I have been relatively lucky in that regard. So far all of the involuntary terminations I have had to deal with were a level below me, so I have been involved, but not to the same degree as firing someone I’ve worked with closely. I was starting on a PIP a few years ago with a direct employee, but they took a long-term leave and reorged to another team before we finished.

This year my department has been going through a particularly bad reorg, which included some individuals ending up in roles they didn’t want. One of my directs asked for severence, which was a weird situation and so far one indirect employee has quit.

Overall, I don’t enjoy being in a leadership role, but I can’t make the same pay in a more enjoyable role, so I have stuck with it.