Comments on Brian S Courtney: Handling Layoffs

Thank you for writing this. I have been on both si...

2009-05-26T09:17:06.123-04:00

Thank you for writing this. I have been on both sides of the table during layoffs, and it is no fun for anyone. I think the best approach is honesty and transparency, both before and during the process. Companies need to learn that the layoff process needs to be designed with some care. Laid off employees may be future consultants, customers or networking contacts. Treating these people like dirt and making enemies of them does not make good business sense. It also fails the test of common decency.

Going forward, we all need to realize that this is the future, and that we all need to plan for it. Greed is not solely the province of the powerful; the employee who spends their salary on fancy new cars and big screen TVs instead of laying up a substantial emergency fund also bears some responsibility. I am changing my own habits and cutting back on spending wherever I can while I am still employed. I am also spending more time investigating the financial stability and management quality of potential employers as I consider my next job.

For all the problems that we all currently faced w...

2009-05-25T17:36:47.027-04:00

For all the problems that we all currently faced with, all of which can be attributed to one thing GREED!!!
GREED at the Corporate level to earn more.
GRRED at the Executives level to make and take more bonuses..
GREED at the shareholder's level, to make lots of profits at whatever cost.
GREED by the banking Industry to make more on interest income from people who can't afford it...
GREED from Gas, Oil, and Utilities companies'
GREED, GREED, and more GREED....

Going forward, we all need to recognize that Moderation is the key. Over indulgence of anything can be bad for your healh, so key again is Moderation. This should be a lesson learned by all this time around. Too much of one thing can often choke up your critical flow of revenues, sales, resources, etc..... This too go for outsourcing and offshoring. Too much of which leads to lack of interests in Science and Engineering fields and leads to the long term depletion of brain drain in these areas. Also, it leads to high unemployment of US Egnineers during a time when we need jobs the most, jobs are still being outsourced to places like India, China and H1-B and other Visas abuses...
I just wish that we collectively can learn from the mistakes that lead us into the current economic mess so that we can avoid and reverse the coarse that can possibly doom our economic propserity forever...

Seems to me that you did a decent job. You learne...

2009-05-22T10:58:58.202-04:00

Seems to me that you did a decent job. You learned (but perhaps could have seen in advance) that laying someone off is extremely upsetting to them. Why?

Being laid off, especially in the current economic environment, amounts to forcing your former employees into poverty and perhaps worse. That's right. Some of them will get new jobs, but some will struggle possibly for years. Some will lose their health benefits. Some of them might even die as a result. Think about it next time you get a paycheck.

Brian, thanks for the write-up. It's tough finding...

2009-05-16T22:36:00.000-04:00

Brian, thanks for the write-up. It's tough finding first hand experiences like this, so I appreciate you sharing this.

As for mass layoffs, I think you sprinkle a necessary dose of reality to what it's really like. Granted, sometimes its unavoidable, but I'm sure that doesn't make it less painful for anyone.