Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Myth Interpretations
There's a nasty little urban myth circulating among the managers of leading companies: that you may as well pass over anyone who has been laid off since it has become a common and easy way to get rid of employees who are not performing to expectations. Well, I have heard this theory over the last couple of months, although at this point in the marketplace it is not a theory that is being taken too seriously.
In the beginning, I heard this "theory," if you can call it that, from human resources professionals. But then, slowly but surely, it began to circulate among those unfortunates pounding the pavement looking for their next gig. In fact, more than one candidate has been guilty of listing their current employment as being with their previous employer on their resume, even though they may have been laid off as late as last year. Naturally the fear has been that hiring managers are taking this theory to heart and they will disqualify candidates based on a newfound bias regarding laid-off employees. So, when their feet were held to the fire, job seekers took the chance of having to say there has been a mix-up and you must have the "old" copy of their resume.
So the question really becomes less a matter of, "Do people really assume this to be true?" as much as "How do you counter this assumption?" on both ends of the interview table. It is a shame that …
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