Marie Kondo's New Chapter: Tech Layoff Consultant
“Working with Marie was a lot cheaper than hiring Bain. Plus, she was a lot more kawaii.”
MPK 21, MENLO PARK - When Meta announced they were laying off 5% of their employees, few would have suspected that tidiness consultant Marie Kondo was a key part of this reduction in force.
A group of employees learned they were laid off in an all-hands at the beginning of their mandatory in-office day. At the end of the layoff announcement, their director and Ms. Kondo went on stage, bowed, and said in unison, “You do not spark joy any more. Thank you for helping make Meta what it is today. Goodbye.”
Meta first considered a partnership with Ms. Kondo when CEO Mark Zuckerberg mandated a round of layoffs to “KonMari our org.” One senior HR executive subsequently reached out to Ms. Kondo, reasoning that the creator of KonMari would be the best person to tidy up Meta.
Meanwhile, Ms. Kondo had already published a book about applying the KonMari method at work that focused on individual workspaces. It was a natural progression to move from tidying desks to tidying org charts.
Ms. Kondo spoke to a room of senior executives to explain the KonMari process. “During the pandemic, many companies accumulated extra headcount that sparked joy at the time. Now times have changed. You may not feel the same joy about many of these people, but it may also feel difficult to let go of them.
“Remember that truly precious memories will never vanish even if you discard the employees associated with them. No matter how wonderful things used to be, we cannot live in the past. The joy and excitement we feel here and now are more important; we should choose who we want to keep, not who we want to get rid of.”
Ms. Kondo and her team then met individually with leaders to help them tidy up. As she reviewed a list of employees in one director’s org, she advised them: “Imagine if this employee were to quit - would you fight for them to stay? If so, tell them of your appreciation every day as you work with them. If not, then thank them for their service and allow them to work for someone else.”
So far, Ms. Kondo’s customers are ecstatic. According to one former client: “Working with Marie was cheaper than hiring Bain. Plus, she was a lot more kawaii.”
January is layoff season in the tech industry. However, some companies have executed these layoffs better than others. In a particularly embarrassing case, Stripe accidentally sent a layoff email early that included a placeholder picture of a cartoon duck. Many other companies are now reaching out to Ms. Kondo’s tidiness team for assistance with doing their layoffs smoothly and delightfully.
The KonMari website has already added a new section advertising “Joy Based Restructuring” services for corporate customers. However, Ms. Kondo has been publicly silent about her work with tech companies. A KonMari representative refused a request for an interview with her and said, “Ms. Kondo is very busy tidying up Silicon Valley.”