The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix and U2 aren’t the only ones who can fill up the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. If every person that Beth Steinberg has helped hire took a seat at the venue, about 500 people would be left standing. They’d hail everywhere from fashion retailer Nordstrom to gaming giant Electronic Arts, from solar provider Sunrun to social network Facebook. Any talent leader knows how astoundingly hard hiring can be — until they execute a layoff, which Steinberg has had to do at least once at nearly every company she’s worked. If you think hiring 10,000 people over a career sounds daunting, try laying off 2,000 of them.
