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.

Amid all the doom and gloom of this story, there is a silver lining -- the remaining employees at RadioShack.

After watching what happened to their co-workers, it's hard to believe that not one employee has updated his or her resume and started to surf the want ads.

The employees now understand exactly where they stand with RadioShack -- disposable cogs who can be jettisoned at the flick of a send button.

And that's the key point here.

If you treat employees poorly on their way out the door, you'll have to deal with the ire of the employees who remain.

It should be no surprise, therefore, that in a Working Wounded/ABCNEWS.com online ballot, 41 percent of employee respondents listed being treated fairly as the No. 1 most important thing to foster employee relations.

Wouldn't it be nice in 2006 if employees could hope for something more than just fair treatment at work?

Apparently not.

Let's hope this is an aberration that won't be repeated.

Quote of the Week

"The rate of unemployment is 100 percent if it's you who is unemployed." -- David Kurtz

Book Excerpt of the Week

From "We Got Fired" by Harvey Mackay (Ballantine, 2004):

"Joanne Kathleen Rowling, aka J.K. Rowling, was fired from some secretarial jobs because she was found writing creative stories on her computer. She used her severance to write Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone while her daughter took naps. When she ran out of money, she received a grant to finish the book. Today, due to the popularity of Harry Potter books, moves, action figures, and more, she is a billionaire."

Blog Ballot Results

Here are the results from a recent Working Wounded Blog/ABCNEWS.com online ballot:

How do you think we should treat veterans looking for work?

   Favor them, 57.4 percent

   Treat them the same as other job candidates, 40.6 percent

   Go out of our way to not hire them, 1.9 percent

Bob Rosner is a best-selling author, an internationally syndicated columnist, popular speaker, and a recent addition to the community of bloggers. He welcomes your comments at bob@workingwounded.com.

This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.