The Workplace Professor Blog brought a fabulous new way to label a termination to my attention: To Upgrade. As you’ve been upgraded immediately so you can go get a new job.
Seriously. Come on, people, this is an embarrassment to a grim reaper like me.
We used that all the time (to each other, not the employee) when I worked for Target. “Upgraded to Guest” was the phrase we used, which was sort of a dig on the company more than the employee, since we were basically saying that the guests were treated better than the employees.
Oh, but of course, at Target, they’re not employees, but “team members”, which is somehow supposed to make you feel more important (as is the term “guest” instead of customer).
My old Employee Relations buddy used to say he helped an employee “graduate”.
Corporations who use “to upgrade” as a term for layoffs are hereby upgraded to idiots.
Can employers treat employees like adults? Works much better.
Sigh…
My least favorite is “right sized”.
About ten years ago, my publisher at the time was acquired by another publisher who promptly fired everyone. When I called my editor I got a voicemail message that said I had reached the voicemail of a “downsized editor.”
upgraded to “leisure time” ? ,not counting the “looking for another job” time?
I like “career managaged”. I love playing HR Bullsh*t Bingo!
Kind of like being upgraded from Coach to First Class?
Um, yeah.
My former employer used the term: “We are making him/her available to the Market” – But never to the employee.