Ex-Employees Keep System Access After Layoffs

A Sagiss survey finds most former U.S. workers retained some company system access after their jobs ended.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Cybersecurity

Isometric editorial illustration of loose brass keys on a keyring and an open padlock on a plain slate table, suggesting retained access. — A Sagiss survey found 59% of laid-off U.S. workers kept access to company systems until later that day or longer. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Live Poll

Do you trust your former employers to fully cut your access after you leave a job?

A Sagiss survey found 59% of laid-off or dismissed former U.S. employees kept access to work systems until later that day or longer. Former contract and temporary workers fared worse, with 89% still holding some access after their roles ended.

Why it matters

Lingering access to email, apps and accounts can expose sensitive company information after employees have left. The findings suggest offboarding gaps are widespread across the U.S. workforce, not limited to a few firms.

The Sagiss survey reports that 79% of all respondents kept at least one working account after their last day, while 64% could still reach at least one category of sensitive company information. The survey does not establish how many of these lingering accesses were actually misused.

The players

Sagiss

Sagiss is the firm that conducted the survey on access retained by former employees after job separations.

The details

Former employees retained access to company email, apps and accounts, and collecting laptops did not reliably end that access. A third of respondents said it was unclear who was responsible for shutting off their access, and 47% said they used a former employer's systems after leaving, even briefly.

First nine months of 2026: U.S. employers announced 573,195 job cuts, down 39% year over year.

Big Picture

The Sagiss findings show that recovering physical devices has not kept pace with the account-level access risks that accompany high layoff volume. The gap is most visible in the 573,195 U.S. job cuts announced in the first nine months of 2026.

Workers who leave a job may still hold active logins that could reach work email or files, and employers may not realize it. The survey suggests employees should confirm their former accounts have been closed.

The takeaway

Companies should audit account access for departing staff, not only recover laptops. Employees can ask their former employer to confirm that their accounts have been fully closed.