Hopefully, the title of this entry drew your attention! A gentleman phoned me today looking for a job, any job, related in any way to his field. The day before he left for a vacation to visit relatives in Italy, the owner of the firm he worked for called him into his office. Without any prior warning or even a hint, he looked at his longtime employee of 20+ years and said something like even though I have great affection for you after all these years, I am laying you off immediately.
Personally, I would hate to see how he dismisses those he is less affectionate toward. Remember the old adage, with friends like these, who needs enemies? Numerous companies are using the recession as a scapegoat for making change but I am obligated to question such a heartless move. More than likely, they paid his vacation week anyway. Why not let the poor guy enjoy time with is family then share the bad news upon his return? This brings back memories of the first heavy layoffs at AT+T in the 1990's when some cases of suicides were reported. Employers should give thought to what may happen in the future if they end up on the other side of a termination meeting when dealing with staff reductions.
Let us all hope that 2010 will be full of hiring and staff replenishment rather than a repeat of 2009!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment