Work, work, work.

[icarus]

I've waited a few days to post this.

I'm at a temp assignment that doesn't feel like tempwork because I worked here last year and turned down a job with them to go to school.

On Monday the manager for our department returned from vacation, and was having trouble logging onto the computer. He was called into the supervisor's office. He returned with a shell-shocked face.

He was fired. Effective immediately. There wasn't a dry eye in the department as he stumbled out of there with a box of his stuff.

How utterly humiliating.

Comments

[christiangirls.livejournal.com]

That is such a terrible thing to do. I've been humiliated like that before. :/

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

He was a manager. He'd been there years. He'd done good work and they were very honest about what was wrong: he pissed off a federal auditor.

I understand. But, geeze. Not even two weeks. Not even an hour.

Icarus

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

Holy crap. I don't even work there, and that's shocking.

Bloody hell.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

He was very well-loved. But it brought tears to my eyes to him treated that way.

Icarus

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

Oh that sucks... Any explanation of why?

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

They were straight with the department. He'd done great work, but he'd pissed off a federal auditor.

That'll do it. But, there had to be a way to leave him his dignity. Let him work the day, then tell him at the end of the day. So he can at least pack up when there isn't an entire department to watch him.

Icarus

[sharp-tongue.livejournal.com]

I had that happen to me. *had to erase several strings of profanity* I was called in just after lunch, after working half a day, and I was told that I could work out the rest of the day if I wanted.

...

"No, thanks."

*more profanity*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Gah. There's no good way to lose your job, but this kind of humiliation is just wrong.

I'd had such a high opinion of the company until then.

Icarus

[venivincere]

Hmmmm. Sounds like Black Friday, March 28th, 2003. People in the department kept disappearing one by one that morning, and they never came back.

Then they called my name...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Egad. I doubt it was any comfort that you had company.

Icarus

[venivincere]

No, not really. I was more concerned with getting to Home Depot before they delivered the new water heater -- I got there just in time to cancel the order and get my money back. I needed it more than a new water heater. Got a good job now, though. Wish it paid more, though.

[dkwilliams.livejournal.com]

I had similar things happen to me the last two company lay-offs. Last one, people kept disappearing and I thought they were taking long lunch hours, till they called me in. While I was in, the guy before me was packing his desk, then while I was packing they called in the third person.

Before that, they pulled everyone in my department into the conference room, told us that 3/4 of us were being laid off, then walked us to our cubicles to get our purses/wallets, and escorted us out. We couldn't even pack our things - they had the group secretary pack them and send them to us - three weeks later, after they'd gone through it all. I lost a picture and a couple personal things that time, and I never took personal things into the office after that.

[srichard.livejournal.com]

God, I love temp work. Have worked in the same sort of office before, where they have me back and I tell them to sod off if they try and get me a job. That's just horrifying, though. Stuff that public is just...yeah. Sounds like very bad management of the whole business.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Sounds like very bad management of the whole business.

I tell you, normally the managers are given so much leeway to find a new job. But here apparently same-day firings are the norm for managers.

Icarus

[srichard.livejournal.com]

Things get weird sometimes, though...I remember my ex, who was a manager, got walked out of the building by security on his last day. The odd thing? He had resigned, and they hadn't wanted him to leave.

[alchemine.livejournal.com]

Ouch. I'm sorry you all had to go through that. My company is known for handling terminations inappropriately, so I've witnessed many similar scenarios, and it's always been awful. During a large-scale layoff a few years ago, we were all forced to sit at our desks for three hours while people's phones rang one at a time to summon them into the director's office, where they would be let go. It was like a combination of Russian roulette and water torture. Stupid, callous corporations.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

That has got to be the worst firing story I've ever heard.

O.O

This is a small, intimate non-profit that provides health care for low-income families. It didn't strike me as the sort of place that would do this.

Icarus

[rockcandy.livejournal.com]

I don't even know these people, and that's still really really sad.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I just ached for him. I was in tears, too, just because it was so hard to watch.

Icarus

[timberwolfoz.livejournal.com]

Ye gods. As you said, they didn't even give him an hour to say goodbye to everyone. And he was locked out, so he couldn't crash the system or anything.

And they're really going to get productive work out of the rest of the department, now.

Is pissing off a federal auditor that much of a biggie?

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Is pissing off a federal auditor that much of a biggie?

It's a non-profit almost entirely dependent on federal funds, so yeah, it was big.

they didn't even give him an hour to say goodbye to everyone. And he was locked out, so he couldn't crash the system or anything.

They were treating him like a criminal, which is just so wrong. The goodbyes was the hardest part.

The department is pulling itself together, but....

Icarus

[icegemini.livejournal.com]

What an awful way to treat someone, especially an apparently well-loved manager (and you don't often find them).

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

My first thought was, "Nope. Don't want to work here."

Icarus

[nadai.livejournal.com]

God, that's awful. I can't understand why companies do this sort of thing. You'd think they'd grasp what a nightmare it is for the people who aren't fired/laid off, even if empathy for the people who are is beyond them.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I've seen both the slow misery firing and the sudden death, and they're both awful.

Icarus

[jaig.livejournal.com]

But why? (:o

[mentalstaples.livejournal.com]

That's really awful.

[madam-minnie.livejournal.com]

Oh man! That's just awful! *hugs*

[alice-and-lain.livejournal.com]

Isn't it terrible how they do it? I was laid off two years ago and the people in the office were separated into groups: the group keeping their jobs, and the group losing theirs. One of the guys losing his was on vacation. They left a *message* on his *answering machine* telling him that he had been laid off.

I'm still furious at that company, even three years later. I doubt I'll stop being furious anytime soon. I hope your manager picks himself up and finds something better.

~Amber

[boniblithe.livejournal.com]

They do that here too. They let you go on vacation, and when you get back, you can't get into the system - a security guard is waiting for you at your desk - and out you go.

I'm scared to go on vacation.

[mousewrites.livejournal.com]

Worked at a tech company one time.

All the animators were in one tiny room, (man, OSHA would have had their heads if they found out) with a white board at one end. One day the supervisor came in and wrote all our names on the board with a green marker. Then he underlined some names in red, and checked others. We're all staring at him like he's lost it; he hadn't said a word at this point. Then he capped the markers, turned to us, and said, "Those of you with underlined names still work here."

Then he walked out.

I though my name was underlined, I quit about a month later.

[lizardlaugh.livejournal.com]

oh man, that's just infuriating. I feel terrible for all of you. Why do people have to be so stupid and insensitive?

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

Holy Shit.

I am shocked reading this. Not just humilaitiing, but outright cruel!