Hyland Software employees are still reeling a day after the Westlake-based company laid off an estimated 140 employees.
Hyland termed the layoffs a "difficult decision" and said in a statement that it still plans to hire more than 300 people this year and will actually increase its overall global employee count by 15 percent.
But the sudden layoffs, and the way in which they were done, has unsettled employees who had been part of a company that lists "Family" as one of its core values and says on its website: "Our employees are our family."
Reaction in local media and on social media channels has been a combination of confusion and anger. Hyland is still in growth mode, expanding globally, and has been seen as a homegrown tech darling in Northeast Ohio.
“It was a betrayal, a huge betrayal of all of the values and integrity and ethics they’ve always talked about and touted,” one former employee, who was part of this week’s layoffs, told ideastream anonymously Friday.
There was no warning of potential staff reductions ahead of the announcement, which came during a Zoom meeting Thursday morning.
“We came out on top of COVID-19. We had a very successful year,” he said. “No one feels good about any of this. The people who are still working there are just as gut-wrenched as we are who were let go.”
Immediately after they were informed of their layoff via Zoom, laid-off employees lost network access.
Hyland employs more than 3,000 people across 30 campuses internationally, according to its website. It is known for its corporate culture and a campus that had extensive employee amenities, regular employee appreciation events and a sabbatical program.
“Hyland is not the company it once was,” the former employee said. “This is not how you treat family.”
Hyland is providing assistance to the employees affected by the layoffs, the company said in a written statement.
“Hyland is in the midst of a multi-year strategic initiative to build a cloud-first platform for the future while supporting our customers’ success today,” according to the statement. “As we focus on innovating our platform and strategically expanding our global footprint, we have made the difficult decision to eliminate some positions on our current Product Delivery team.”
Those laid off are pooling resources to find employment amid the pandemic, the former employee said, sending each other links with potential job openings. Some social media accounts are calling out Hyland for the layoffs and alerting tech companies to the number of people in need of employment in the area.
“Any time anyone hears of any place that’s hiring, we’re sharing that with each other and just really trying to come together,” the employee said. “There are other companies that have looked at those tweets and said, ‘Hey, we’re hiring! If you were affected by the layoffs, come look at us.’”
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