4 ms·

I also thing firing the bottom X% is absolutely normal for a business. It's a free market. If you're ranking in the bottom X%, then it's likely your own fault.

• Iftheshoefits 13y ago
  Those are some...interesting...views. 1) There is no "absolutely normal" anything about firing or laying off employees. Some of layoffs/firings will be to get rid of bottom X%-ers, but some will be good or even very well qualified and capable employees (e.g. for salary or budgetary reasons). 2) There is no such thing as a "free market." Or, put another way, "it's a free market" in the same way that China is a pure communist state. 3) You're assuming the person granting the grade--the manager--is being objective and assigning grades fairly. If you think managers do that, you're either a manager, inexperienced, or woefully oblivious (or possibly all three). There are many, many reasons a person could be placed in the bottom X% that have literally nothing to do with his performance or abilities.
• mhurron 13y ago
  Except as others have pointed out, you're not ranked according to the company, but your group. And in companies that like to keep groups small, that means even in groups where everyone is performing well, someone has to be called the bottom. Your manager was forced to blame someone for something so you get fired for being part of a project that had better staffing so it would be less impacted by loss. This setup requires someone to be called deadweight whether that group actually has any or not. Firing a static percentage of the company every year is horrible for morale. Managers who are doing their jobs and managing their people should find out when they need to work with them or let them go. People who should be let go shouldn't be held on to until the next review cycle.