I'm sure most of you have heard or read by now that Radio Shack (RSH) laid off 400 employees by sending them an e-mail.
And their justification for this bizarre means of communicating this type of news? Radio Shack said it had informed employees in July that layoffs were coming and they would be notified "electronically."
In my mind, that only makes it worse. Can you imagine coming to work every day for a month and being afraid to open your e-mail program? That might even qualify as cruel and unusual punishment.
Surprisingly, although people have been very vocal about criticising Radio Shack for this action, and saying they won't shop at their stores, their stock (RSH) hasn't taken a tumble.
While looking for some more background about this, I came across one blog comment on Techdirt from someone who actually believes that Radio Shack management's actions were justifiable! "Being fired via email can be better than in person because words can be chosen carefully and deliberately."
Maybe if you're the one doing the firing, it is. Even bringing the group into one room and telling them all en masse would have been better than getting an email. What kind of atmosphere does that foster among the remaining Radio Shack employees?
What's next? A text message that says "Don't come to work tomorrow."?
Oh, yeah, that 's already been done.
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