Disney has terminated your job - oh, but train your replacement on the way out

[exyia]

The employees who kept the data systems humming in the vast Walt Disney fantasy fief did not suspect trouble when they were suddenly summoned to meetings with their boss.

...these workers monitored computers in industrial buildings nearby, making sure millions of Walt Disney World ticket sales, store purchases and hotel reservations went through without a hitch. Some were performing so well that they thought they had been called in for bonuses.

 

...about 250 Disney employees were told in late October that they would be laid off. Many of their jobs were transferred to immigrants on temporary visas for highly skilled technical workers, who were brought in by an outsourcing firm based in India. Over the next three months, some Disney employees were required to train their replacements to do the jobs they had lost.

 

Disney “made the difficult decision to eliminate certain positions, including yours” as a result of “the transition of your work to a managed service provider,” said a contract presented to employees on the day the layoffs were announced. It offered a “stay bonus” of 10 percent of severance pay if they remained for 90 days. But the bonus was contingent on “the continued satisfactory performance of your job duties.” For many, that involved training a replacement. Young immigrants from India took the seats at their computer stations.

 

 

“The first 30 days was all capturing what I did,” said the American in his 40s, who worked 10 years in his Disney job. “The next 30 days they worked side by side with me, and the last 30 days they took over my job completely.” To receive his severance bonus, he said, “I had to make sure they were doing my job correctly.”

 

...

 

In late November, this former employee received his annual performance review, which he provided to The New York Times. His supervisor, who was not aware the man was scheduled for layoff, wrote that because of his superior skills and “outstanding” work, he had saved the company thousands of dollars. The supervisor added that he was looking forward to another highly productive year of having the employee on the team.

 

The employee got a raise. ...

 

The former Disney employee who is 57 worked in project management and software development. His résumé lists a top-level skill certification and command of seven operating systems, 15 program languages and more than two dozen other applications and media.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/last-task-after-layoff-at-disney-train-foreign-replacements/ar-BBkE3Ud?ocid=DELLDHP

 

I'm sorry, but that's some complete bull----

 

 

Isn't Disney a shining example of a classic American company? They're obviously stupidly successful - yet they find the need to cut costs like this?

 

what a complete joke....

[Victorious Secret]

Boo hoo. 

 

This is how things work, its something that sits in some contracts even. 

 

Notice, they can leave outright and give up their severance bonus. Because its part of an agreed contract you sign when you accept a job and/or accept promotions and contract extensions. 

 

Only people who have never signed employment contracts will be surprised by this. 

 

I had to train my replacement too. I wasn't blindsided. I wasn't shocked. I knew what was coming when my number was up. I didn't complain, since I agreed to it 9 months earlier when I agreed to start working. 

[Sidiox]

Holy shit that is quite the dick move......

To be specific, not so much the training of ones replacement, that is how it works.

But more the laying someone off after 10 years and first telling them that they are valuable a few months earlier. 

[ThomasD]

Totally unsurprising.

 

Most of you won't have jobs, you'll have a series of temporary employment contracts.

[Altecice]

Boo hoo. 

 

This is how things work, its something that sits in some contracts even. 

 

Notice, they can leave outright and give up their severance bonus. Because its part of an agreed contract you sign when you accept a job and/or accept promotions and contract extensions. 

 

Only people who have never signed employment contracts will be surprised by this. 

 

I had to train my replacement too. I wasn't blindsided. I wasn't shocked. I knew what was coming when my number was up. I didn't complain, since I agreed to it 9 months earlier when I agreed to start working. 

 

^ best response, it happens... move on.

[Orblivion]

I'm more upset about the fact that they just made Han Solo a married man.

[Sidiox]

Boo hoo. 

 

This is how things work, its something that sits in some contracts even. 

 

Notice, they can leave outright and give up their severance bonus. Because its part of an agreed contract you sign when you accept a job and/or accept promotions and contract extensions. 

 

Only people who have never signed employment contracts will be surprised by this. 

 

I had to train my replacement too. I wasn't blindsided. I wasn't shocked. I knew what was coming when my number was up. I didn't complain, since I agreed to it 9 months earlier when I agreed to start working. 

Yes, you started working 9 months earlier. In this example, the guy has been working there for 10 years, that is a long time. He is then even congratulated on doing his job so good and he gets a raise because of it. And then a few months later he is layed off. That seems like something that would leave a bad taste in the mouth

[givingtnt]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/last-task-after-layoff-at-disney-train-foreign-replacements/ar-BBkE3Ud?ocid=DELLDHP

 

I'm sorry, but that's some complete bull----

 

 

Isn't Disney a shining example of a classic American company? They're obviously stupidly successful - yet they find the need to cut costs like this?

 

what a complete joke....

bro, my dad worked for ibm in IT for the past like 12 years. they fired him last year while he was training the guy who would replace him and his team over in india. this shit happens everywhere.

funny thing. he applied for his old job at ibm last week.

[RagnarokDel]

Wait, Walt Disney makes a 67% profit marging but they fired 2500 employees to replace them with foreign workers? That's super douchefull.

 

 

 

funny thing. he applied for his old job at ibm last week.

Are you talking of IBM Bromont? Dont they work with contracts there? 

[RH00D]

It can be shitty but they had the option to not stick around and train the others. But the best way to avoid being laid off is to make yourself so valuable to the company that they can't/won't lay you off. When it comes to business you should never lose the perspective that business decisions always come first and are always made with logic not emotions or feelings.

 

But since he's been working there for 10 years he'll get a fantastic severance package and working for Disney for 10 years probably looks pretty great on a resume.

[exyia]

I'm more upset about the fact that they just made Han Solo a married man.

 

a fictional character means more to you than hundreds of people losing their job?

 

....

 

k

 

Yes, you started working 9 months earlier. In this example, the guy has been working there for 10 years, that is a long time. He is then even congratulated on doing his job so good and he gets a raise because of it. And then a few months later he is layed off. That seems like something that would leave a bad taste in the mouth

 

 

Wait, Walt Disney makes a 67% profit marging but they fired 2500 employees to replace them with foreign workers? That's super douchefull.

 

 

 

exactly

 

It can be shitty but they had the option to not stick around and train the others. But the best way to avoid being laid off is to make yourself so valuable to the company that they can't/won't lay you off. When it comes to business you should never lose the perspective that business decisions always come first and are always made with logic not emotions or feelings.

 

But since he's been working there for 10 years he'll get a fantastic severance package and working for Disney for 10 years probably looks pretty great on a resume.

 

lol?

 

10+ years, project management, software development, seven operating systems, 15 programming languages....

 

that is the definition of valuable. it obviously didn't matter how "valuable" you were - the idiots at Disney would rather put another American out of work and make more money

[Victorious Secret]

-snip-

 

 

Sigh. You don't get how businesses work. Everyone is disposable, even a CEO will get tossed out for reasons that a company doesn't need to explain. 

 

I'm not shocked. This site is filled with kids who have never held a real job in a real career and have never even looked over a employment contract much less been bound by one at their job. I'd say get some perspective but you literally have zero experience in this. 

[dalekphalm]

It can be shitty but they had the option to not stick around and train the others. But the best way to avoid being laid off is to make yourself so valuable to the company that they can't/won't lay you off. When it comes to business you should never lose the perspective that business decisions always come first and are always made with logic not emotions or feelings.

 

But since he's been working there for 10 years he'll get a fantastic severance package and working for Disney for 10 years probably looks pretty great on a resume.

Yeah, as shitty and unethical as this was, I doubt any of the skilled former employees will have any problem finding new work.

 

 

I'm more upset about the fact that they just made Han Solo a married man.

Err... what the hell are you talking about?

 

FYI, Han Solo has been married for years according to EU Canon Legends. Assuming this is some "leak" about the upcoming Star Wars movie that you're rambling on about, then that's utterly unsurprising for any hardcore Star Wars fan. I would be more insulted if they threw away the EU romance he had with Leia and made him single. At the end of RotJ, Han and Leia were obviously deeply in love with each other.

[Orblivion]

a fictional character means more to you than hundreds of people losing their job?

 

....

 

k

 

Well, it was a joke.  But anyways I've lost my job before, it happens.  If you have a marketable skill, you'll be just fine.  In my case I ended up making far more money moving around to different companies after being laid off than I ever would have staying at the same company with yearly raises.

 

 

Err... what the hell are you talking about?

 

FYI, Han Solo has been married for years according to EU Canon Legends. Assuming this is some "leak" about the upcoming Star Wars movie that you're rambling on about, then that's utterly unsurprising for any hardcore Star Wars fan. I would be more insulted if they threw away the EU romance he had with Leia and made him single. At the end of RotJ, Han and Leia were obviously deeply in love with each other.

 

This is different, apparently he is now married to someone other than Leia at the start of the original trilogy.

http://io9.com/the-new-in-canon-star-wars-comic-just-did-something-co-1708709628

[Manny Calavera]

 

I had to train my replacement too. I wasn't blindsided. I wasn't shocked. I knew what was coming when my number was up. I didn't complain, since I agreed to it 9 months earlier when I agreed to start working. 

Same, but i can complain because i worked for freaking 4 months.

I guess i will be on celeron m for another year or forever if dollar plumments with QE4 lol. Then we can expect they will import asians with ships and trucks even

[Misanthrope]

Actually that is not uncommon, Microsoft did it at one point: They decided to change vendors for a backoffice program that I was working with but the stipulation was the same: the previous third party vendor was obligated to train us so we traveled to Argentina for a month to be uptrained by the guys we basically put out of business....It could have been uncomfortable but the guys I met with anyway were formidable good sports about it, super helpful about it and impeccable hosts and all, true professionals.

 

But then again they were not making minimum wage and they severance packages I assume were pretty good though.

[ThomasD]

Holy shit that is quite the dick move......

To be specific, not so much the training of ones replacement, that is how it works.

But more the laying someone off after 10 years and first telling them that they are valuable a few months earlier. 

Everyone loves you.

 

Right up until the point when they don't.

[exyia]

Sigh. You don't get how businesses work. Everyone is disposable, even a CEO will get tossed out for reasons that a company doesn't need to explain. 

 

I'm not shocked. This site is filled with kids who have never held a real job in a real career and have never even looked over a employment contract much less been bound by one at their job. I'd say get some perspective but you literally have zero experience in this. 

 

lmao

 

thanks for making the same assumptions on me. comments like that will obviously improve this forum

 

did I ever say they shouldn't have?

or that Disney had no right to do what they did?

 

I said it's a dick move, that's all. did I ever shout from my baby seat that what Disney did was wrong?

 

But good job. way to act all high and mighty over everyone on the internet. you should check your own comments before claiming everyone on this forum is a "child" with "no perspective"

[bogus]

Why is this news?

Why is this tech news?

Why is this news?

[Glenwing]

Moved to General Discussion as this is not tech news, despite the fact the employees jobs happen to be tech related.

[Manny Calavera]

This is just another big company shipping out jobs to immigrants because of money. Such a shame. I'd like to point out I've got nothing against immigration but qualified citizens in a nation should be more important than people brought in from other companies to do the same job.

Depends on a job tho.

 

You cant expect linus to be surrounded by indians so he can keep running his media group to boost revenue

[Kyuubixchidori]

Boo hoo. 

 

This is how things work, its something that sits in some contracts even. 

 

Notice, they can leave outright and give up their severance bonus. Because its part of an agreed contract you sign when you accept a job and/or accept promotions and contract extensions. 

 

Only people who have never signed employment contracts will be surprised by this. 

 

I had to train my replacement too. I wasn't blindsided. I wasn't shocked. I knew what was coming when my number was up. I didn't complain, since I agreed to it 9 months earlier when I agreed to start working. 

this^ anyone who has a job knows this is a thing. shouldnt be news. 

[RH00D]

lol?

 

10+ years, project management, software development, seven operating systems, 15 programming languages....

 

that is the definition of valuable. it obviously didn't matter how "valuable" you were - the idiots at Disney would rather put another American out of work and make more money

 

That's not particularly valuable in terms of being irreplaceable.

 

You know what's valuable? When you developed an entire call routing software product and you're the only original developer remaining at the company. I do work for a company called Avaya, they have a product called Interaction Center which is a call routing software and is basically the backbone of a call centers software infrastructure that integrates many other software products a call center would use (if they're using Avaya's offerings). The software was originally developed in the 90s and is huge. It takes 3 years just to learn 80% of the product, from a technical support perspective.

 

Anyways, of the original developers only 1 is still remaining at the company and the guy is about 65 years old and has been developing the software for about 20 years. He's been wanting to retire for a while but Avaya has been giving him pay raises for no reason other than to convince him to not retire because he is that valuable to the company. Because nobody else there knows the product as well as he does nor has as much experience with it as he does. Of course they have other developers that work on it as well, and they can bring in devs to replace him but being an original dev that actually planned and developed it from day 1 and the experience that comes with that is inherently more valuable and is irreplaceable, once the original devs are gone they're gone. You can't get new original devs.

[dalekphalm]

Well, it was a joke.  But anyways I've lost my job before, it happens.  If you have a marketable skill, you'll be just fine.  In my case I ended up making far more money moving around to different companies after being laid off than I ever would have staying at the same company with yearly raises.

 

 

 

 

This is different, apparently he is now married to someone other than Leia at the start of the original trilogy.

http://io9.com/the-new-in-canon-star-wars-comic-just-did-something-co-1708709628

Dafuq? Han Solo... married... during the entire events of Episode IV: A New Hope?

 

Either that comic series has one helluva story to tell, or they just turned Han Solo into a total douche bag. Being ruthless against a fellow criminal/bounty hunter that is scum and wants nothing but to kill you (Shooting Greedo first) is one thing... This, this is something entirely different.

 

If they had made an ex-wife as part of his Backstory - say, from before he entered the Imperial Academy (Hell, that might not even be Canon anymore either) - that could make sense.

 

Unless she is his ex-wife, and they simply haven't clarified that point yet.

[exyia]

That's not particularly valuable in terms of being irreplaceable.

 

You know what's valuable? When you developed an entire call routing software product and you're the only original developer remaining at the company. I do work for a company called Avaya, they have a product called Interaction Center which is a call routing software and is basically the backbone of a call centers software infrastructure that integrates many other software products a call center would use (if they're using Avaya's offerings). The software was originally developed in the 90s and is huge. It takes 3 years just to learn 80% of the product, from a technical support perspective.

 

Anyways, of the original developers only 1 is still remaining at the company and the guy is about 65 years old and has been developing the software for about 20 years. He's been wanting to retire for a while but Avaya has been giving him pay raises for no reason other than to convince him to not retire because he is that valuable to the company. Because nobody else there knows the product as well as he does nor has as much experience with it as he does. Of course they have other developers that work on it as well, and they can bring in devs to replace him but being an original dev that actually planned and developed it from day 1 and the experience that comes with that is inherently more valuable and is irreplaceable, once the original devs are gone they're gone. You can't get new original devs.

 

you said valuable

 

I pointed out that said qualities were valuable

 

now your counterpoint is that irreplaceable is better? what happened to your original point of valuable

 

k..........