Calling A Spade A Spade

Look, nobody likes saying “Someone who yesterday had a job at our company does not have that job today. He will now no longer receive a regular paycheck from us which he used to provide for his family.” That’s why we have euphemisms.

Laid off. Downsized. Rightsized. Made redundant. Part of a reduction in force.

But do companies go too far sometimes? Matt Kinsman at Folio: argues they do. “A publisher downplaying people losing their jobs is going to alienate the remaining work [sic] bees engaged in the daily grind of trying to help that publisher crawl out of the hole.”

When Folio: editor Jason Fell asked Advanstar about reports of 80 layoffs, CEO Joe Loggia replied:

You