Radio Shack's New Commitment To The Internet Includes Firing People Via Email
from the seems-a-bit-harsh dept
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.
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spam
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Like the products they sell...
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Re: Like the products they sell...
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...
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Re: Re: Like the products they sell...
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hey
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Intersting
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Re: Intersting
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Text messaging not as popular in the US?
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Re: Text messaging not as popular in the US?
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.
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Re: Text messaging not as popular in the US?
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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.
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Re:
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Re: What a hell are you talking?
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..."
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well
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waaaa
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Re: waaaa
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.
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Re: waaaa
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.
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Security Escort
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.
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Re: Security Escort
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Easy to abuse
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Re: Easy to abuse
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Re:
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Committment, . . .
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!!
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to #10
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.
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Firing practices
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So what?
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I wouldn't mind it... If...
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!
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What's to stop...
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Plain and simple
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Incredible
Michael Krigsman
http://projectfailures.com
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Just another step back
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Radio shacks in the sewer lately
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Radio Shack email
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firing of emplyees by email
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Re: firing of emplyees by email
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re: Waaaaa
Now, like that person said above - get back to work [before you get fired]!!!!
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misspellings
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WHY?
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fired by e-mail
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radio shack sucks as a employer
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Buying an adaptor for a CD Player
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