Well THAT didn't take long.  This week Compaq announced that since
their plans for shrinking the workforce via "attrition" hadn't worked
out they'ed just straight-out lay off about 8500 people.

I've never really understood the principle behind "attrition." If your
company is the usual mix of a handful of exceptional people, a lot of
good people, and a handful of losers, who do you think is going to
grab the early-exit package, confident in their ability to find a new
job?  Who do you think is going to hold onto their job like grim
death?

I know this isn't a new observation, but what the hell are they
thinking?  Do they not *like* having exceptional people?  Oh, wait,
this is Compaq whose recent motto is "we'll send all the Alpha
designers to Intel" -- I guess they really don't.  (Nor, apparently
did they want exceptional IP -- "we'll send all the Alpha patents to
Intel, too.")

But if you weren't a company hell-bent on enslaving yourself to an
Intel pipe-dream and flushing yourself down the drain, wouldn't you
want to just have a "fire the losers" month?  Why don't you ever hear
about big companies doing that?  I mean, this would really make me
smile:

  IBN announced today that they would be laying off 2500 deadwood
  employees; the announcment strongly urged compeititors not to hire
  the laid-off engineers because "you'll have to fire them a little
  later just like we did.'  IBN management promised not to give false
  glowing recommendations to the fired employees, instead saying that
  "it's time these people got back to working at the Burger Barn where
  they belong."

But it'll never happen.  But hey, I'd be happy even reading this one:
  
  IBN announced today that it will reorganize about 2500 employees to
  form a new Project Deadwood.  Plans call for spinning Project
  Deadwood out into an entirely independent company within 6 months,
  whereupon it will flounder and die by the end of the year.

Even so, I don't think I'll ever read that one either.  Such a shame.
Ah well.  Instead, you should join me in mocking corporate stupidity
and gloating about being a grad student during the "economic downturn"
at tonight's...

****************** G I R L  S C O U T  B E N E F I T ******************
******************        5:30pm  7AI Playroom       ******************