Unemployment benefits claims figures for last week were released today: over five million claims were filed. In the last four weeks, more than 22 million claims have been filed. This is unprecedented.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve had conversations with six entrepreneurs who have furloughed or laid off staff. Each company’s situation was different, but they had one thing in common: the pandemic had put immense pressure on them and a difficult decision had to be made in order to survive.

Each entrepreneur told me how difficult the decision was and how gut-wrenching their conversations with their employees were. They shared some of their thoughts leading up to those meetings, how they were personally affected, and how they broke the news. All of them explained the company’s situation, explained how they came to their decision, and treated their exiting team members as fairly as reasonably possible (depending on the resources available). In short, they treated them like people.

Entrepreneurs are optimistic and see lots of opportunity in the world. But regardless of how optimistic we are, we can’t capitalize on opportunity by ourselves. It’s a team effort and the team is composed of people (not numbers). Nevertheless, to keep their companies afloat in turbulent times, entrepreneurs must sometimes let people go.

Today, almost all entrepreneurs are being forced to deal with uncertainty and immense challenges. I think it’s important to keep in mind that we’re all people—not statistics or numbers. This mindset won’t change what must be done, but it could affect how it’s done. Treating people fairly and with dignity during tough times helps them. Being let go (or having their hours or pay reduced) will still be painful, but they will be able to maintain their dignity and feel like a human being.

Next time you have to make a tough call, imagine yourself in the other person’s seat before you proceed.

What lessons have you learned while carrying out difficult decisions?