Offboarding gaps leave laid-off workers with system access

The findings come as US-based employers announced 573,195 job cuts in the first nine months of 2026, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, though that total is down 39% from the same period last year.

Contract and temporary workers reported the most lingering access. Among respondents whose contract or temporary role ended, 89% still had some access and 79% could still reach sensitive company information.

How an employee left made little difference. Those who resigned and those who were laid off or fired reported lingering access at the same rate, 78%.

Across all respondents, 79% said at least one work account or access point kept working after their last day, according to the report.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) could still reach at least one category of sensitive company information, including customer or client data (29%), financial records or payment systems (26%) and employee or HR records (22%).