LHH Outplacement: Our take (review, pricing, alternatives)

If you're planning a layoff, Lee Hecht Harrison (LHH) is probably on your shortlist. The firm says it helps around half a million people through career transitions every year and offers 1:1 coaching, a job search platform, and progress reporting for HR teams. 

So, is LHH the right outplacement partner for your organization, or should you consider something more tailored to the roles your leavers are targeting?

Below, we give an overview of what you should know about LHH, how much its outplacement programs cost, and whether employers and leavers seem to think they're worth it.

Here's an overview:

1. About LHH outplacement services
2. Our LHH outplacement review
3. LHH outplacement pricing
4. LHH outplacement alternatives (top 4)
5. FAQs

Let's get started!

1. LHH Outplacement services ↑

LHH is the career transition arm of the Adecco Group, one of the world's largest HR services companies. It sells two standard outplacement programs, and we cover the Professional Outplacement Program in the most detail because it's the one built for professionals and managers.

Whichever program you choose, LHH assigns your HR team a Global Customer Success Manager. They help plan the program, set up how leavers are referred, and manage the rollout with you. Your team also gets access to LHH's online reporting system, with reports on agreed KPIs.

1.1 Professional Outplacement Program

Once you sign your leavers up, they get access to LHH's online portal, Career Resource Network (CRN). Your leavers can use it to meet their coach, work on their resume, find job leads, join networking events, and take courses.

Dedicated career coach

Each leaver works with one career coach for the length of the program. The coach helps them work out what they want next and builds a job search plan around their skills and priorities. LHH assigns the coach based on your leaver's location and level.

Resume and personal branding

LHH has brand specialists who work with your leavers on their resume, LinkedIn profile, and overall positioning. There's also a one-day branding session where your leavers can learn to produce a tailored resume, an updated LinkedIn profile, and a listing on LHH's talent exchange.

Job matching (Active Placement)

LHH's Active Placement approach connects leavers with open roles, drawing on the recruitment side of the business. Inside the portal, an AI chatbot called Ella sends job leads based on each leaver's search criteria.

LHH pitches these leads as roles your leavers won't find on job boards. According to one Blind user, the firm says 80% of the roles in its database aren't posted on job search sites. It couldn't say how many were senior and how many were entry-level, though, so if job leads are a priority for your leavers, ask for that breakdown.

Networking and assessments

Leavers can join seminars and networking events through the portal. They can also take career assessments to help narrow down which roles to target.

Upskilling courses

LHH shares a parent company with General Assembly, a tech and business skills training provider. Leavers can take General Assembly and LinkedIn Learning courses while they search, which helps if they're retraining for a different kind of role.

1.2 Job Search Essentials Program

LHH's lower tier is aimed at hourly and entry-level employees who mainly need fast connections to open roles. It uses the same portal, daily job leads, and LinkedIn Learning courses. The main differences are that leavers get consultants on call in place of a dedicated coach, and a single-day branding session in place of the full branding package.

Now that we've laid out LHH's offerings, let's take a look at their pros and cons.

2. LHH Outplacement review (pros and cons) ↑

The first thing to say is that LHH is completely legitimate, though from our research on Gartner Peer Insights and forums such as Blind, the quality of experiences tends to vary greatly. Whether it's the right choice for your organization will depend on who your leavers are and what support they need.

2.1 LHH Outplacement pros

• Suited to layoffs across several regions: If your leavers are spread across different regions or countries, LHH can support all of them under one program. It operates in 66 countries and reports working with 15,000 organizations, including a significant share of the Fortune 500.
• Account management and reporting: You get a dedicated account manager who helps you design the program and runs it with you. They send regular reports on how many leavers are engaging and what outcomes they're getting. 
• Published pricing: While most enterprise providers only quote after a sales call, LHH lists its standard program prices on a public store. This makes budgeting easier.
• Group programming and networking: One Blind user found these group sessions useful for people who are shy, since members practice interviewing together. The same user also made good connections through their career counselor.
• Upskilling built in: Your leavers can take General Assembly and LinkedIn Learning courses at no extra cost while they search. Most competitors charge separately for this or leave it out. 

2.2 LHH outplacement cons

• Assigned coaching: LHH matches each leaver with a coach, so the quality of their support depends on that match. In contrast, IGotAnOffer lets each leaver choose a coach, so they can find someone who has held their target role or worked at top tech companies like Google or Meta. 
• Premium pricing: Standard programs start at $2,400 per leaver and climb past $11,000 for the top coaching tier. If you're running a smaller layoff, that's a significant spend per person. More on this in section 3.
• Thin third-party review footprint: LHH holds 4.2 stars on Gartner Peer Insights, but that’s from a small number of reviews, so it's hard to gauge customer satisfaction at scale.

3. LHH Outplacement pricing ↑

LHH's online store lists the Professional Outplacement Program at $5,200 per leaver for three months, $7,600 for six, or $10,000 for nine. LHH recommends the shorter programs for lower- and mid-level staff, and the longest for more senior professionals.

If some of your leavers don't need the full Professional program, LHH also offers the Job Search Essentials Program for hourly and entry-level employees. It costs $2,400 for three months or $3,000 for six months. For a larger layoff, you'll likely need to go through LHH directly, since the store only takes orders for up to five people at a time.

For comparison, IGotAnOffer's outplacement support is credit-based. Each leaver gets credits (1 credit = $50) to spend on career coaching, resume reviews, interview coaching, or salary negotiation with a coach of their choice. You only pay for the support your leavers actually use.

4. LHH Outplacement alternatives (top 4) ↑

With these LHH limitations in mind, we've drawn up a shortlist of what we think are the four best all-around outplacement services. These are ideal for HR teams that want strong support for leavers without committing to a single enterprise framework.

#1 Best for tech outplacement: IGotAnOffer ↑

Okay, we may be biased here, but a 4.95 average star rating from over 19k reviews is hard to ignore.

IGotAnOffer is a coaching platform whose coaches help your departing employees prepare for and land their next tech role. There are over 400 coaches on the platform, and they've all worked or coached candidates at the very top companies in tech (e.g., Google, Meta, Amazon, etc.).

The platform works differently from a traditional outplacement firm. First, your leavers can choose a coach whose background matches theirs.  For example, a software engineer can practice technical interviews with someone who has run them at their target company. This type of coaching can go further than the general job search coaching most outplacement programs offer.

Second, each leaver gets credits to spend on whichever services and coaches they need, with no fixed program to work through.

LHH makes sense if you need one vendor running a consistent program across multiple regions. If your leavers are targeting specific, skilled roles and would get more from a coach who has done that exact job, IGotAnOffer does that with a wider roster and a money-back guarantee.

Get in touch to set up outplacement support for your team.

#2 Best for large multinational programs: Right Management ↑

ManpowerGroup owns Right Management, which has run outplacement for over 45 years. Some of its clients include Fortune 500 companies. For large transitions, it sits in the same weight class as LHH.

With the Right Management outplacement program, your leavers get access to a PowerSuite Next to book their coaching, take self-assessments, and work through resume and interview material. They can also pick from 18,000+ upskilling courses, which beats what LHH bundles through General Assembly.

If you're comparing LHH against another global vendor, Right Management is the closest match. The main differences are that LHH operates in more countries (66, against Right Management's 50+) and publishes its prices, while Right Management only quotes after a sales call.

#3 Best for transparent, lower-cost programs: VelvetJobs ↑

VelvetJobs started in consumer job search and now sells outplacement to employers like Coca-Cola, Siemens, and Goldman Sachs.

VelvetJobs advertises outplacement starting at $500 per person. It offers standard packages for different career levels as well as custom programs. Only the starting price is published, so you'll need to ask what each package costs.

VelvetJobs offers support for your leavers until they find a new job, with no cutoff after three or six months. Your HR team also gets a dashboard tracking how each person is progressing.

If your organization needs 1:1 support at a much lower per-person cost than the enterprise firms, it's a serious option.

#4 Best for unlimited coaching: INTOO ↑

INTOO is the outplacement and career development arm of Gi Group Holding, a global HR services group. It supports employers in more than 100 countries.

INTOO's main selling point is unlimited 1:1 coaching. Your leavers can use as much coaching as they need for as long as their program runs.

INTOO also publishes its prices. It has two three-month programs for professionals:

• Flex ($850) is for individual contributors. Leavers get on-demand coaching, plus a resume review with a dedicated coach.
• Premium ($1,300) is for managers and directors. Leavers work with one dedicated coach for the whole program.

Both cost much less than LHH's Professional program, which starts at $5,200 for three months.

According to INTOO, 97% of leavers are satisfied with their coaches and find new jobs about two and a half times faster than the national average. Both figures come from INTOO itself.

If you want your leavers to have as much coaching as they need at a lower cost per person, INTOO is the closest fit on this list.

5. LHH Outplacement FAQs ↑

If we did a good job writing this article, you should have found something in the list above that fits your organization's needs better than LHH.

If you didn't, it might be that LHH is the best fit after all. Particularly if you're running a large, multinational transition and want one established vendor handling program design, delivery, and reporting across every region.

To help you make your final decision, let's cover the LHH basics.

5.1 Who founded LHH?

Robert Lee and Robert Hecht founded LHH in 1967 as a small HR practice in Manhattan, with Steve Harrison, an early figure in outplacement, joining soon after. The firm traded as Lee Hecht Harrison from 1982 and rebranded to LHH in 2020. Today it's part of the Adecco Group, one of the world's largest HR services companies.

5.2 How does LHH outplacement work?

You select a program tier for each group of leavers, based on their level and how long you want to provide outplacement support. LHH then assigns each leaver a coach and gives them access to the Career Studio platform, where they can access resume and branding support, job leads, and courses included depending on the tier. 

5.3 Which outplacement service is best?

The best outplacement service depends on who your leavers are and the scale of the transition. LHH is a good choice if you need one vendor to help you run your outplacement program across multiple regions. 

If you want to provide targeted support for your leavers in tech roles like software engineering, product management, engineering management, or data science, IGotAnOffer is a solid option. Its tech outplacement program lets them choose a coach who has done that exact job. For a fuller comparison, see our guide to the best outplacement coaching services.

6. Conclusion ↑

LHH is a reputable outplacement provider, offering 1:1 coaching, personal branding support, job matching, upskilling resources, and employer reporting at global scale.

But is it the best option for your organization? Only you can decide that. Hopefully, this article helps you make a more informed decision.

If you want to learn more about other career support services, check out some of our guides:

• Best outplacement coaching services
• Best career transition coaching services
• Best job interview training services
• Best career coaching services
• Best job search coaching services
• Best tech career coaching services
• Best resume review services
• Best resume writing services
• Best SWE resume review services

Whichever outplacement partner you choose, we hope you'll consider IGotAnOffer, especially if you're supporting leavers in tech roles.

With IGotAnOffer, your leavers decide how their outplacement support works. There's no fixed program. Each leaver gets credits to spend on career coaching, resume reviews, interview coaching, or salary negotiation, with a coach of their choice. And if a session doesn't deliver, we offer a full refund.

Click here to set up outplacement support for your team.