Remove access, keep the data. On the day someone leaves, sign them out and reset or block their account, but do not delete it until mail, files and recordings are transferred or retained. Deleting a user is the step that loses data: Google lets an admin restore a deleted account for up to 20 days, and Microsoft 365 restores a deleted user with all their data only within 30 days. After that, anything not transferred is gone.

Your options, by system

System Keep the data Restore window if deleted
Google Workspace Suspend or archive the user; or transfer their Drive files to another user, who becomes the owner 20 days
Microsoft 365 Convert the mailbox to a shared mailbox (no license needed up to 50 GB), or place a hold so it becomes an inactive mailbox before deleting the user 30 days
Zoom Transfer cloud recordings to another user before deleting Recordings of a user deleted without a transfer are permanently deleted

An offboarding order that keeps records

  1. Block sign-in and sign the user out of all sessions.
  2. Transfer or retain mail: shared mailbox, inactive mailbox or archive.
  3. Transfer file ownership: Google moves only files the user owns; shared-drive files are unaffected.
  4. Transfer recordings and calendars where your tools allow it.
  5. Hand over admin roles and shared credentials the person held.
  6. Delete the account last, after checking the transfers.

Microsoft 365 details worth knowing

  • A mailbox must have a license before you convert it to a shared mailbox; you can remove the license afterwards if it is under 50 GB. An Exchange Online Plan 2 license raises the limit to 100 GB.
  • An inactive mailbox requires a hold or retention policy applied before the user account is deleted.

The records stay with the company

A layoff moves knowledge out of the company, but mail, documents and tickets stay. They are company records, and kept properly they remain useful: for the team that remains, for legal holds and, for some companies, as de-identified data licensed to AI developers.

Questions people ask

Do we have to keep paying for a laid-off employee's license?

Not always. In Microsoft 365 a mailbox converted to a shared mailbox needs no license up to 50 GB. In Google Workspace, archiving or suspending keeps the data; check your plan's licensing for each option.

What about meeting recordings?

Zoom says recordings of a user who is deleted without transferring them skip the trash and are permanently deleted. Transfer recordings before removing the user.

Sources

  1. Google Workspace Admin Help: Delete or remove a user
  2. Microsoft Learn: Restore a user
  3. Microsoft Learn: Convert a user mailbox to a shared mailbox
  4. Microsoft Learn: Create and manage inactive mailboxes
  5. Zoom Support: Recovering deleted cloud recordings

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Part of Layoffs and restructuring.