Working Wounded Blog: The Cyber Pink Slip

Sept. 7, 2006 — -- Did you ever have an inkling that something bad was going to happen?

That a nightmare was just around the corner?

I've had that feeling for a few years, and last week it finally came true.

My nightmare was that it was only a matter of time before a company would do a major employee layoff via e-mail. Yes, the dreaded electronic pink slip.

There is one certainty of being a workplace pundit: Your worst fears are always realized.

Unfortunately my dream turned prophetic last week when RadioShack laid off 403 workers via e-mail.

I guess you can never go wrong betting on the shortsightedness and meanness of corporate America.

Ain't technology grand?

I was contacted by ABC Radio to comment on this layoff by e-mail.

My initial reaction was to say on air that RadioShack's move proved the company's employee relations were even shoddier than its products.

The more I thought about what I'd said, however, I realized that it just wasn't sarcastic enough.

People's jobs are their livelihood, their sense of meaning, and, at the very least, a great way to occupy eight hours a day.

For a company to not even deem a layoff to be worthy of a face-to-face meeting with a supervisor or human resources, well … there is a new group of corporate executives who need a slap across the face.

Or even better, they deserve an electronic pink slip themselves.

I'm not advocating that companies never let people go.

I realize that our economy is turbulent, and that layoffs are sometimes required -- hopefully as a last resort.

Alas, sometimes layoffs are a necessary move.

But here are ways to enact a layoff that are acceptable -- give plenty of warning, offer generous severance packages, offer career-placement assistance, and extend access to benefits for as long as possible.

Any of these things ease the sting of losing a job, and they will bolster the spirits of the remaining workers who may fear for their jobs.

It's a no-brainer from the HR perspective, rather than the brain freeze that RadioShack apparently suffered.