This has to be a new low.
A company -- in this case the Kansas City Star newspaper -- feels the need to lay off an employee. Instead of making the decision themselves, the Star management targets two reporters and tells them to decide among themselves which one gets the heave ho.
Layoffs can be ugly no matter how they are handled. Lives can be ruined.
But the Kansas City Star might have taken the stress of being laid off to a new level by telling at least two employees recently for them to determine which one will stay at the McClatchy-owned paper, and which one will likely hit the unemployment line.
The two employees are reporters Karen Dillon and Dawn Bormann.
“Dillon has seniority, so she has the option of taking it or not taking it,” says a KCConfidential.com source. “And if she does, Dawn gets laid off. Dawn’s a great person but I think Karen will vote in favor of herself because she’s got teenage kids at home.”
I find this rather barbaric.
Imagine being told that you have to decide whether you get to keep your or job. And if you pick yourself, somebody else -- possibly a friend -- gets laid off. Imagine being put in the position of having to hurt someone else in order to protect yourself.
It seems to me to be a pretty disgusting way for management to shift blame for the layoff to someone else -- Hey, we didn't decide to lay you off, your co-worker did.