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August 30, 2006
FORT WORTH - About 400 RadioShack Corp. headquarters employees received an e-mail Tuesday morning notifying them that they had been let go, effective immediately, as new Chairman and Chief Executive Julian Day seeks to slash costs and restore earnings growth at the electronics retailer.
A total of 403 jobs were cut, including work-force reductions that were announced a week and a half ago at a RadioShack call center, company spokeswoman Kay Jackson said. Just under 2,000 people had been employed at the company's riverfront headquarters complex, which opened in Fort Worth less than two years ago.
RadioShack officials first disclosed the downsizing plan Aug. 10, saying they wanted to cut 400 to 450 positions to lower costs and improve the chain's "long-term competitive position in the marketplace."
Soon afterward, executives briefed the headquarters staff on the process: Employees losing their jobs would be alerted Aug. 29 via e-mail and instructed to attend a meeting, where they would receive information about their severance and have a chance to meet with human-resources and outplacement-service representatives.
For organizations that routinely communicate important news electronically, pink slips sent via e-mail may not come as a shock.
But even then, executives need to be careful not to "dehumanize" employees, said Derrick D'Souza, professor of management and associate dean at the University of North Texas College of Business Administration.
"From the employee's perspective, such corporate action tends to dehumanize this important and delicate activity. That may not sit well with some employees," D'Souza said. "Could some of them be thinking 'I put in many years of service with this company, and all I get is an e-mail?'"
Several employees described the scene at RadioShack on Tuesday as quiet and orderly.
The e-mail alerts were sent out at 8:45 a.m. "The workforce reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated," the e-mail began.
Plastic bags for packing belongings were available at the coffee bars on each floor of the office buildings.
Severance packages varied by salary level and tenure under new severance provisions that the board approved in early May.
Hourly employees were given one week's pay for each year served, up to a maximum of 16 weeks.
Other packages ranged from 1.5 weeks of pay per year of service up to 21 weeks for salaried employees with base pay of less than $50,000, to three weeks of severance for each year of service up to 36 weeks for salaried employees with base pay of $90,000 or more.
RadioShack also is planning a job fair in partnership with the Texas Workforce Commission, featuring recruiters from local companies, for the laid-off workers, Jackson said.
In addition to cutting jobs, RadioShack has closed about 480 stores.
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