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Since then, Mr. Benstock has extended at least one job offer to an ex-Carvana employee. He has heard from nearly 100 others, and roughly a third of them are worth vetting further, he said. Carvana’s layoffs offered Mr. Benstock a chance to find experienced workers for his own business plans, while providing a landing space for the displaced employees.
So far this year, there have been several rounds of mass layoffs, especially among technology companies. When Peloton Interactive Inc. in February parted ways with 2,800 workers, a former employee of the stationary bike maker created a spreadsheet to help displaced workers connect with new gigs—a system that has been replicated with other high-profile layoffs. Nearly 52,000 workers globally have been laid off among technology workers since the start of the year, according to tracking website Layoffs.fyi.
The layoffs come as employers still grapple with a historic number of job openings without enough workers to fill the roles. Some of the tens of thousands of laid-off tech workers at companies such as fintech company Klarna Bank AB, online retailer Stitch Fix and cryptocurrency-exchange operator Coinbase Global Inc. in recent months are targets of the recruiters’ outreach. While recruiting from a pool of laid-off workers is a tactic that more hiring managers are turning to, the execution must be handled skillfully, according to accounts from several recruiters.
Sara Du, co-founder and chief executive of integration and automation platform Alloy Automation, posted on LinkedIn about checkout payments startup Bolt Financial’s planned layoffs that affected technical workers, and invited them to consider her company in the future.
“We’re heading into tough times but we’re in this together, especially the DTC/ecomm SaaS community,” she wrote.
Ms. Du said she had conversations with former Bolt and Klarna employees, hoping to add more people to Alloy’s hiring pipeline. She didn’t extend any offers of employment.
“As an employer, these layoffs are a really good opportunity to get chats in with people. But typically, we get to know people over the course of three to six months before hiring,” Ms. Du said. “It opens the door. Even if they join another company right now, that relationship has been established.”
Ms. Du said hundreds of companies had contacted some of the job candidates she spoke with about opportunities at Alloy, so it’s important to get them excited and up to speed on what your company does quickly. Alloy, for example, highlights its diversity and having a young female CEO and relies on brand recognition.
Mary Evans, human-resources director of marketing agency Marvel Marketers, has seen layoffs firsthand in previous roles during her 20 years as a HR professional—both as the employer and as a laid-off worker.
“The first thing that happens when you hear the word ‘layoff’ when you’re that person being affected is that you get this anxiety of ‘Oh my gosh, what am I going to do next?’” Ms. Evans said. That is part of why she decided, on behalf of her company, to reach out to candidates and let them know, “We’re really sorry for what you’re going through,” “be very empathetic” and also use that time to make them aware of opportunities available at Marvel Marketers.
The 100-employee global agency is fast-growing. Ms. Evans expects to onboard another 50 to 60 employees by the end of the year.
Ms. Evans has connected displaced workers with people in her network who might be a good fit. She said she and her talent acquisition manager are there to be a “sounding board and just advocate for them in their next journey and try to take some of that anxiety away from them.”
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