Companies See Their Glassdoor Ratings Plummet Amid Layoffs

Tough economic times clearly have a negative impact on employees. Thousands upon thousands of workers have lost their jobs in recent rounds of layoffs, leaving those fortunate enough to stay employed to pick up the slack.

But it’s not like the companies behind the layoffs are emerging unscathed.

A downward spiral

If you’ve lost your job, it might be difficult to muster any sympathy for the company that let you go. Nevertheless, it’s helpful to see what has happened in response to employers cutting their staff to reduce expenses ahead of a possible economic downturn.

Many job-seekers check out sites like Glassdoor to get an idea of what it’s like to work at a particular company. Executives and managers often go out of their way to ensure such ratings stay as high as possible.

As staffs dwindle and the remaining employers find themselves with a ton of additional responsibilities, however, there seems to be no end to the precipitous drop in Glassdoor scores.

How businesses react

Business writer Gergely Orosz penned a recent article that began with an anecdote involving a software engineer whose employer cut 30% of its workforce. The employee said that the startup company had gone to drastic lengths to stem the tide of negative scores on Glassdoor — including flagging bad ratings for removal and pleading with employees to add their own good scores in order to bring the overall average up.

“I don’t think my company is alone in this practice to protect themselves from bad press, but lots of my colleagues have had their reviews deleted,” the individual said. “Effectively, we’ve been silenced.”

Deleting scores is done at the sole discretion of Glassdoor — but reports suggest companies with paid accounts have a better chance of seeing negative reviews taken down.

Chris Agee May 30th, 2023

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