Hire und Fire

Michael Recently, I also found out how one gets fired at AOL: My cubicle neighbor Jimmi got a visit from the HR manager at noon, and eventually, he had to pack his things into a box under supervision and take off! Boom! Fired within the hour! Not because of any particular incident, just a small restructuring in the department, and the position was redundant! I was very surprised because I had only heard such stories secondhand. For example, from the American company TRW we used to collaborate with in Germany, where a meeting was called on a Friday afternoon, attended by a number of security personnel who escorted the employees of an entire department to their workstations, had them pack their things, and then led them out of the building. Life is tough! Now, Jimmi at AOL wasn't exactly a star performer -- but believe me, I've seen much bigger slackers in German companies! That's just how it is in America -- hire and fire, but on the other hand, you can get a new job within a few days. But no worries -- Michael, the super-hacker, is currently involved in the company's most important project, soon to be on the internet!