I wish there was more information on Chester City worker layoffs

How you get laid off has a lot to do with the level of humiliation you’re left with while you’re sitting at home out of work. The most compassionate companies over-communicate the company’s position on an ongoing basis so an employee can see the end coming if things are looking dire. The other extreme are those companies that won’t even look you in the eye while they’re kicking you to the curb with no warning.

I read in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer how Franklin Institute just laid off all their part-timers and 36% of their full-time staff across all departments amounting to almost 400 people. Although it appears the workers had no warning, every laid-off employee was called personally and told of their lay-off. That’s tough love. I’m not real sure how Chester City laid off their staff, but I hear it was via a conference call. That’s better than the one time a company laid me off via an email. And, it’s better than hired hand George Clooney meeting you in the conference room to lay you off like in the movie ‘Up in the Air.’

As much as the announcement of a lay-off shocked Franklin Institute workers, they had to have seen it coming. There’s absolutely no money coming in.

In contrast, I feel terrible for city of Chester employee lay-offs because there’s no way they could have seen it coming. City government isn’t a museum with thousands of visitors paying admission, buying trinkets, and getting tickets to see an IMAX movie. City workers hear what we hear over and over: the city has a balanced budget. That includes money to pay employees. The only revenue the city receives is tax revenue and I don’t think that suddenly died due to the coronavirus.