My hackles are rankled and BS sensors burning. BueCross BlueShield RI laid off another forty-plus people last week, despite assurances it wouldn’t after last summers hundred-fold shearing.
And the way it did it was well beneath even its own low standards.
Good and loyal employees were summoned one by one to “human resources” where they un-became one moments later: badges stripped, computer codes shredded, purses, photos and goodbyes left at their desks somewhere else: They were no longer welcome in the building or on the property.
Their cubbies would be packed and inventoried for future pick-up on appoinmnet.
People get laid off. Fired. Let go. Sometimes in sorrow, sometimes in strife. But this? This was Cold. And Contemptuous. Cruel.
They said it was industry standard. I don’t believe it. The BC/BS RI web site says it can and could change your life. Now that I believe. There is again proof.
These job losses are tragic, but your response is worse.
You don’t believe what? Are you really that unaware of typical corporate policies and of the reasons they’re put in place?
Companies worry that a fired employee — in a state of disgruntlement, or out of spite, or thinking they have nothing to lose — might do something dumb on their way out, like trash data or open a port on a server or shred an important document or steal something. It really does happen. BC/BS users, who have private information stored there, would be thankful that the organization takes this basic safeguard.
I have no ties to the organization (other than being a former BC/BS plan member), and I really do feel sorry for those who lost their jobs. But your dudgeon combined with ignorance doesn’t give your complaint credibility.