Are You Offering Enough? How to Benchmark Your Career Transition Support

Companies often approach layoffs simply as a financial necessity, but handling them with such a narrow focus can cost far more than any short-term savings—hurting morale, trust, and productivity. Enter career transition support: a business-critical investment that preserves brand equity, boosts satisfaction, and protects the bottom line, even during hard times.

This vision is fully backed by data from our 2025 research report, The Career Transition Support Index. We surveyed 201 HR and procurement executives across US industries to map out what organizations are offering today and where they see room for growth.

In this article, we’ll leverage the report’s data to provide you with a benchmark tool to evaluate your own company’s support offerings against industry standards. As you read, ask yourself: Are we doing enough? Where do we fall short? And what could we do to lead the way?

Redundancies impact far more than balance sheets. Done poorly, layoffs can erode brand reputation, talent retention, engagement, company culture, and, ultimately, profitability with higher turnover costs and potential legal claims.

Data from The Career Transition Support Index clearly indicates that layoffs without robust transition support create serious, lasting risks. Career transition programs—especially when outsourced to expert service providers—are essential for a smooth and successful offboarding experience.

The benefits of a well-planned and well-executed offboarding strategy can lead to measurable return on investment (ROI). Some of the positive outcomes of a well-designed career transition plan include reduced legal exposure, protected brand equity, shorter rehire cycles, improved HR allocation, and lower employee turnover.

These results clearly have the potential to improve your bottom line and support your overall business goals—while providing staff with empathetic, comprehensive support.

So how do you know if your company is offering enough career transition support? Our research with HR leaders and organizations across industries outlines today’s standards for these types of services. The following benchmarks will help you compare your practices and identify any needed improvements.

OurCareer Transition Support Index indicates that, when it comes to communicating layoffs to staff, the vast majority of companies prefer a more individualized approach, given the sensitive nature of those conversations. 

However, organizations still have a long way to go in preparing their managers to lead those conversations in a structured and empathetic manner.

• 79% of companies deliver redundancy news in one-on-one meetings.
• 12% still use group settings or mass emails, which risk damaging trust and morale.
• Only 10% of companies provide managers with “advanced” training to handle these difficult conversations.

Ask yourself: Do my managers receive structured, advanced training to navigate emotional conversations with compassion and understanding?

If you’re conducting a layoff and need help building a communication plan, click below to download our complete layoff script. In five clear steps, you’ll have all the help you need to navigate this difficult process with empathy and professionalism. 

While financial compensation remains a priority for individuals, career transition support is increasingly becoming a standard component of severance packages for those who are laid off. According to our report, career transition support is the #1 non-financial benefit offered in severance packages by organizations. 

Here is what our research reveals:

• 82% of companies include career transition services in severance packages.
• 61% of them offer those benefits for a minimum of three months.
• Larger firms are more likely to extend support beyond six months, with 9% offering 7–12 months of help.

Ask yourself: Does my package go beyond the legal minimum? Do I include career transition support as a standard benefit?

The exact career transition support services companies offer can vary greatly. According to our Careerminds report, most companies (73%) provide four to five types of services, and larger employers (25,000+ employees) are more likely to offer five or more benefits. 

While all services are relevant, some are more prominent, like career coaching and job search support. This is the core set of services that surveyed organizations make available to individuals:

• 69% provide career coaching.
• 64% provide job search support.
• 61% include training or reskilling.
• 52% include emotional/mental well-being support.
• 49% offer LinkedIn and resume optimization.

Ask yourself: Am I covering the essentials? Am I adding differentiators like reskilling, well-being, or networking opportunities?

The impact of layoffs isn’t limited to those departing. Survivor syndrome can lower morale among workers who stay, ultimately harming trust and productivity. One way to mitigate this is to handle the exit of departing employees with respect and professionalism, sending a message that you care for all of your staff in such difficult times. 

Here are some common practices among surveyed organizations:

• 73% conduct structured exit interviews with HR.
• 35% use anonymous surveys with existing employees.
• Only 1% collect no feedback at all.

Ask yourself: Do I have a communication plan in place to protect my organization’s culture and maintain trust among both departing and remaining employees?

Leaders who take career transition seriously send a clear message: We value our people, even when circumstances change. 

Here are some ways organizations can ensure a best-in-class strategy:

• Anticipate the full business impacts of layoffs.
• Invest in scalable, outsourced services.
• Communicate with transparency and empathy.
• Track downstream effects on retention and hiring.
• Use transition success as a leadership benchmark.

Ask yourself: Does my approach reflect leadership excellence—or just compliance?

Companies with mature transition strategies lean on external partners. In fact, all of the surveyed organizations in our report research outsource at least one element of career transition support. Top outsourced services include career coaching, resume and LinkedIn profile optimization, access to job boards, and training and reskilling resources.

These are some of the benefits of outsourcing, according to our 2025 reports:

• 44% of HR leaders say that it reduces internal workload.
• 34% cite improved compliance and reduced legal risk.
• 32% say that it lowers costs compared to in-house programs.

Ask yourself: Am I expecting our HR teams to handle everything in-house, or do I leverage specialist providers for scale and quality?

Equally as important as providing the best possible career transition support is being ready for the next trends and changes in the job market landscape. Our research reveals that while 74% of companies describe their support as “advanced,” few claim it to be fully developed—which could result in difficulties in the future. 

Many of those surveyed organizations plan to evolve in three key areas:

• Personalization: Tailored coaching to replace one-size-fits-all approaches.
• AI-powered tools: Smarter job matching, mock interviews, and insights.
• Emotional support: Expanded resources for well-being and resilience.

Ask yourself: Do I have a roadmap to modernize my career transition support with personalization and digital tools, while keeping a human touch?

Based on our 2025 Careerminds research, we developed The Career Transition Support Index to help organizations assess the maturity of their outplacement programs. 

The Index is broken down into these five key metrics:

1. Manager training quality
2. Number of transition services offered
3. Duration of transition services
4. Internal buy-in and strategic importance
5. Overall maturity rating

By scoring themselves against these metrics, organizations can see whether they fall on the “minimal” or “developing” end of the maturity curve, or stand out as “advanced” or “fully developed” leaders. Download the full Career Transition Support Index today to start measuring your current status and taking action on it.

Ask yourself: Where would I place my organization’s program on this curve?

Career transition support has become the new standard for responsible offboarding. However, the data indicates that not all companies are doing enough, and many overestimate their level of maturity. 

Here are some of the questions you should ask yourself:

• Do our managers have the necessary training?
• Do we provide more than the bare minimum in severance?
• Are we offering at least four to five forms of transition support?
• Do we measure our maturity against industry benchmarks?
• Are we preparing for the future with personalization, AI, and well-being resources?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, your organization has room to improve.

The good news? You don’t have to figure it out alone. Click here to download our full 2025 Career Transition Support Index and start building your strategy based on fresh data and relevant cross-industry findings.

You can also click below to connect with our Careerminds experts to learn how our outplacement services can align with your organization’s plans and help you achieve transition support excellence with our results-driven, people-first approach.