Timothy Sumer

The rise of remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic has now brought about the rise of the virtual layoff. Last November, Meta laid off 11,000 workers, and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, delivered the news over a remote video call. In April, McDonald’s temporarily shut down its corporate offices and fired hundreds of employees virtually. Meta declined to send a statement, but a company’s spokesperson noted that the company has multiple locations in the world and cannot do all layoffs in person. The practice is leading to a public debate over layoff etiquette — whether giving employees the bad news is more dignified than locking them out of their email accounts overnight. “McDonald’s is teaching a master class in layoffs,” Jessica Kriegel, chief scientist of workplace culture at Culture Partners, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in April. “If I were getting laid off, I’d want to be laid off at home, not at the office.” McDonald’s declined to comment. Critics of the remote layoff tren...