The hiring freeze

Shadow Amelia first. She's delivering bad news, so her voice is slow, clear and honest; no rushing past the hard parts. Pause after "Not now." Then take Arjun's part. He's worried about his people, not himself. Let "My team will ask me that before lunch" sound protective.

1. ArjunAmelia, do you have a minute? It's about the two warehouse jobs I posted.
2. AmeliaI was going to come and find you. Please, sit down.
3. ArjunThat doesn't sound good.
4. AmeliaWe've lost the contract with our biggest client. They're moving their shipping out of Rotterdam in March.
5. ArjunThe fruit importer? They're a third of our orders.
6. AmeliaCloser to forty percent. So from today, there's a hiring freeze. Nobody new until summer.
7. ArjunBut my team's already working Saturdays. We can't do more with fewer people.
8. AmeliaI know. That's why we're cutting back on other things first. Travel, events, the new trucks.
9. ArjunIs anyone losing their job? My team will ask me that before lunch.
10. AmeliaNot now. The plan is to get through this without layoffs. I can't promise forever, but that's the goal.
11. ArjunOkay. So what do I tell them?
12. AmeliaTell them the truth. We lost a big client, we'll lose money for a few months, and we're being careful.
13. ArjunAnd the Saturdays?
14. AmeliaLet's look at the schedule together. With forty percent fewer orders, you might not need Saturdays.
15. ArjunGood point. I hadn't thought of that.
16. AmeliaOne more thing. Sales is already talking to two new clients. This isn't the end.
17. ArjunThat helps. I'd rather tell them all of it, the bad and the good.
18. AmeliaThat's exactly why I told you first.