HR / People
Shared HR, payroll, and benefits infrastructure rarely shrinks in step with headcount — and partial-FTE roles are the hardest to cleanly split.
People-related stranded costs come from two places: shared corporate functions — HR business partners, payroll, benefits administration — that support the divested unit alongside others, and roles that split their time and can't be cleanly assigned to either RemainCo or the divested business.
- Shared HR business partners and centers of excellence sized for pre-separation headcount
- Payroll and benefits administration platforms and contracts
- Partial-FTE roles — e.g. a finance manager who spends 30% of their time on the divested unit
- Severance, retention, and change-of-control costs triggered by the transaction itself
Example: In the Golden Hour demo, 8 shared HR business partners are only partially allocable to the divested unit — a common pattern where the stay/go decision for a role isn't binary, and the honest model shows a range rather than forcing an artificial 100%/0% split.
Typical persistence: 12–24 months, until roles are backfilled, eliminated, or the TSA covering them expires.