(P)Layoffs? Don’t talk about (P) Layoffs!
Written by Robert D. Sollars
Aside from being a play on the quote by former New Orleans Saints coach Jim Mora on making the playoffs, a while back, you may be able to hear many employees yelling this same thing soon! I will assure you that it won’t be a good thing.
Why?
Because the big tech companies and many other larger national & international companies are cutting jobs, just before the holidays. And you ask why are they doing that.
That answer is fairly simple if you ask most people and know the reasons…MONEY & the economic forecasts. Most economists are targeting 2023 as the year that a recession will hit the United States, not to mention the entire world. Companies won’t be able to support the number of employees they currently have. So, in order to save themselves the issue of paying money that isn’t coming in, much like us using credit cards to pay monthly bills, they are laying off employees in anticipation of the recession.
But this isn’t an economic blog, it’s about security, workplace, & school violence prevention (WPV/SV) …so on with the show.
There are a lot of factors that figure into the idea that these companies have to lay off people. Hopefully, they have a full plan to deal with these people as they give them the pink slip. I’m talking about the idea that some of them may become violent. While 99.9% of them won’t turn violent and/or physically, it will still be violent.
If you don’t remember, WPV doesn’t just come with firearms and other instruments of destruction. Verbal tirades, vandalism, including arson, as well as making mischief with machinery, programs, and paperwork should be considered by YOU as WPV.
Does anyone know who will be the first to explode at the news of a layoff, especially before Christmas? No one will, because be bluntly honest, NO ONE will connect the dots between bad behavior/acting out and the path towards violence.
Of course, the people in charge don’t want to see it, because it would upset the normal ebb & flow of the organization or employees transitioning. Co-workers and friends won’t see it either because “My friend wouldn’t dare do something like that! Are you fucking nuts?” as it all rolls down the hill in a pile of mushy shit and piles on top of someone.
Whether that be a random person, domestic violence (DV), or they go into the organization and take out their anger & resentment.
The only thing YOU can do to prevent it is to train your managers, supervisors, co-workers, colleagues, and others to report such bad behaviors to someone and keep track of it. Yes, keep a file on the bad behavior, if they calm down in a few days or months, then it should be deleted, you certainly don’t want to be the ‘secret police’ of the organization and keep things ad–infinitum.
Learn all 25 of the warning signs and PUT THEM TO USE! No matter how slight the attendance (as an example) issue is, it needs to be noted. Likewise, any of the signs need to be noted and put into the file, even if it occurs outside of the organization.
Many different incidents were perpetrated by an individual OUTSIDE THE ORGANIZATION CAN, AND USUALLY DO, AFFECT THE ORGANIZATIONITSELF.
I can help with these things if you would like. Simply contact me at Sollars Violence Prevention Training & Consulting, writing robert@sollarsviolenceprevention.com, or calling for an immediate answer at 480-251-5197
How you handle these layoffs and how much you try to assist the employees into other jobs, unemployment pay, severance pay, or anything else of a social service nature may not matter. Coming out of the pandemic with the stress, anxiety, & pressure, coupled with the fact that some of these people have only recently gotten a job again after the pandemic, or are possibly mentally fragile after the pandemic. Then you think about the people they have to support for everyday bills, much less Christmas and you’ll see how the stress could be building.
We’ll all go through stress, anxiety, and pressure when told we’re losing our jobs, there is no doubt about that. But how far will you allow it to affect you? Some people will handle it just fine, picking themselves up off the ground and continuing to walk along the path they have chosen for themselves.
On the other hand, there are innumerable people who may take a darker path into violence or self-destructive behavior. You can’t stop it all…but you can sure as hell fucking try.
www.sollarsviolenceprevention.com Twitter: RobertSollars2 e-mail: robert@sollarsviolenceprevention.com
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Copyright 2022 Robert D. Sollars
