i Editor's Letter: Humanity and generosity
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Apparently, there was an old joke on global trading floors that UBS, stood for 'U've Been Sacked'. Sadly, for some staff in the London office of the Swiss banking giant this week, that joke turned sour; brutally so, when 100 fixed income traders turned up for work on Tuesday to discover, via their deactivated entry swipe-cards, that they had lost their jobs. (Others found out because their emails bounced back!) They were victims of the bank's plan to cut 10,000 jobs in a 'restructuring' of their division.
In the FT, Axel Weber, the UBS chairman, justified the manner of the sackings thus: "dealing with our employees in a respectful and adequate fashion means we cannot leave them in uncertainty about what is coming over the next three years". Blimey, what would 'disrespectful' look like? Mr Weber thereby achieved the well-nigh impossible: he made me feel sorry for bankers.
Over my career, I have – sad to tell – sat on both sides of the desk when an employer tells an employee they are being 'let go'. It is not easy to tell someone 'we are entering into a consultation period' over the future of a job you both know has already been 'disappeared'. But it's never as bad as being the poor stunned sod hearing it. Trust me.
I tried to be as humane as possible as the 'firer', and have been fortunate enough to work for people who did the same for me as 'poor stunned sod'. Of course, I still resent their not appreciating my indispensible brilliance, but humanity and generosity should be non-negotiable pre-requisites when you pull the rug of security from under someone's life.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments