Radio Shack's New Commitment To The Internet Includes Firing People Via Email

from the seems-a-bit-harsh dept

Wed, Aug 30th 2006 11:46am — Mike Masnick

In the last few years, there have been a bunch of stories, usually out of the UK, of companies firing people via text message. Text messaging just isn't as popular in the US yet, so it seems that Radio Shack decided to go in a different direction and fire 400 people via email. The company is defending the decision by saying that employees had been told that they would be notified electronically, so they don't see what all the fuss is about. I guess that beats the excuse another company used recently, that being fired electronically was just a part of youth culture. Of course, over in the UK, some of the people who were fired by text message later won additional compensation for being cynically manipulated. Speaking of which, if being cynically manipulated deserves extra compensation, I'm sure there are plenty of people who are probably owed a lot of extra cash.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

44 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

eric, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:25pm

spam
And what if your spam filter catches it? Mine catches a lot of corporate spam.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Dam, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:26pm

Like the products they sell...
Radio Shack management is inferior quality. To not deliver the message of termination in person is cowardly, sleazy and just plain chicken-sh*t.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Steve, 30 Aug 2006 @ 5:33pm
  
  Re: Like the products they sell...
  I remember back when they fired some employees by faxing their termination papers to the store.
  S.S.D.D.
  
  The employees should consider themselves lucky, maybe they can find a company to work for that's not going down the tubes...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 1 Sep 2006 @ 12:14pm
    
    Re: Re: Like the products they sell...
    I agree that Radio Shack is probably going down the tubes. I left RS as a store manager 4 years ago. I miss a lot about the job and the people, but I don;'t being downrated from not selling enough phone cases and CLA's with the phones. Never mind the fact that we would get say, 12 new phones, and 3 cases and 3 CLA's. Pretty hard to accessorize a sale that way. I even did exception ordering in order to get the needed accessories. That didn't work. You can't sell from an empty cart, folks!
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
eric, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:27pm

hey
With only my comment listed...there was an add for the Sexiest Man on Ebay or somesuch...beat that!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
oohhhgezzz, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:30pm

Intersting
Well if I was termiated va e-mail not only would I be getting unemployment I sew them for disregard and it would be degrading me as a person.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2006 @ 3:31pm
  
  Re: Intersting
  It's SUE not SEW - That means you are making something out of cloth!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Q, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:38pm

Text messaging not as popular in the US?
Are you sure about this? I'm sure high school kids would beg to differ.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Mike (profile), 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:52pm
  
  Re: Text messaging not as popular in the US?
  Are you sure about this? I'm sure high school kids would beg to differ.
  
  From the the news yesterday:
  
  "About 40 per cent of the more than 200m mobile phone subscribers in the US now use text messaging, up from 25 per cent in 2003 but still far behind the 60 per cent plus penetration rates in Europe."
  
  So, yup. I'm sure that text messaging is not as popular in the US.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- carl, 30 Aug 2006 @ 2:08pm
  
  Re: Text messaging not as popular in the US?
  Yes, and these are the same kids who are going to be working and getting fired by text and not care.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Kilroy, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:38pm

Being fired via email can be better than in person because words can be chosen carefully and deliberately.

In our politically correct business world, the employer doesn't want any more headache from an already burdensome employee than absolutely necessary. Firing via email gives a chance for both parties to have a written account of the termination and leaves less room for "heat of the moment" exchanges between employer and employee.

As long as it is clear that one has been terminated and that he/she gets the email in a timely fashion, I don't see why this is a big deal.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- inhuman resources dept, 31 Aug 2006 @ 5:01pm
  
  Re:
  Yeah, that's a good pseudo argument for using distance to avoid acting responsibly, and couching it all in positive-speak. You'll do well in the PR dept somewhere.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Fernando, 16 Nov 2009 @ 7:44pm
  
  Re: What a hell are you talking?
  If you work for a respetable company they will let you know that you are not going to be needed no more on person, a profesional manager will not let the "heat of the moment" get on him/her and will control the situation so the other part act on th same way...
  
  Now if you work on a place with a team that is not trained and up to the position, they will do that, because they dont have the skills to handle the situation so take 45 minutes to write a couple of lines are as much as they can do... or you work on a company that dont care for the people that work there and they will not pay some one to do the job.
  
  I was fired from Nextel by emal, and I think it's the most unpersonal and unprofesional way to act, haha... they dont even say what was happening, the email say something like there was a meething on the room 502, and when I walk in there was a group of maybe 50 people waiting, then some one that I never see before just ask us to take a sit, and pum!! she just say "we are going to give you some envelops, put your key and name tag there and on a couple of days we will send by postal mail your personal items from your workstation, thanks and have a great day..."
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
THocas, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:47pm

well
I think for that same reason I can't get hired by text message or email, I shouldn't be fire by it. It just seems disrespectful. Its the "say it to my face" mentality for me.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Brian, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:53pm

waaaa
It saves Money and Time; what's the big deal. I read all the time on Tech Dirt how people want the corporate world to enbrace and support the use technology, but now when they do everyone still complains. Is anyone ever happy?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Tyshaun, 30 Aug 2006 @ 1:06pm
  
  Re: waaaa
  It saves Money and Time; what's the big deal. I read all the time on Tech Dirt how people want the corporate world to enbrace and support the use technology, but now when they do everyone still complains. Is anyone ever happy?
  I agree with you that techDirt is an advocate for increased use of technology, but sometimes I think that's not a good thing. I remember in Engineering School that the first thing they taught us in intro-to-engineering is "Engineering is the application of scientific principles in order to develop practical uses of scientific advancement for the benefit of mankind". To me, technology is a tool that is supposed to enrich our lives, not an object to be hidden behind when dealing with the human element is too inconvienent.
  
  Yes, it is definately more efficient to fire people by e-mail, but is it more humane? Peoples jobs are more than a source of income they are part of their identity, a culmination of years of schooling and work in some cases. To have a simple e-mail sent without at least the courtesy of a face-to-face meeting seems a bit too dehumanizing to me.
  
  Let's use technology for what it should be, the applied use of science to help humans progress. Firing people by e-mail, to me, is in no way progressive, just cowardly.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Mike (profile), 30 Aug 2006 @ 1:47pm
  
  Re: waaaa
  It saves Money and Time; what's the big deal. I read all the time on Tech Dirt how people want the corporate world to enbrace and support the use technology, but now when they do everyone still complains. Is anyone ever happy?
  
  Heh. We don't support the embrace of tech for no good reason. In this case, it seems like a use of technology that could do a lot more long term harm than good.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:54pm

Security Escort
Its been years since I've worked in a place that didn't require a security escort when someone got fired.

I can only imagine the poor security guys face when he gets the email with 30 people listed and he's got to run to escort all 30 of them in 2 minutes.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Someone, 30 Aug 2006 @ 1:13pm
  
  Re: Security Escort
  They probably fired the security escort too.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Marty, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:55pm

Easy to abuse
What about fake firings? If you wanted to mess with someone, send them a e-mail, saying there fired, then watch them come to work puzzled or, not even come back to work, if they believe it!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 1 Sep 2006 @ 12:09pm
  
  Re: Easy to abuse
  Learn to spell "they're", or you'll be fired!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Brock, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:56pm

Radio Shack managment are nincompoops whose ability to stay alive continually astounds me. They must never visit the field, so possibly they didn't know where the stores are to fire the poor saps.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Sherah, 5 Sep 2006 @ 11:55am
  
  Re:
  No one from the stores was fired. It was all corporate level. Basically, if you didn't work for a store, or support the stores directly you lost your job. I whole-heartedly agree, why pay someone an astronomical amount of money, when their job doesn't relate to the running of the business?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Shinanigans, 30 Aug 2006 @ 1:05pm

Committment, . . .
Wow! Firing via email, . . . now there's one I hadn't thought of. You're right, its got it's down side, but really, . . . what about my feelings? I don't have to be concerned about how to handle a certain reaction, or retaliation, or. . . anything! Fantastic! I can sit in front of the television watching family demoralizing - and parent bashing programs from which to glean my email-firing comments and be as cute and insensative as I want to be about it!

Now, if I can just figure out how to get the background applaud and laughter to queue up on the email while the reader is reading it?!!!

GET BACK TO WORK!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Aaron, 30 Aug 2006 @ 1:06pm

Another good example of why Radio Shack just doesn't seem to get it...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2006 @ 1:08pm

to #10
i see that being a big problem. or get a guy who was fired, and then send it back to the manager...or any number of ppl who pissed him off. that's not cool.

maybe add some type of web link, where you click and then enter your employee password or something, and then it'll tell you if you can sleep in the next few days...

however, as mentioned earlier...it seems un professional to fire someone from email, yet to still requrie business interviews. kind of a double standard.

myself, if got my email at 8am saying i was done...i'd spend all day just goofing off. then go on a sexual harassment rampage. since i'm not "part of the company" i'll be good. when a civil suit was brought on...bam i'll sue the company for allowing me to say on the premisis after i was fired. had i not been there, i wouldn't been able do that.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Neal, 30 Aug 2006 @ 1:11pm

Firing practices
Firing practices should be similar to hiring practices. The firee should be called in to interview with at least as many individuals as interviewed him, and they should spend as much time as in the hiring process, only he should dictate the direction of the process. If he needs to grill the others about his shortcomings in order to improve himself, then he can. If he needs to grill them about their idiotic policies, lack of understanding of the business, or their shortcomings then he can.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2006 @ 1:14pm

So what?
The company downsized, the people weren't fired for incompetence or similar. I think if they were fired becuase they screwed up, were caught stealing, something of that nature, then you might have a story. A company trimming fat via email though? BFD. Go out and get another job, stop whining about the method.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yo ho ho..., 30 Aug 2006 @ 2:46pm

I wouldn't mind it... If...
... my deal was the same as those fired by email. Read the article -- the employees got anywhere from 4 months to as much as 9 months severence payments.

If anybody offers me that much to go away, they can fire me by stapling a note on my ass and I'll be okay with that!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2006 @ 3:27pm

TEXT MESSAGING KILLED MY UNCLE!!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ed Woychowsky, 31 Aug 2006 @ 4:22am

What's to stop...
What’s to stop a disgruntled employee with the corporate e-mail directory from writing a script to send “You’re fired” e-mails to everybody in the company? It would be interesting to see how management sorts it out, but then if everybody was fired who would sort it out?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sanguine Dream, 31 Aug 2006 @ 5:58am

Plain and simple
Firing by email (or by any matter that isn't face to face) is cowardly. This is just another way for the faceless corporations to hide in there offices and pass the buck of resposibility on so they don't have to do it. I've been fired by email (and this was back in 2001) and after getting it I just went up to the pansy and confronted him on why? Yes we didn't like each other at all and had done some things that allowed him to fire me with good reason. But good reason or not firing by email is a sign of a pussy ass coward!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Michael Krigsman, 31 Aug 2006 @ 7:58am

Incredible
Sure, take the easy way out.
Michael Krigsman
http://projectfailures.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Brian, 31 Aug 2006 @ 9:24am

Just another step back
Its just another way RadioShack shows how messed up of a copmpay it realy is. With each step RadioShack takes in its "turnaround" plan it seams they take a step further back. They try to compete with the "big box" companies but fail to realize they are not able to compete with them because of their small store format. When RadioShack realizes it cant beat them and trys to just be what it was in the 90's, a great place to go for answers from knowledgable sales associates and cool gadgets, maybe they will one day become great agian.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
ron ridgeway, 31 Aug 2006 @ 1:02pm

Radio shacks in the sewer lately
They are no longer the company that made them successful. They are more a Best Buy than the electronics supply store they used to be. Ham operators have abandoned them in droves. New Radio Shack slogan: You got questions? We got cellphones.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ivan Bezukoff, 31 Aug 2006 @ 2:11pm

Radio Shack email
For some of us a few years ago your company was your home away from home. You were loyal and put in that extra mile. Today if it's not to late to grow up; and realize your work place is just a place of work, period. You never leave anything there that you might have to go back and get. Bring the required equipment you have to use to get the job done and then take it home at the end of the day. If the company insists you use certain tools then they should provide them. If they get paranoid about you leaving with your pack; insist that they examine it throughly, and then start looking for a new job that night.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
robert marbach, 31 Aug 2006 @ 5:01pm

firing of emplyees by email
I think it was in real bad tatse. I,ve been a customer of yours for over 30 years, bot I won,t cross your threshold again, An irrate former customer
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- sandy, 31 Aug 2006 @ 5:46pm
  
  Re: firing of emplyees by email
  Send that comment to them, like I did.................... rscwebmaster@radioshackcorporate.com
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Brian, 1 Sep 2006 @ 6:43am

re: Waaaaa
I still don't feel that getting fired by e-mail is any more demoralizing than getting fired in person...at least not to me. I've never been fired, so maybe I just don't get it. But I could see how sitting there getting fired face to face in front of the peers I have worked with for years and years could be WAY more demoralizing than getting a simple e-mail where I could just collect my things and go home without having to look into the eyes my HR manager that would have that look of fake care on their face. In fact, maybe they are doing me a favor by helping my self esteem...? Bottom line is getting fired would suck in most scenarios no matter if by text, e-mail, fax, telegram, or tap on the shoulder on a Friday afternoon.

Now, like that person said above - get back to work [before you get fired]!!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
RiK the ruler, 20 Nov 2006 @ 6:19pm

misspellings
you goofs who worry about spelling in these forums have wayyyy to much time on your hands.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
radioshack employee, 15 May 2007 @ 12:38pm

WHY?
Why does RadioShack get doged on so much? RadioShack layes off 200 employees. So!!!. Everyone of the employees got huge severance packages. I don't know of any large company in the world that hasn't fired anyone by email before. But RadioShack is the only one that hits the news for it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
es58, 11 Jul 2007 @ 6:58am

fired by e-mail
Being fired is bad enough. But just thinking of having not read your e-mail for a day, (or more), having put in a full work day (or more) and then reading your e-mail to discover you've already been fired. Wouldn't like that much.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
mary Zimmerman, 9 May 2009 @ 7:45pm

radio shack sucks as a employer
My son worked at radio shack for 1 1/2 years. He took training for assistant manager, and was moved to a different store, and brought that store up to number 2 in the colorado (aurora area). He was fired because he used a $7.00 radio shack gift card that was given to him by a friend. Another employee was fired cause he didn't sell enough cell phones. That guy was there 14 years. Sounds to me like this district manager, was scared of loosing his job, cause my son and his friend could sell, and it made the district manager look bad! Radio Shack uses fear of firing , as a way to get employees going, if they would just use reward instead, they would be a better company. I bet their unemployment rate is low, well good for them, I hope they sink in this economy. Sounds like they are because of flimsley excuses, they use to get rid of good employees! Radio Shack is not a decent business to deal with!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mary Mitzan, 29 Jun 2009 @ 8:49am

Buying an adaptor for a CD Player
I Purchased a CD player 5/30/09. I paid $42.79. I had to order an adaptor for the car. That was done. To be notified by phone on Friday 6/5/09. Notification never happened !! I drove back 12 Miles to check and there it was on the back shelf. I got that & A plug in for electric And paid about %52.00. Then I needed the adaptor!!!(for both). The kid that waited on me jumped from me to another customer that was being taken care of by the other woman clerk.This happened the first time I went in also, But I ignored it, I was in the store for 49 minutes. While he jerked around checking the connector tips. Completely loosing his train of thought,of which by this time, I realized he had none. The other clerk was completely aware of this situation.Did not speak or tell him anything. By the way, when I left after buying the car & House adaptor, he told me I had to bring the CD and adaptors back to be matched up. Now this has been my third trip. 72 miles. Then we played the above game. I eventually, before loosing my temper,Put it all back in my bag and left, I was not alone. My friend was mezermised by this employees performance. I found one of my reciepts. Can't find the other. I am going back for a refund of everything. We'll see what happens next. I will then go to Walmart and get what I want, I have always used Radio Shack all my life. Had little or no problem. I am 65 years old. I will drive the 24 miles to correct this problem. Fair Warning. The store is Santa Fe Electronics, Inc.168 S, Lawrence Blvd,Keystone, Fl.32656 ID#74897339,net ID:518 Retrieval Ref:915814201754,Trace audit:201754,settle date:0531. I paid with a debit card through Capital City Bank. Hopefully you will look into this matter. Mary Mitzan 8713 SE County Road 325,Hampton, Fl.32044
[ link to this | view in chronology ]