What’s the best way to create an HR firestorm in three easy steps? If you’re Microsoft, layoff 1,400 employees, give them severance on the way out, and then ask for part of it back.
Better yet, let’s add a step four: Make sure you do all of this during one of the worst recessions in U.S. history. Stir.
Sounds almost too terrible to be true, and yet there’s photographic evidence that exists proving Microsoft overpaid a bunch of its former employees and now wants its money back. Oh, and some employees were apparently underpaid as well. What do you think you would do in this situation? [TechCrunch]
MHTSOS
Monday, February 23, 2009 at 9:55 PMWell, it’s the US we’re talking about. All they need to do is tell them to go screw themselves. If threatened with legal action all they will most likely say is how distressing that letter was, they can’t sleep at night, suffer from extreme stress, diarrhoea, itchy armpits etc and they’ll most likely be given compensation for it.
Winston
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 12:42 PMhappened to me without the getting fired part. Company gave everyone a ‘bonus’ they then decided was an error. At least Microsoft’s letter admits they made a mistake and apologies. The letter I recieved basically said “as you are aware, this bonus was factored in so give us our money back” but at least i got to keep my job.