On the heels of the news that 400 Radio Shack employees were laid off by e-mail last week, I thought I'd bring you an article listing other great insensitive ways to be laid off.
I've listed my personal favorite here:
One company herded employees into an auditorium and gave them one of two color-coded information packets. Those with the same color packets sat together. The two groups were then escorted out of the auditorium through different exits. One led back to the office, which meant that group of employees could stay. The other led to the street, which meant the workers should file for unemployment.
Why is this my favorite? Because a very similar thing happened to me. I wasn't led out to the street, but I was given a color coded folder. In my case, we had to sit and watch as each employee's fate was revealed. We waited for our names to be called and one by one we went into an office and got a color coded folder. If you got yellow, it meant you stayed. If you got a teal color, it meant your job was being outsourced. Guess which color I got?
And to add insult to injury, like many other JobSchmobbers, if we were pissed off about it, we were told to read Who Moved My Cheese. We were treated as if we were the ones who didn't know how to be human.
While I was pretty pissed off that particular day, in the end I didn't feel too bad because 1) 1600 other people were coming with me, 2) Who wants to work for a supreme jackass of a company like that? and 3) The company is pretty much in the crapper now.
the confessor(09/07/2006)
A radio station (actually THE radio station when it came to bad working conditions) that I was at started with notices posted like "So-and-so is leaving and we wish them the best of luck..." to a conspicuous empty desk with no explanation from management, to open yelling and screaming as the employee was let go. Finally (shortly before I left), the husband of one of our sales reps showed up and growled that he was there to see the weasel of a general manager. Hearing the sound of the g.m.'s table being flipped over a short while later, I knew we had lost yet another staff member...
twiz(09/08/2006)
Great post! I think it is important for folks out there to learn what these lowlife companies are doing to people. Personally, I think we should start a public list showing companies that outsource and detailing how they did it. I for one would not buy from a company that herded employees out an exit door!
JobSchmobber Community Comments
just me (09/07/2006)
I had a friend who, many years ago, was told to go back to his desk and await an automated phone call. So all these people were sitting at their desks nervously waiting for the phone to ring to find out whether or not they had a job that day. Back then, in the early 90's I could not believe a company would do that to people. Now I see it's par for the course. How sad.
Why is this my favorite? Because a very similar thing happened to me. I wasn't led out to the street, but I was given a color coded folder. In my case, we had to sit and watch as each employee's fate was revealed. We waited for our names to be called and one by one we went into an office and got a color coded folder. If you got yellow, it meant you stayed. If you got a teal color, it meant your job was being outsourced. Guess which color I got?
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