Rough "layoffs" right after the 2009 UFE at CA firms: more details emerge
The sad news I broke ten days ago about "layoffs" hitting writers coming back from the UFE is being discussed in greater detail at mycasite.com.
Click here to go to the article and read more details about the unfortunate "welcome back from the exam, pack your desk up right away" terminations.
What's most troubling about all this is the fact that the website of the firm in question (which one of the unfortunate former employees identifies here) actually has, as of writing, a job posting for a CA articling student.
Uh, what, sorry? If I was drinking something at the time, I probably would've done a spit take all over my monitor on seeing that.
It's more bizarre than anything I saw at Nuit Blanche.
Well, with the possible exception of the young father who wanted to smoke up instead of returning to his lady and child. That was even weirder, but only by a small degree. And this wasn't bizarre at all, just cool.
In the firm's defence, their website states, on the career page that their "structure is unique in Canada. Management decisions are made
locally."
What I read from that is that even if one or two offices treat staff in a particular manner, perhaps the others wouldn't.
Judging from the feedback I've received, offices in both the East and
West went through this nasty shock - particularly with a very
unfortunate attitude towards paying out termination severance. I won't
be surprised if some lawsuits start making way in the news - though my
limited knowledge of this field of law suggests that the cases will
probably be settled out of court for superior severance packages in lieu of an even nastier PR hit.
Even worse, of course, is the news, also reported in the mycasite.com conversation, that at least one other firm employed the completely asinine tactic of informing people of their layoff before the exam. Is that HR department staffed by people who simply enjoy dishing out incredibly brutal practical jokes? The mind spins.
"You're getting your two weeks notice, oh, and good luck on the 13 hour exam."
Honestly, this is madness.
You'll note my hesitance tonight in using the word "layoffs" - I'm sympathizing with Francine's attitude that this is really a cutback deserving another name, since layoffs suggest a seasonal reduction in force whereas the hiring post I found suggests that this is merely more of a cost-saving measure than anything. But then again, "forced termination" and other terms sound awkward and clumsy, so I guess I'll continue using the term whether or not it's 100% accurate. And having added this little note in, I'm going to stand by the fact that words are imbued with the meanings we give them; "getting let go from the big 4" is one of the meanings for the "layoff" so I'll keep using it in this sense. Comments? Click here and leave some.