I was working at a Silicon Valley tech company in the 1990s during a round of layoffs. Many of the people being cut were offered packages to stay for one or three months before they would actually be terminated. This was both an effort to treat people fairly and to ensure continuity for the business. It was all pretty reasonable.
Unfortunately, the layoffs were announced in the morning before an all-company meeting and party the same afternoon. The CEO was a well-respected business leader who mentored many of the other tech CEOs in the valley. At the afternoon meeting, the CEO tried to boost morale by explaining that it had been a difficult period for the company but that the new structure would guarantee success now that they had “cut out the dead wood.”
Apparently the CEO was unaware that the so-called dead wood were in attendance and expected to keep working for the company for several more weeks.
