Sacked British RIM staffers to get minimum legal payout
As bosses scoff foie gras and chips
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Exclusive Staff at RIM's UK headquarters were upset to see their VP tweeting about foie gras as they learned that the hundreds of them who will lose their jobs by the end of the year will be receiving the bare minimum redundancy payout that the government allows.
A source told The Reg that the staffers who will be out the door before Christmas have only just found out about their payoffs, and they're not particularly happy.
The cuts are part of RIM's cull of 5,000 jobs globally and were announced to UK staff in mid-September. Our source says that "hundreds" of jobs in the UK are going but we don't have any more accurate figures on it.
A RIM spokesperson would not confirm any details about the payouts to staff, or the number of jobs being cut.
PR manager Morgan Evans would only reiterate the statement that RIM gave us in September - a quotation from new boss Heins about "headcount reduction":
Our financial target is to drive at least $1 billion in savings by the end of fiscal 2013, based on our Q4 2012 run rate, and headcount reductions are part of this initiative. RIM has reduced some positions as part of this programme and may continue to do so as the company methodically works through a review of the business.
Given that the marketing department has taken a heavy proportion of the cuts, the tweets of RIM's EMEA marketing VP, Rory O'Neill, on the subject of foie gras last month were not particularly well-received. Our anonymous reader emailed to say that staff were shocked about the job losses, but added:
...at least they can sleep easier knowing that Rory O'Neill their VP of Marketing whose department is taking very heavy casualties is doing his bit to save the company's valuable $2bn cash pile as they sign on. Don't take my word for it though go and check his Tweets of 7th August 2012 and 11th September 2012.
Can't afford a sliced turkey roll? Let them eat Foie Gras!
A tweet from RIM's UK VP of marketing
We note that poutine is a Montreal specialty consisting of chips and gravy. Click here for El Reg's very own recipe. ®
COMMENTS
Story about nothing
For the life of me I can't see any story here, he is only making a comment about an odd menu item. Something that is classed as fine dining food being served with a fast food. It's a bit like going to a chip shop and asking for a cheesy gravy chip served with caviare. Looking at the menu would suggest he is in a fast food place and is not actually boasting about eating Fois Gras.
I notice you didn't do an article about his tweet right after the fois gras one, which reads...
"Ok new experience. A tandoori chicken wrap purchased from "O'Briens Irish Sandwiches" in Singapore."
You see, pointless one sided nothing out of context articles like this are what keeps Fox News going. Perhaps a logo change is order of the day El Reg.
Minimum Legal Payout
Surely the real scandal is the Statutory Redundancy pay which is currently capped at £430 per year of service (roughly).
When first introduced in 1965 it was £40.
The current equivalent of which would be around £638.
Makes it much cheaper for international companies to lay-off employees in the UK compared to the rest of Europe.
Of course it also makes it attractive for companies to hire in the UK knowing they can divest themselves of staff at relatively low cost.
Not sure that really makes for a solid basis for a stable economy.
Re: Minimum Legal Payout@Ironclad
"Of course it also makes it attractive for companies to hire in the UK knowing they can divest themselves of staff at relatively low cost."
Actually the cost of getting rid of people isn't important, it's how easy and quickly it can be done. The cost of most reorganisations is considerable, but even if you give people two year's salary, that's still a two year return on the "investment". In terms of the country specific costs, that's largely irrelevant because you don't plan to take on people and make them redundant.
What I didn't notice in the article was mention that earlier this year RIM gave the two "joint CEO's" who got the boot $12m for "loss of office". Now that's worse than the foie gras, in my view, because these two were the architects of the mess. So here's RIM's corporate values for you:
(a) If you are obscenely paid already but incompetent, get given an extra $6m to go away.
(b) If you are a corporate drone doing your best to keep the company going on a middling salary, get told to sod off in time for Christmas with a paltry few grand, and that only because the law says so.
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