what will you learn?

Are your severance policies effective and competitive to maintain your employer brand and workforce morale during layoffs and other downsizing actions? Find out what other organizations around the world are offering to gauge your company’s effectiveness.

Access our new interactive dashboard to get meaningful insights on:

  • Factors influencing recent workforce downsizing
  • How AI influences workforce decision-making
  • Anticipated future downsizing measures
  • Severance and support services offered
  • Redeployment measures and preferences
  • Perceived workforce policy awareness

Through our dashboard, you’ll also get to explore data by market, sector and company size. Dive in to understand how organizations just like yours are adapting to shifting macroeconomic and business needs to ensure their business is ready for any contingency in the year ahead.

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benchmark your practices

In this issue of the 2025 Global Severance and Workforce Transition research, you can learn about:

  • downsizing actions
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    downsizing actions

    Nearly all surveyed organizations took at least one downsizing action last year, but what were the most common measures? Are they right for your organization?
  • severance best practices
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    severance best practices

    Are you paying out the right amount of severance, even as changes in the market lead many companies to think twice? Here’s what you should know.
  • redeployment trends
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    redeployment trends

    How can redeployment help you retain the best talent and minimize disruption during times of transition? Here’s what your peers are doing.

about the 2025 global severance research

The Global Severance and Workforce Transition research from Randstad RiseSmart, a part of Randstad Enterprise, is a biannual study of talent leaders around the world, designed to help employers benchmark their workforce transition practices, remain competitive and meet talent expectations.

The 2025 research surveyed 520 decision-makers across five markets about their organizations’ downsizing actions, severance policies and redeployment actions to help employers benchmark their own practices, meet talent expectations and protect their brands. This year, we now offer an interactive dashboard that allows talent leaders to explore the data by market, sector and company size.

Conducted by a third party on behalf of Randstad RiseSmart, survey panels are composed of talent leaders who influence both strategic and operational decisions for their organizations in five markets: Australia, Germany, Singapore, the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Online surveys were conducted via external panels during March and April of 2025.

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