When it comes to cold goodbyes...
...surely the American pink slip method is pretty damn cold. Here's your pay now sod off...
That's cold: This is how our boss told us our jobs are at risk, staffers claim
Shrinking Cisco Gold reseller Intrinsic Technology has put a bunch of staff across various departments at risk of redundancy amid an organisational restructure. Employees at the Merseyside-based company were last week ushered into one of three boardrooms where presentations were played simultaneously to sales, HR & support and …
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 12:06 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: When it comes to cold goodbyes...
Here's your pay now sod off...
If they're throwing you out then that's far and away the best approach. Some of us have endured many months long reviews, consultations, notice periods during which you're a dead man walking. Invariably you have nothing to do, but often have to attend to avoid being dismissed (yeah, you can argue about the finer points of the legality there, but in practice that's how it is).
As somebody with a number of experiences of this, there's only two things that make getting your P45 (pink slip) any better: (1) As much cash as the company is willing to give you, (2) doing the deed quickly, using a compromise agreement and the cash to get round the crappy statutory bureaucracy.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 12:17 GMT AndyS
Re: When it comes to cold goodbyes...
>...doing the deed quickly...
The same goes for leaving a company voluntarily. My last place held me to a 12 week notice period. Not wanting to burn bridges, I instead picked up 3 months more pay for, basically, wasting their time and my own. Very frustrating, and not a good way to encourage people leaving to be up-beat about the company.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 21:16 GMT Number6
Re: When it comes to cold goodbyes...
It happens in the US. I was once in the lab talking to a couple of people. The manager of one of them came in and asked if he could have a few words and the two of them walked out. I said in jest to the other chap, "Do you think we'll see him again?" Well, I did, but he was on his way out carrying his box of personal belongings. Several others made the walk that day and it took me several more days to realise that the guy sitting in reception all day was a security guard hired for the week just in case there was a problem. My UK colleagues (who'd been given the consultation period spiel) thought this was somewhat funny. I guess attitudes (and the availability of guns) is a bit different.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 23:21 GMT Mark 85
Re: When it comes to cold goodbyes...
I never worked at a place that used the pink slip method.
I think it is more verbal shorthand than an actuality.
It is now mostly just a verbal shorthand. But it wasn't too long ago (back when one got a pay envelope with real cash in it) that the pink piece of paper was real. I think most people felt like they had received the "black spot" if they opened the envelope and saw pink.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 23:32 GMT Sir Runcible Spoon
Re: When it comes to cold goodbyes...
Even though I'm freelancing and they can ask me to leave tomorrow, they would still have to pay me for a month :)
One job I turned up and they had hired another contractor (cheaper) to replace me so I was out on my ear with immediate effect. Turns out the replacement was someone I knew from a previous contract (who was a permie before and this was his first contract - hence the price difference).
It backfired on them though because we had a chat as I was leaving and he was shocked at the abruptness of my dismissal, even though I was actually in a good mood (it was a bit of a tin-pot shit-hole of a place anyway) as I left. A couple of weeks later he left as well and they were well and truly shafted :) Karma's a bitch.
Oh, and one contract I made the mistake of answering my phone on the way in on the first day - turns out they'd changed their minds and I wasn't needed after all - gits. If only I had ignored the call and actually set foot on the premises I could at least have stitched them for a couple of weeks notice pay :)
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 12:30 GMT Anonymous Coward
Email?
One company I worked for blocked company network and voicemail access in the small hours before such meetings. Hence many people knew the moment they went into voicemail to listen to messages and update their daily answer message...
Result, was that the meeting was more about what the individual employees got rather than the company restructuring... Plus it was surprising just how quickly people could clear their diaries and be on time for an 'internal' meeting when forwarned in such a fashion...
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 12:48 GMT Anonymous Coward
Cron Job...
I've been at places where managers had strictly timed meetings with all their employees in 1 on 1's, accompanied by strict timing of lockouts. This was back when /etc/passwd was enough, so we had cron jobs monitoring, and dumping the list of names for each time slot as they happened. Worked really well when the manager ran late.
I've also been laid off by an email I received when I got to Japan before a week long conference, but to be fair, they didn't have much choice. It did let me change my conference badge to put "Your name here" over the name of the company.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 18:50 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: I blame modern schools
Which one? They come in so many pretty colours.
Actually, I know a Primary school teacher who went into her daughters high school and complained, after EVERY single piece of home work over a two week period consisted of colouring in charts, maps or pictures; and this across multiple subjects.
It is the sort of thing I remember from early days at PRIMARY school; but then LOTS of things I did at Primary school are considered too difficult/dangerous for the poor likkle chilun these days, and either removed from the curriculum entirely, or left until they reach high school
From monitoring my son as he went through high school, I realised they werent teaching long division AT ALL, although I understand it has made a come-back in the last few years.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 12:29 GMT mkc
Many do this
This colour based way of knowing your future is not new. One French owned fruity named mobile operator did this all the time. Every 3 months we were called to a meeting, all told at exactly the same time in front of everyone via a power point if you were in or out of a job. Red out, Orange (ironic) at risk, Green no change. Sometimes names were not even on the slide because they forgot about that department. After about 9 months lots of new positions arrived on the slides and after being made redundant people started coming back....sheer madness
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 12:41 GMT Anonymous Coward
Witnessed something similar
Had something similar when Motorola was beginning it's fall, and they were closing a facility.
Got an e-mail one morning (April 1, funny enough) that said to print out the e-mail, report to a very specific room mentioned in the e-mail at XX:XX o'clock, and make sure to have badge.
Show up at the anointed time. Person at the door checks that I have the printed e-mail, and then checks a list. Few minutes later, someone else closes the door, and asks: 'Is everyone in this room that should be? This is room B - if your e-mail says A, go down the hall." Silence for a few seconds. "OK - everyone in this room - you have a job waiting for you, somewhere. The people in the other room... don't."
I don't know how things went down in the other room, but they eventually had to close all exits to the building except one, and install a metal detector due to people getting into knife fights in a part of the building. Nasty stuff.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 12:49 GMT Yet Another Anonymous coward
Re: Witnessed something similar
Best story I heard, a bank was doing layoffs by the time-honored method of cancelling your access badge.
One techie turns up monday morning, badge does't open turnstile - thinks "oh shit" and goes home and starts updating linkedin.
2 days later manager calls and asks where the fsck are you?
I've been fired
No you haven't. Checks with HR and is a fault with your badge.
"Tough" says the somewhat pissed off engineer, I've got a job interview tomorrow - I'll be in next week.
Takes a couple of days off and goes back to a 20% pay rise.
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Wednesday 28th September 2016 04:47 GMT ShadowDragon8685
Re: Witnessed something similar
Bet that boss was shitting himself when he realized that they were making a technical glitch and the signal "you're persona non grata GTFO" the same thing and could potentially be losing valuable employees who thought they'd been sacked.
Speaking of which, I wonder what the origin of the phrase "sacked" is?
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Thursday 29th September 2016 07:32 GMT Bloakey1
Re: Witnessed something similar
<snip>
"Speaking of which, I wonder what the origin of the phrase "sacked" is?"
The version I heard is as follows:
Irish builders on building sites in the 1800s used to carry all their tools in a sack. When they got a start (job for the US) they would leave their tools on site and hand the sack to the gangerman / foreman for safe keeping. When the job was over or when their services were no longer required the sack was handed back to them.
Soo, that was how the term to get the sack allegedly came into being.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 13:31 GMT fajensen
Re: Witnessed something similar
but they eventually had to close all exits to the building except one, and install a metal detector due to people getting into knife fights in a part of the building.
Well, "Two enters, one leave"... that's a pretty effective way of deciding who gets to stay.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 12:43 GMT theModge
I do conference AV
Not witnessed either but the following horror stories from fellow techs:
- (allocated seating) Those of you to the right of the aisle, there is no need for you to attend the afternoon session, you are being made redundant.
- (also with allocated seating)If you reach under your chair you will find an envelope telling you if you still have a job
Mind you I've also seen the inverse: and you're salesman of the year, here have a £25k bonus (to fairly low paid sales droid), but that was a call out the name, follow spot them to stage job.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 12:52 GMT Anonymous Coward
Back in 99
Worked for a clothing manufacturing company at it's centralised IT base in Glasgow. They'd tried to centralise all IT into one building, and from there support multiple factories, lots of business analysts and stuff hired, right little empire building exercise.
Burnt through the years IT budget in 5 months, so Finance sent a guy up, there 3 days and we go into a room for a presentation.
This is the new org chart, those who came from the local IT support at the various sites will be redeployed back there, we'll keep on x contractors from 'supplier' to help smooth this out.
5 of us at the back of the room had all been contract and put on payroll 6 weeks before hand weren't on the chart... Least we got a month in lieu of notice
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 12:52 GMT Anonymous Coward
M&A
My boss had me do the presentation on the morning of the announcement. Party line: It's all change, don't worry, we're taking them over not the other way round. Don't panic! Sit tight. We'll be fine.
After the meeting, I was summoned to another meeting which turned out to be me and a manager from another division. No prizes for guessing.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 13:11 GMT billdehaan
Re: M&A
A similar story was a company that was the result of a merger of two smaller (30-ish employee each) companies. The IT gopher from company A was called in by management, and given a list of those to be terminated, and told to remove their accounts, which he does.
After IT gopher does, they called in the IT gopher from company B and had him confirm all the terminations gopher A had made, and was told to add gopher A to the termination list.
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