Why your company should use outplacement?
by Joseph | 19 May 2026
If you’re in HR, you probably only really look at outplacement when something tough is happening: redundancies, restructures, that kind of thing.
And when that happens, the main thing you’re trying to do is handle it properly. Not just for the business, but for the people leaving as well. So yeah… why actually use outplacement?
Simple answer is, it’s there to help people land on their feet quicker.
But I think there’s a bit more to it than that.
It’s not just about “offering support”
A lot of companies use outplacement because they feel they should, which is fair enough, but there’s a difference between offering support and actually helping people.
If someone leaves and gets access to something they don’t really use, or don’t really connect with, then it hasn’t really done much. The whole point should be to help people move forward.
Get a new job, change direction, feel a bit more confident again… whatever that looks like for them. That’s what matters.
Redundancy knocks people more than you think
Losing a job isn’t just about money, it hits confidence quite a lot.
Some people haven’t written a CV in years, some haven’t done an interview in ages, and some just don’t know what they even want to do next. So you end up with people who are a bit stuck, even if they don’t say it out loud. That’s where outplacement can actually be useful.
It gives people a bit of direction when everything feels a bit all over the place.
Not everyone needs the same thing
This is probably the biggest thing: people aren’t the same, so the support shouldn’t be either.
One person just wants help with interviews, another needs to completely rethink their career, aAnother might be thinking about starting something on their own, another just needs a confidence boost and a bit of guidance.
If you give all of them the exact same support, it’s not really going to work properly. That’s why how it’s delivered matters, not just that it exists.
The bit no one really says… people don’t always use it
This happens quite a lot. Companies pay for outplacement, but not everyone really uses it.
Sometimes they log in once, have a look, then leave it. Usually because it doesn’t feel that relevant, or it’s a bit too generic, or just not what they were expecting. And if people don’t use it, it’s not helping. For us, that’s a big thing.
How do you make something people actually want to use?
What we think at Laburo
Everything we’ve done with Laburo is based on one idea really: build it to actually help people.
That sounds obvious, but it’s not always how outplacement is built. We’ve tried to make it feel a bit more real, a bit more useful, and less like a standard programme.
So things like:
- Giving people more choice over who they work with, instead of just being assigned someone.
- Letting coaches coach in their own style, instead of forcing everyone into the same format.
- Using tech and AI to make things quicker and easier, not just adding it in for the sake of it.
- Having loads of content people can dip into whenever they need it.
It’s all just trying to make it more relevant to the person using it. Because if it feels relevant, they’ll actually use it. And if they use it, it works better.
It’s also just about doing the right thing
There’s a bigger side to it as well. How a company handles people leaving does matter because people talk and People remember.
If someone feels supported, even in a tough situation, it changes how they see the business. If it feels like a tick box exercise, that sticks as well. So outplacement isn’t just about careers really. It’s also about how you treat people.
So yeah… why use it?
- Because it can help people get back on track quicker.
- Because it gives a bit of direction when things feel uncertain.
- Because not everyone knows what to do next on their own.
- And because if it’s done properly, it actually makes a difference.
That’s basically it from our side. Outplacement should help, not just exist. And everything we’re building at Laburo is just trying to make that happen a bit better.