Fired about the public corporation(s)

This week the firm I work for announced that they were going to cut 15% of their workforce. Now, I am no stranger to layoffs, having survived about six rounds of layoffs back in 2001-2002 at my then employer. But, it is always interesting to see how these things work.

Back in 2001 the firm I worked for laid off a whole lot of people, good number of them were staffed on projects at client sites. They all were given an hour or two to get out. And, they left without any opportunity to transition their work. And, we were left to figure out how to keep the projects going. But, they did get better over the next few layoffs. They started asking folks who were on projects to stay on till the end of the assignment in return for a better severance package.

As for the current saga, I believe we will be told over the next two weeks if we are affected. Now, I am not sure how they released the number to the public if they have not identified who is staying and who is going. And, why would you keep the employees waiting for two weeks. I bet the employees are going to be very productive during these two weeks.

The options backdating scandals seems to be picking momentum. I wonder if there would be a stock buyback scandal soon. A number of corporations are doing buybacks claiming the stock is underpriced. At the very same time senior management is cashing in on their options. Nothing illegal about selling the options if you have filed the necessary papers. But, is it ethical. And, I am sure some of these guys can co-oridnate their sale with the planned buyback well in advance.