6 ms·
Wow. That was incredible. The monotonous way in which the message was delivered, the complete lack of emotion and empathy, is appalling. Notice she did not apol
by pvnick 13y ago
Wow. That was incredible. The monotonous way in which the message was delivered, the complete lack of emotion and empathy, is appalling. Notice she did not apologize nor express any condolences beyond declaring the new unemployed state of those people to be "unfortunate." Without knowing much about the situation (I only listened to the recording), and leaving myself wide open to be corrected by someone with more insight into the background, I believe the word cowardice would be a pretty good description of what's going on here.
- giarc 13y agoI was confused to whether this was real or in fact just someones audition tape for the George Clooney movie "Up In The Air".
- maerF0x0 13y agoI've often heard that apologies in various contexts can be used as evidence for litigation (eg, saying "oh sorry" after an auto accident) . Its a sad state of affairs, but people have to protect themselves from idiots and the courts they convince.
- smackfu 13y agoI think that's more in the sense of "oh sorry, I didn't see you!" Which is an admission of guilt.
- tedivm 13y agoI hear this all the time but have never actually seen evidence for it. Can someone actually back this up?
- berberous 13y agoHere's a law review article that discusses the issue: http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/research/JLPP/upload/Helmreich-final.pdf http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/research/JLPP/upload/Helmre... That said, I don't think there would be any issue with the woman in the recording saying something kind and generic, like "I feel for you, and I am sorry to have to do this."
- fragsworth 13y agoThat doesn't apply here, the context is very different.
- streetnigga 13y agoCitation would be needed since I've never seen court insist that the ability to feel sorry (or just saying it to placate others) means guilt for an accused act. Edit: Wouldn't that be something though? It would enable someone to argue innocence due to lying wholesale to someone's face saying you were sorry. Sure you'd have to admit to being a liar in court but whatever. After winning slam dunk since this venue is apparently void of evidence, say sorry to the court for the problems (leave the judge wondering) and call it a day.
- rayiner 13y agoLawyers tell you not to apologize for fear of what else you might say while apologizing ("oh I'm so sorry, I was on my cell phone!"). It's not because courts or juries will interpret a mere "I'm sorry!" as an admission of guilt.
- jyz 13y ago"Best of luck!"
- sneak 13y agoI heard it as coldly professional. What, do you think they'd want a hug? I object to your use of "appalling". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7zkd0kRS4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7zkd0kRS4
- notahacker 13y agoOne can avoid outpourings of faux sympathy without treating their email account termination as a higher priority than saying thank you.
- alttab 13y agoAn example would be nice.
- rizzom5000 13y agoI agree, and if I were the one losing my job I'd prefer to hear the cold hard facts rather than artificial consolations from someone I've likely never met before. The fact that those cold hard facts were disseminated via conference call, however, is not something that I find professional unless we are talking about the layoff of remote workers etc. - and even then I'd prefer a personal phone call.
- reeses 13y agoAfter "you have no job," all they want to hear is dates, severance, and benefits. Anything else is just wasting everyone's time, because they are in their own heads and not listening.
- alttab 13y agoThis. What else was to be said? Really, what else could you say? "I'm sorry" Are you though? "You are a really talented worker" like that matters? The relationship is a business one. Don't get confused. You are gone. You care about when, your shit on their computers, and money. Why spend a week laying people off when you can do it in two minutes? I have faith in the new management yet.
- stock_toaster 13y agoI think it was more likely that she was simply reading from a prepared text/script.
- leterter 13y agoSome people are more equal than others.
- mesozoic 13y agoIn today's highly litigious environment managers and employees don't get the luxury of sympathy many times.