You may not have much use for AOL as a corporation, but its employees, as people, probably deserve some applause – they’re handling a huge round of layoffs quite well.
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AOL’s Firing Strategy The Subject Of Ridicule
I’m sure there’s no universal reaction to 2,000 people getting fired, yet this development has resulted in a lot of jokes and funny t-shirts. Take the “Layoff Wonderland” song as one of the former. Many of the latter feature Monty Burns and Waylon Smithers of “The Simpsons”; they’ve often been compared to CEO Randy Falco and COO Ron Grant.
And it’s not as if AOL has done anything to warrant a less critical treatment. Kara Swisher “interprets” a memo from Falco, and the first line translates to “Um, what was your name, again?” This, mind you, is a communication that effectively ended many people’s careers.
Also, Henry Blodget posted a past version of a “you’re getting fired email.” It simply states, “You are required to attend a meeting tomorrow at 9:00am in room 53A:A00. Please make sure that you are available to attend.”
It seems that AOL really does lack a personal touch, but at least this has given exiting employees something to laugh about.
