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Conference thebay::joyoflex

Title:The Joy of Lex
Notice:A Notes File even your grammar could love
Moderator:THEBAY::SYSTEM
Created:Fri Feb 28 1986
Last Modified:Mon Jun 02 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1192
Total number of notes:42769

796.0. "Words to lay off by" by ODUTCH::J_MARSH (Svelte & Petite-nosed) Thu May 03 1990 20:44

Reprinted without permission from the "Technically Speaking" column in the 
May IEEE Spectrum magazine:



                            Words to lay off by

Corporate public-relations departments, especially those in the computer industry,
have come up with a dazzling array of vague, unwieldy phrases to refer to the
practice commonly known as _laying off workers_.  This creative wordplay continues
a long tradition of using language to disguise corporate financial problems of 
many sorts [January 1989, p. 16].

Cray Research Inc. is purging its workforce through _voluntary termination_.
IBM Corp. seems to be somewhat kinder and gentler:  it asks for _voluntary 
resignations_ from its _population_ (Technically Speaking was unaware that IBM
had declared itself a geographical entity, although its workforce surely exceeds
the population of most towns -- perhaps  even a small city).  And Digital
Equipment Corp. calls the severance package it gives to laid-off workers a
_financial support option_.

None of these terms is a dispiriting as that used widely in Britain to explain
layoffs.  There, the worker is informed that he has become _redundant_.
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796.1Author UnknownSHALOT::ANDERSONCelebrate Natl Tech Writers WeekFri May 04 1990 21:4147
To:       All Personnel
 
From:     Corporate Headquarters
 
Subject:  New Retirement Plan
 
As part of our corporate-wide cost reduction efforts, we are going to reduce 
our number of personnel by means of a new retirement plan.  Managers are being 
mailed a package containing all the details; the highlights are presented here.
 
Under the Plan, older employees will go on Early Retirement, thus permitting us 
to retain the younger people who represent our future.
 
The program, which will be placed into effect immediately, will phase out all 
the older personnel by the end of the current fiscal year.  The program shall 
be known as Retire Aged Personnel Early (RAPE).
 
Employees who are being RAPEd will be given the opportunity to seek other jobs 
within the company, provided that while they are being RAPEd, they request a 
review of their employment records before actual retirement takes place.  This 
phase of the Plan is called Survey of Capabilities of Retired Early Workers 
(SCREW).
 
All employees who are being RAPEd and SCREWed are eligible for a trial review 
by higher management.  This will be called Study by Higher Authority following  
Termination (SHAFT).
 
The provisions of the Plan dictate that employees may be RAPEd once and SCREWed 
twice, but may get the SHAFT as many times as the company deems appropriate.
 
Employees fulfilling the above requirements of the Plan are entitled to get 
Half Earnings of Retired Persons Employment Service (HERPES).  HERPES is 
considered a bonus plan, since employees who have HERPES will no longer be 
RAPEd or SCREWed by the company.
 
It is now and always has been, the policy of the company to ensure that 
employees are well trained.  To accomplish this, a new program called 
Special High Intensity Training (SHIT) will be put into effect.  With this 
program, we will now be able to give our employees more SHIT than any other 
company.
 
If an employee feels that he or she is not getting enough SHIT on the job, or 
that he or she could advance to another position by taking more SHIT, please 
see your manager.
 
Our management people are especially trained to see to it that you get all the 
SHIT you can stand.
796.2ULYSSE::WADEFri May 11 1990 01:277
		Re .1  -< Author Unknown >-

		I'm not surprised. [S]he probably wants to 
		remain anonymous, having produced such 
		Conspicuously Redundant Adolescent Piffle.