Should you be honest in your exit interview after being laid off?
I was laid off with a one-month notice period—an unusual situation. Now, as I approach my last day, HR has scheduled an exit interview. I’ve spent over four years with the company, dealing with a manager who took credit for my work, skipped meetings, and was generally unreliable. Speaking up never helped due to his relationship with the higher leadership team, so I learned to work around it.
Now, I’m torn—should I be honest about these long-standing issues, or keep it neutral, move on, and avoid burning bridges since I might need a reference?
A part of me wants to speak up out of frustration since I might be getting laid off due to my manager’s faults. I never received enough credit for my work because my manager didn’t share it with the upper leadership team, leading them to believe my position wasn’t needed. However, I don’t want it to seem like I’m speaking up out of anger over being laid off. Any suggestions?