In the mid-seventies I worked on building the Collins Station, an oil fired generating plant, as an estimator/field engineer. Commonwealth Edison got behind in payments so we had to lay off a lot of pipefitters and laborers three days before Christmas. Since they were union, we hired them all back a few weeks later. I had nothing to do with it. My job was secure but I felt terrible.

            Today I watch financial people talk about how their stock price will go up if they fire several thousand employees. Last year these same companies were trying everything they could to hire these same people. If I was one of them I would probably not come back when called.

            Several of the tech companies’ employees were working for stock options instead of big salaries. Getting laid off means losing that money. Most of these people are going to be low level labor like those working in a warehouse or distribution center. These people may not have any skills or live check to check. Laying off hundreds or thousands in an area affects not just those people but lots of others in the area.

            Touting how a company’s stock will go up if it lays off 10,000 people with families just so some potential investors will buy the stock raising the price is obscene. How does a CEO build loyalty with such actions? These companies are still making millions or billions and the CEOs still get their stock options and bonuses!