Monday, June 15, 2009

Layoff Tales

Layoffs continue unabated in my workplace, and though the quantum has somewhat reduced off late, the manner in which some cases were handled border on comic and brainless

* It was noticed that a recently married female was getting a small bulge in her stomach. On being asked if she was expecting, which she confirmed, the management was bewildered as they did not want to give maternity leave at the time of cost-cutting. Before she could act and apply for the due maternity leave, management acted faster & laid her off.

* In the ongoing restructuring one employee was offered an international assignment, which he promptly took. Later there were visa complications as the firm opted for a low-cost visa instead of the normal business one. Since the visa did not come on time, our friend was asked to leave

* An employee could not log on to her system in morning & contacted IT for help. The IT helpdesk told her to contact HR, since her system was blocked as per their instructions. HR when contacted, in turn blamed IT, since they had got her last work date wrong. It was only then that this employee discovered her days were coming to an end.

* In the annual day event, the employee who won the top prize of a free trip to Switzerland was asked to travel & claim before end of the month. When the employee, who was planning to travel in spring, enquired the reasons for suggested early travel he was informed that reimbursing later will not be possible since by then his employment would have ended!

* A project team was asked to complete the scheduled work on time, which they complied with to the hilt, working their ass off to finish ahead of schedule. They were all well rewarded with recognitions & awards et all. Later all of them were laid off; apparently work was finished much earlier than planned which expedited their axing

* An employee was once having a coffee chat with his boss where he mentioned that thankfully he does not have any family responsibilities & liabilities now & can look forward to life. After few days his boss called him & informed that he is being laid off, mentioning that this should not hit him now that he is free from responsibilities!!

As increasingly more guys are being shown the door, expect some more interesting tales to come

10 comments:

  1. today is ur lucky day.... you will be awarded...check my blog for more...this evening :)

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  2. I enjoyed reading your post. Tales from the work are always pretty much interesting.

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  3. wow, some of these stories are insane. Two days ago, 14 intern attorneys in London had a voice mail waiting for them when they got to work. The message? You're laid off.

    incredible.

    www.lawshucks.com/laidoffdiary

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  4. Axe effect... truly... feel sorry for the pregnant lady though...

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  5. wow, I just got a hate comment on my website (but it praised you!) how funny...

    ah, nothing like hate comments to know you're doing something right (or would that be something "write"??) ok, that wasn't funny.

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  6. The lay off thibg is scary, and though the reasons cited by you are hilarious, I am sure its pathetic for the guys being laid off.

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  7. Whoa!!! What organisation is this??

    Feeling sad for all the employees who have got laid off....

    Enough of the recession already!! :(

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  8. :-O such shocking tales. EACH ONE OF THEM! I was getting minor attacks here! I'm.. advertising this post on my link for a while. This scare is worth a read..!

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  9. Oh geez, this sounds simply terrible!! Is this what it's coming to? When is improvement expected??

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