A Cruel and Unusual Punisher

September 4, 2007, 3:14 PM UTC

A reader from Texas writes…

What do you think of this? The first week of December, the founder and CEO shows the entire company (120+ people) his new Porsche. On the day after Christmas – the company “downsizes” 56 employees and forces the remaining to take a 15% pay cut (or resign). The boss then brags to all of us about the upcoming gala New Years party for the “survivors”.

What do you think? Is cruelty crazy? Or just par for the course? Why do so many companies fire people at holiday time? Is it a coincidence? Or something far more sinister?  

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