Over a fifth of former employees reported they could still view employee or HR records after leaving
More than half of workers who were laid off or let go kept access to their employer's systems after being told their job was ending, according to a new survey.
The 2026 Sagiss Managed Security Report: Employee Offboarding found that 59% of former employees in the United States who were laid off or let go said their work access stayed active until later that day or longer after they were told.
More than a quarter (27%) said it lasted more than a week or never stopped.
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%).
Some former employees used that access. Forty-seven per cent said they had used a former employer's systems after leaving, even briefly.
The most common reasons were to see what was still available (16%), to retrieve personal files or contacts (14%) and to help a former colleague or finish a handover (10%).
Unclear responsibility on offboarding
The report identified unclear ownership as one reason access stayed open. A third of respondents said it was not clear who was responsible for shutting off their access, or that no one appeared to be handling it.
Those who could name someone were split between their company's IT team (19%), HR (18%) and their manager (17%).
Travis Springer, president of Sagiss, said companies tend to focus on retrieving physical equipment because accounts are harder to see.
"Most companies are careful about the laptop because it's sitting on a desk and someone has to physically take it back. The accounts are harder to see, and every app a team adds is one more door that has to be closed when someone leaves," Springer said.
But the survey also found that collecting equipment did not reliably end access. Among former employees whose laptop or other equipment was taken back, 82% still had at least one working account afterwards.
What should employers do?
Sagiss recommended that employers put one person or team in charge of the offboarding checklist, with a written handover between HR and IT.
The report further urged employers "look past the laptop" by removing company email and apps from personal phones and ending any synced sessions,
"Change shared passwords and door codes when someone leaves," it added.
For layoffs, the report said access should be shut off at the moment of notice.
"Plan the account shutdown before the conversation happens," Sagiss said.
