Lament For The Pink-Slipped

Much needs to be done about the art of delivering bad news (salary cuts and layoffs) in the pandemic with dignity

- Ornella D'souza

The COVID-19 outbreak has not only infiltrated our lives with lexicons such as ‘social distancing’, ‘asymptomatic’, ‘quarantine’, ‘PPE’, ‘comorbidity’, but also catapulted HR terms – ‘furlough’, ‘salary/pay cut’, ‘retrenchment’, ‘layoff ’ – into becoming the new normal. This, despite the central and state governments’ advisory that public and private enterprises should not axe staff or cut salaries.

What’s more bizarre is the manner in which companies are conveying the bad news: ride-hailing app Uber fired 3,700 frontline workers over a 3-minute Zoom call; social commerce startup Meesho laid off 150 executives just days after assuring them their jobs were not at risk. Days after Labour Day, the UP government suspended 35 labour laws for three years to attract investment. Now, 10 other Indian states have relaxed labour laws; decisions that some call ‘reforms’, but central trade unions continue to protest.

Employees’ having to take the brunt of such measures is grossly unfair. So, choosing to be detached, abrupt or sneaky is bound to backfire, as evident from the testimonies on social media (Examples: This tweet from a senior journalist that became popular – “Got a call from my boss… Sacked after 24 years from a company I served with love for more than two decades”. When B2B e-commerce platform Udaan terminated 3,000 contractual staff without prior notice, disgruntled employees formed a Twitter handle @EmployeesUdaan to demand justice).