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Patch's new owner lays off staff in 1:39 conference call

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Re: Patch's new owner lays off staff in 1:39 conference call

#101

Post by er35826 »

mitchty wrote: post #41
sp332 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say "American" (edit- instead of "non-Australian"). It's pretty common in other English dialects. There's a great series called "The Story of Film" which is narrated by an Irish guy who uses rising inflection on nearly every sentence. It's difficult for me to get used to but I wouldn't give anyone a hard time about it. edit2 - fixed title. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Film:_An_Odyssey It's avail…

Its an american dialect, but its not quite right to call it american. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal

Anecdotally, I've found it's quite common with alot of European ESL speakers. I have worked with quite a few other people from varying countries, and it's somewhat common that they end many sentences sounding like a question.

Re: Patch's new owner lays off staff in 1:39 conference call

#103

Post by protomyth »

codegeek wrote: post #63

This kind of behavior (promoted by HR/Legal) needs to stop. Period. It is not about firing people by conference, phone or whatever. It is about the thanklessness and the attitude that sucks. Does it really hurt to genuinely feel and say "sorry we cannot keep you any longer. Hope you understand". No one is going to sit and whine about being laid-off but the manner of layoffs (in america at least) is getting shameful,…

Its not Capitalism, its Lawyerism. The sad fact that you can get sued for being something other than a robot is horrible. The HR / Lawyer part of our economy is one heck of an anchor compared to the legitimate wrongful termination and employment discrimination.

Re: Patch's new owner lays off staff in 1:39 conference call

#104

Post by mikeg8 »

Zancarius wrote: post #83
wlll wrote: post #28

The next one is a gem too: ~1:55 in: "Abel, put that camera down right now. Abel, you're fired, out." https://soundcloud.com/jim-romenesko/aol-ceo-tim-armstrong-8...

I like how just 30 seconds prior, he mentions somewhat off-handedly that he doesn't care if anyone leaks anything to the press.

I noticed that too, I guess he does care.

Re: Patch's new owner lays off staff in 1:39 conference call

#105

Post by smackfu »

IvyMike wrote: post #52

The fact that it was over the phone is a legitimate insult. The fact that it was 100 seconds long is a mercy.

Most of Patch's employees are remote, since they are "hyperlocal" reporters in small towns around the country. I don't think an in-person lay-off was going to happen.

Re: Patch's new owner lays off staff in 1:39 conference call

#106

Post by saalweachter »

EdwardMSmith wrote: post #56
czbond wrote: post #25

To do it via a conference call? What a piss poor leader and dick move.

I'm assuming this was a call with all the remote staff that edit the individual sites and live in the communities that the sites cover. I don't think they were going to fly them all into a central location to fire them.

For a small company, I wonder how much that would add to the wind-down costs. Fly everyone to Las Vegas for a company offsite/conference, announce the firing at the 10am meeting, give everyone $X00 in extra termination pay up front and tell them to hit the slots.

If you're already planning to spend $5-20k per employee for X weeks severance, an extra $1-2k per employee for the offsite firing might only increase your wind-down costs by 10%.

Re: Patch's new owner lays off staff in 1:39 conference call

#108

Post by [deleted] »

sgt wrote: post #64
callesgg wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They should have used text 2 voice software. That would have made it seam a bit more personalized.

Agreed, I would have preferred: $ say -v "Bad News" "Unfortunately your role has been eliminated and you will no longer have a role at patch. Today will be your last day of employment with the company"

[deleted]

Re: Patch's new owner lays off staff in 1:39 conference call

#109

Post by benched »

I think I would be literally incapable of saying those words in that way under any circumstances. I know that everybody is different. Things like this just make me really, really curious what it would be like to be inside the mind of someone capable of speaking like this, seriously.

Re: Patch's new owner lays off staff in 1:39 conference call

#110

Post by [deleted] »

Zancarius wrote: post #83
wlll wrote: post #28

The next one is a gem too: ~1:55 in: "Abel, put that camera down right now. Abel, you're fired, out." https://soundcloud.com/jim-romenesko/aol-ceo-tim-armstrong-8...

I like how just 30 seconds prior, he mentions somewhat off-handedly that he doesn't care if anyone leaks anything to the press.

[deleted]
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