for efficiency during good times, result in unnecessary actions like hiring freezes and layoffs during bad times.