I’ve been writing about business dying since Pluto went into Capricorn, hard core. No one saw this coming the way I did, or even came close. I wrote and wrote and wrote about this. If you doubt me, click the tag and go back a dozen years.
I am currently watching a very large company, implode. They have around 40K employees. My son is one of them.
This is not a “mom” thing. I don’t helicopter ’round my kids at all. My son is also old enough to deal with things like this, but I’m telling you, it’s been eye-opening.
I was able to read of this company’s (detailed) procedure for laying someone off. You’re all locked up. They’ve covered all bases. There will be no lawsuit or response to your emotional reaction, whether it’s yelling, crying or whatever. Just the script. They’ve got an extra person there, acting as a witness to what is said.
They pay two months severance to avoid having to publish a WARN notice, but also how they manipulate people into quitting which saves them paying the severance.
I’m talking about permanent work from home people, who were assured it was safe to move out of state, now need to be back in the office. It’s also the constant announcements that lots of lay-offs are coming but no one knows who or win. What do you do?
Some cut and run, benefiting the company and perhaps themselves. Other wait and see and worry. Everyone tries to keep whatever it is they’ve earned. Stock options vesting, whatever. It’s very stressful on ALL the employees and there are no answers to be found.
Posting this for posterity, I suppose. The rest of this transit is going to be gnarly beyond gnarly.
It happened to my company. I’m still there working from home. We just had a lot of lay offs and our office here in this state has closed down. I think it’s a matter of time before we’re told to move to a state with an office or quit.im holding for a year if I can. I’m over retirement age so I won’t be hurt as bad as some.
I think on average, these are higher salary jobs. Its a huge group of people in a grieving process.
Ouch!!
I agree that there is a shift approaching how about the big “X”on Twitter as it went up and down? I think the billionaires which is what 1% if that , have a change-coming., but they can’t make that $ without thousands of others, so the day their dollars are down ,they just chop those jobs up, not noticing the arms and legs and families that go through the shitter. Nope they don’t notice them at all. Shame on them ,people should be noticed thanks should be given. I don’t see it that way around here. I sell flowers and a woman came to me ,whose come for years and her arms are full of four different bouquets but of course she had to have one of mine too, and when she noticed that my flowers went up one dollar!!!( and my seeds have gone up plenty )she had a fit still buying complain the whole way about that dollar and when our arms are totally full and I’ve been paid ,I told her I’m not the problem for your spending, you are . she can stop coming to my booth and I won’t miss her one year. She actually walked up to me and said you are wearing my glasses and I smiled. Thought she meant we have the same kind and she said I just lost mine and you have the nerve to be wearing them and I said calmly no these are my glasses. She eventually went away because her daughter kept pulling on her but she actually thought I was a woman who found her glasses and put them on shocking the way some people behave shocking .
My mother-in-law, who is on hospice, thinks someone stole her mother’s crape myrtle from her yard and planted it on the grounds of her asst. living.
This is an awful situation.
On the upside: you will be able to see if and when your son is impacted and what will come of it.
I had to fire a guy once. He was playing with the clocking in/out system. Figured out how to cheat.
So I give him the paperwork and all the details collected on security camera and him leaving and how the rest of the team is short handed by him leaving an hour or two early but saying on the computer he was there.
Fun bit. He started stalking me on my way home from work. It took stat troopers talking to him more than once to get him to stop.
I feel awful for the people and families impacted. But I totally get why they have two people there and protocols. Some people go off the rails.
I understand as well.
I forgot to mention, this person listed all the reasons a person is selected to be laid-off… no matter the real reason, you will be told your job is redundant. It’s not you, see?
I know people shoot up workplaces… the author of, The Gift Of Fear, wrote a book on preventing it. The book is not good, like his first, but my point is, I know this has to be managed.
The problem I have is with the strong assurances that cautious people out their faith in. Now it’s an epic rug pull.
It sucks for the average worker who is loyal. Who works their job day in and day out and suddenly their life is upside down. Absolutely awful we rely upon this system for our food and shelter.
I would rather be farming, not just my tiny garden, but then hail amd winds come thru and you are acrewed there too. Life feels like and epic lie lately. Maybe just my burntout self.
I cannot say much (not that anyone would know what I’m talking about specifically) but there are some sectors that are now seeing the different results of the supply chain slowdown/shutdown, meaning, some industries bought up lots of supplies to try to get ahead of potential future supply chain issues. That was a lot of money passed, lots of revenue. Well, as would happen, the companies have enough of the supplies for now and purchasing has slowed so that it’s a downturn.
Another thing I saw is perhaps a facility would be shut down because it’s become a cost center, rather than a revenue center, perhaps not at all helped by the fact that someone hired to head it doesn’t look at trends or the books, and was just a person who checked a box.
This business continues to tumble. It’s clear, when and if it falls, it will take many with it.