Yesterday, I'd just gotten to work and after a few minutes I noticed my lead, supervisor, and a morning lead emptying out a certain desk in the next aisle.  The girl who sat at that desk was the first to welcome me to my current job.  She'd worked with me at a previous job several years ago, and she's a really really sweet and nice person.  She'd been having trouble keeping her Quality percentage up to standard at work, and it was obvious that they were letting her go or she was leaving on her own.  I'd seen her only ten minutes earlier, so that's what alerted me when I realized they were going through her desk and putting stuff in a box to take downstairs.  Grateful that she'd always been so kind to me, I locked my computer, went downstairs, and found my leadership people with this girl in the HR department.  I gestured for my supervisor to come out and asked if they were letting the girl go--she said yes, and I mentioned how she had always been so kind to me.  The supervisor suggested I should wait out front, as they were going to walk her to the door.

Outside, as she exited she saw me and I waved and we talked briefly.  They let her go due to low quality scores--which is something we are all held to strictly.  She was taking it really well and I wished her the best of luck and hoped things would be better for her soon.  Later in the evening, she e-mailed my work e-mail and expressed disappointment that others she thought were her friends must have seen them clearing out her desk and they didn't communicate with her.  They didn't say goodbye, they didn't say that sucks, they didn't say shit.  She also couldn't believe that our leadership weren't even kind or professional enough to say 'goodbye' as they shoved her out the door.  This is my workplace, folks.

It really sucks when they can the good people.  Even though she was having trouble with her quality scores, she was one of the better individuals in that place, in my opinion.  That gives me one less person to talk to.  Oh well.

How Do You Feel When You See The Nice, Good People Being Fired Or Treated Rudely In The Workplace?

Like leaving.

You are a good man Nutsy!  My experience is that most people want to get as far away as possible, in case the lightning bolts miss their target, and hit them instead.  

If she's incompetent, they made the right choice. Good on you though for not deserting her. She sounded nice.

Not like I didn't already know, but it speaks to the quality of your character, Nutsy, that you noticed, cared and extended yourself to her during a crap moment.

People [in the macro-sense] seem hard-wired to view 'failure' and/or 'bad luck' as something contagious. Their immediate instinct seems to be to avert their eyes, lay low and whisper a spell/prayer to be passed over and remain invisible until the bad thing has passed.

I've often wondered if it is a vestigal instinct/evolutionary adaptation from our most distant past...

As this guy I know might say, "Nutsy--you're alllright!" ;)

[hope your friend lands on her feet..!]

I have Moon and Neptune in 6th House and it makes me really sad to see people treated badly at work. And it also makes me really sad to see people shunned like that.

 You're a good man Nutsy. A True Blue Scorpio.

That.  Is why you are loved here, Nutsy!!!

Scorpios, know...........

What eva said.  You're a class act, Nutsy. 

@nutsy "She also couldn't believe that our leadership weren't even kind or professional enough to say 'goodbye' as they shoved her out the door.  "

I've always had my own business, so thankfully I haven't experienced this, but I know those who have. The thing that chills my blood is being told, "You're done" and then security has you out the door in 10 minutes. It's got to be absolutely jarring. I'd be traumatized.

Awesome of you to be the most decent guy there. It's unethical how bad some treat people once they have lost their job. Hopefully she will find a better job soon , where there is a better more motivating environment!

One other thing I forgot to mention was that this girl had been working there for several years before I came along in 2010, but in the past 6 months they were slotting her to some difficult queues, and even after she'd mentioned she was having trouble they kept her working on those queues and didn't worth WITH her to assist in any of the areas she was having trouble.  I didn't work the same stuff she did, haven't even been trained on it, so I was helpless to give her any support.  But she mentioned she felt our supervisor was trying to seek any reason to push her out...which seems ridiculous if you know the girl, because she's quiet, kind, and isn't a work-slacker like so many others.  They just wouldn't let her work the easier queues until she could sufficiently handle the harder ones.  It is a cruel world, and this workplace excels in the 'sink or swim' mentality.  Haha, I assured my friend that I would be in the same fix eventually, it's only a matter of time. 

Thanks everyone for your nice words, by the way--they make me forget, at least momentarily, that I'm heavily sleep-deprived and am about to risk my life going to and from work when my senses aren't exactly functioning the best.

Have a great day! 

I will fight for anyone I think is being treated unfairly..Gets me in trouble sometimes.

What CP said.

You're all right, Nutsy.

(((((nutsy)))))

You're a good man, Charlie Brown.

That was really classy of you Nutsy!  Probably the only nice thing that happened to her all day.  I feel bad for her.  It's not easy out there.  I don't understand why they wouldn't try to work with her if she's a good employee and has a good work ethic.

If I was able to find work, I'd probably quit in solidarity damn the quotient. I don't think I could handle that kind of job and how awful to be fired and dismissed in such a disrespectful manner, walking her to the door? What kind of awful environment that must be.

I wish her the best.

I can't speak to the quality of work issue as I don't understand the type of work, what is required, etc.   But even if its a legitimate decision to let soemone go, I can not understand these Gestapo Stormtrooper methods of escorting someone around, and clearing their desk out rather than allowing them to gather their belongings.  If they start to make a fuss, or worse, then call security.   No common courtesy...... and then business wonders why employees have a bad attitude or no loyalty.  After witnessing such a scene, I doubt anyone feels better about their workplace.

When I was about 19 or 20 and doing some random office temp work, I was at one particular place for a couple months working in the mailroom.  One day I came in to work, just as one of my co-workers left in tears.  My supervisor explained that she had been let go.  About half an hour later, some people went into my supervisor's office, and SHE was then led out in tears.  That day, the mailroom was cut from 7 people to 2 - Me being one of the 'survivors'.  I felt so bad for them all, and I felt SO GUILTY because I was just a brand new nobody making $6/hr (which of course was why they could afford to 'keep' me).  It was a terrible terrible thing, that whole day I saw people being "walked out" and I just felt like the shitiest shit who ever lived.  Of course it had nothing to do with me, but I was so new to the working world and had no idea how to process what was going on.  I didn't stay long, and the whole company folded pretty soon after.

All to say - It's so hard to witness ANYONE losing his/her job.  It can be devastating.  But, it can also be a new start.  Wishing her all the best.  And good on you for being a friendly face when she needed it!

(((nutsy)))

During my Pluto in the 10th house transit, I learned I had to pick my workplace wisely so that I could be a great fit. So I deeply sympathize with people who are victims of unfairness in the workplace in general.

I'm glad I feel appreciated in my part-time job, and when I do have weak points to work on, I work on them. Rigid performance reviews are not hanging over my head. In fact I always assume my performance is being noted.

Sometimes America seems like such an alien country. I can hardly believe some of the things I read on here about working practices - it's like the dark ages

Well done to you Nutsy for showing some humanity in a horrible situation

The pity of it (aside from the obvious, personal upset) is that, *even if* she was truly unable to perform the type of work being queued for her in a timely, accurate manner...?

How many other necessary roles and positions within that company exist that she would have been capable of performing satisfactorally? At least several, or I'll eat my hat.

But corps have become so compartmentalized, and internally incommunicado...There is little reward or recognition for cross-departmental cooperation and collaboration. It's too much trouble and middle management lacks the know-how/interest in leveraging relationships with peers and counterparts.

It's easier to take the low road, make some abortive attempts at 'remedial training' or 'intervention' and then fill out the pink slip and shrug, "We tried. It is so hard to find good people!" 

Meanwhile, they just booted all that training, years of experience, familiarity with corporate message, mission and culture out the door. They sacrificed an entire brain's worth of "intellectual capital" and traded it in for saddling the company with the UE payments, the hit on their ESD retention records (very expensive, FYI) and the hidden costs of recruiting, training and retaining someone brand new...

It is ludicrous... Insubordination, incompetance or necessary skills/ability within a specialized skill set--you betcha--a company *must* be able to reasonably rely on their workers to perform in order to exist...And a company/business does *not* exist for the benefit of its employees, but to profit. Hard perhaps, but true. The actions described here though, don't appear to meet that threshhold, but rather the costly and wasteful (and demoralizing) 'easy out' of middle management. It galls me to think a useful, dedicated, long-term employee was squandered and cast aside.

[granted I only have Nutsy's version of the story and no other info, but I see it time and again as a phenomenon in business/industry and would wager I'm somewhere in the factual ballpark on this one...]

Oh no! I'm sorry your friend got canned, and the whole ordeal sounds sketchy. ((((nutsy))))

you are a good person, Nutsy, worth your weight in gold.

Nutsy, i'm so sorry about this. You're a very good soul, as many have said. Be careful going to and fro out there. Thinking good thoughts for you.

I really hope she lands on her feet. This happens commonly as CP said. A terrible way to treat people.

I see the Wednesday job kill method is still alive in this scenario. Others who experienced this always seemed to happen on a Wednesday or Thursday. 1-2 days left to monitor what remaining employees say/feel and temper/control it. They don't want 'feelings' or 'talk' going on all week long. And rarely a Friday because they don't want employees stewing all weekend and having fallout on the Monday.

(I am so protected from this crap!)

Nutsy... You are awesome for showing your support. Thank you for being one of the people that care about other people. INTEGRITY.

I shake my head at the rest: corporate world and all that.

My workplace lately seems to be 'headhunting' with their increased devotion to anally micro-inspecting our Quality percentages for each week--especially since we're losing a client in January, and might lose another sometime next year.  Productivity and Quality are the main things they watch us for.  Luckily, I kick ass in Productivity, averaging about 125% daily, but the Quality is sketchy because they're always updating or changing procedures, and when we're supposed to process so many insurance documents an hour, it doesn't give you much time to go over the dozens of procedures to find answers--and, unfortunately, our leadership lacks in speedy responses when we're stuck on a problem. 

acaseofsunburn, that's the worst part.  They COULD have delegated her to something else, but it just seems like they're kind of eager (almost thrilled even) to give people the axe.  Maybe it gives them a sense of power.  The worst part is she's a single mother with a young daughter.  I'm not sure if she has her own place, or if she lives with her parents since her separation from her husband, but I'm really hoping she's able to have things to be happy for come Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Nutsy...  you gorgeous man.  Your empathy towards your colleague is beautiful. You would make a gem of a friend and work colleague.

That was an unkind and unprofessional way to let someone go. Sometimes you are in so much shock and disbelief when this happens and the hurt and anger kicks in much later.

 Is she a Pisces by any chance?

I had something ugly happen to me in February in the workplace this year and I still feel sickened and repulsed by it. Still have bad dreams about it too. However, I will never never forget the kindness and compassion (and tears in the case of 2 women) of those who gave it to me when I was kicked down.

I hope you can give us an update to let us know she is ok.

Soavissima, I have no idear.  I never asked her when her birthday was and they never celebrated it at work.  About a year and a half ago, our supervisor e-mailed us whether we wanted to make known our birthdays or not.  It appears she didn't want to make hers known--I didn't either.  I usually try to take my birthday off from work, haha, it's something I believe should be a mandatory law--everyone gets their birthdays off, paid!  Wouldn't that be nice?

I'm waiting to see if she contacts me again to see how she's doing.  If I don't hear from her by the end of the month I'll use the e-mail she sent to me at work.  The e-mail I received at work didn't show her return e-mail address, so I can't send her anything from home.

I hear ya, I really hope she lands on her feet.  She seemed untroubled about losing her job, which I thought was pretty cool, but things aren't mighty satisfactual on the job front in Southern California, so who knows how long it will be until she has something steady again.  She asked me not to tell anyone at work, so I've kept my mouth shut, but people are starting to find out about her dismissal (one co-worker told me) and a few of them are pretty pissed because she was such a nice person and they didn't bother to really work with her to her benefit.  Our last manager might have intervened to help her, but that girl's gone now and her replacement is still trying to get his bearings.