It’s hard for the kids with these things. My son asked me questions about why I left my last company and it isn’t easy. Most times he’s satisfied with “I can explain this better when you’re older” and that suffices.
It certainly hurts morale for the people who remain when these things happen. We’ve had some changes and trimming the fat which was necessary but people were pretty upset for a while. It’s not easy going through change and I don’t fool myself to think that I won’t go through it as well it’s just trying to plan and be prepared as much as we can.
I got "why did you start working so much" tonight. I tend to explain what I can in simplest terms, but when she asked about her birth and why her mother was in bed for so long I said, Mummy can explain that to you when you are a bit older. :)
I put a farewell note on a Teams channel today, and the response has been quite large. While I might not be the model employee in many respects, I tended to bring people and teams together for better collaboration from multiple parts of the organization - and it shows in the responses. Interesting perhaps for those who led this decision :)
Change is inevitable of course, but one thing I appreciate a lot, is that I have the chance and ability to share thoughts here and get feedback. Hopefully, it is a two way street and it helps others that might go through similar in the future.