Unbelievable corporate stupidity.

[NM_Shooter]

Here in town, at a previous company where I was employed, I still have many close friends.  I heard today that they all received an email from the CEO of this company which was written at 1a.m. this morning.

To paraphrase, this email said something to the effect :

"We will be transitioning a large portion of our jobs to Asia.  As such, between now and Friday C.O.B. you can expect a significant reduction in headcount for our North American offices".

If telling people three days in advance that they might be laid off is not asinine enough, the email concluded with encouragement to "stay focused and on-task through these trying times".

What sort of sociopath moron would write something like this???   

All my friends are completely distraught.  These are also highly trained and technically astute workers.  (These are folks that have designed everything from CT scanners to synthetic aperture radar systems, to F18 flight controls and weapons systems.  They have literally driven the process curve for electronics component technology for 20 years.  There is not any dead wood that I can think of.  I've heard rumors that cuts will be 10 to 20%.  BTW... they had layoffs last year as well, and wouldn't you know it... very, very little management affected.  Even if these folks don't get cut, the morale is at a point such that I believe there will be a mass exodus of the brain trust engineers to other companies.  They are fed up and I don't blame them.

I'm not really surprised that this is happening, just very disappointed in the way that it is being handled. 

What a sh!tty way to do this.

[Curtis]

Well, those last three days I would "Stay focused" on corporate sabotage.

[pagan]

"stay focused and on-task through these trying times".

What...these next three days?

[MountainDon]

I feel for your friends, Frank. Crappy deal.

At least the bank where our son works is reducing costs by eliminating some low and mid level banking center managers. They are not touching the regular staff that actually deal with clients.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Stupid.  My husband came home the other day and there was a letter from the corporate office in the mail.   It was on fancy corporate stationary and informed everyone that because of the pinch of the economy, they are going to stop matching their 401K funds.  The letter went to all the thousands employed by the company nation(world?)wide, whether or not they even have a 401K or whether or not they are in one of the plants slated to close later in the month.  DH figured up the postage and paper costs and reckons that they could still be matching 401Ks if not for wasting an inordinate amount of paper and postage, especially considering that a lot of the folks who received it didn't even need notification, and considering they could have done it FREE by corporate email if they were really in such a tight spot.

[MountainDon]

   There may be some sort of legal reason for requiring a paper letter. Financial things and corporate changes regarding employee benefit policy can be funny like that.  Sometimes email notifications can only be used if the person has opted-in to that option.


As for being laid off or fired I personally believe that a personal meeting, in a group if necessary, is preferable to a cold email. It can be uncomfortable for the manager involved, but that comes with the managerial territory.

[ScottA]

The last job I had, several years ago, I had to lay off 30 people. Not fun. A week later I was laid off with no notice.

[rwanders]

Exxon had an interesting layoff announcement methodology several years back in Houston----employees were told to return to their offices and close their door and then wait for a phone call which would tell them to pack their personal belongings---simultaneously a security guard would arrive at their door to escort them out of the building----no one was to go out of their office while they waited for "the call" or until the end of the day, whichever came first----it took the whole day to make all the calls.  Exxon's version of water boarding.

[MountainDon]

Yeah, that reminds me of a downsizing episode at Sprint a number of years ago. Mid level managers were summoned to the center directors office, told they were being canned and then the security officer would escort them back to their work station to clear our their personal effects. Then escorted to the building exit without even being able to say goodbyes. Reminiscent of the KGB knocking on the door in the dead of night.

After that round the director received the same treatment. Replaced with someone who cost less. All brought on by a new "hired gun" CEO, brought in to reduce costs. After meeting him in person, I stopped at the banking call center down the road and got a better offer right away.

[pagan]

I had to lay off a pregnant woman whose husband had lost his job a couple of months prior. She broke down and I almost called for an ambulance because I thought she was going to miscarry. I quit a month later and have refused any promotion that would put me in a position where I would have to lay off anybody again.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Exxon had an interesting layoff announcement methodology several years back in Houston----employees were told to return to their offices and close their door and then wait for a phone call which would tell them to pack their personal belongings---simultaneously a security guard would arrive at their door to escort them out of the building----no one was to go out of their office while they waited for "the call" or until the end of the day, whichever came first----it took the whole day to make all the calls.  Exxon's version of water boarding.

That sounds about right.  My mom has worked for Mobil (now of course, Exxon Mobil) for more than 25 years.  Ever since the Exxon takeover, they've had stuff like that happen.

[pagan]

I worked at an investment bank in NYC and you'd find out you were laid off when you showed up for work and they took your ID in the lobby and wouldn't let you in the building.