The Voluntary Pink Slip. A New Trend?

According to Home Media Magazine, Best Buy is offering its corporate employees a “voluntary separation plan.” Some 4,000 employees are receiving an offer to leave—on their own terms. The package includes higher pay and enticing benefits for those willing to take the plunge. Best Buy touts its treatment of employees as the best in the industry, so is this another employee-friendly move? Or an awkward, “We’re cutting jobs. Please leave so we don’t have to make the decision on who does.”

Now, if I were employed there, I’d feel almost pressured to leave. I’m sure rumors are swirling and co-workers are thinking about each other, “My my, Sally would be a good candidate for this…too bad she’s completely ignorant that she sucks at her job.” A big pink slip would be looming over me everywhere I go, and I’d begin to question my allegiance to the company, how valuable I really am to my co-workers, and so on and so forth. Talk about an unsettling situation—I’d almost rather get the axe! Then there’s the situation of not taking the package, only to be laid off later. It’s like a biting, “You didn’t get the hint—see ya later.” Youch! And of course, there’s the people that shouldn’t leave. You know, upper-level execs and stuff. Do they get special emails? “Hey. That package thing? Not intended for you…fyi. ;)” HR has quite the situation on their hands…and I wonder, will this be a growing trend in today’s garbage pit of an economy?