Fazed, Part II-½

Right. Where was I...

Like I was saying, someone got laid off in a way that made me feel really sorry to be a part of the company, although not quite as sorry as I would be with myself if I were in HR.

The day before (and this is all second-hand from other people who were there, mind), he was in a conference call to hand over his work to another employee in a different office. His boss, in the middle of said conference call, suddenly insisted on making arrangements for a follow-up conference call for 9am the next morning. Other attendees felt some surprise at the odd timing, as they were barely halfway through the current discussion, but most passed it off as nothing unusual, and the call proceeded as per normal.

The next day, at 9am, he came into the office, ready to continue with the follow-up call. But to everyone's surprise, he was hauled up, made to surrender all of his work-access tokens and items, and was summarily escorted out of the office! The instruction had apparently come down from higher authority to prevent his further access to the company's systems, and to inform him that he was no longer required to report for work.

What in god-damned hell is that supposed to mean?

We had a discussion with his boss later that day. Without going into too much detail, it wasn't a nice conversation. Too many cotton-candy words and too many hastily-erected defensive statements made it painfully obvious that things had gotten way too personal. The behaviour of the HR personnel sitting in for the meeting did nothing to improve my general (and specific) impression of HR personnel. I left the room feeling rather soiled by the whole experience, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

I can't find the words to express the disgust that I feel. "People management" is a mug's game, where bombastic words and pretty promises are thrown around in an attempt to give slaves the impression that the "voice of the people" is being heard. The participation rate this time round, for the most recent HR survey, was a palrty 23% as opposed to 90% previously. Management wants to find out what employees think about the company?

I'm sure there was enough feedback to go around in that particular discussion. I'm also sure that very little will change as a result of this nasty little incident - the same anuses will still be spewing the same old shit.

The bright side though, as I (terribly mis-)understand it, is that the termination can't legally be immediate without any proof of criminal wrongdoing. So my good friend will be enjoying paid home leave for the remainder of his term, and won't have to suffer the indignity of having to dissect his own pride and joy piecemeal to spoonfeed his equally unwilling successor.