Aviva Group Ireland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Financial IQ Philippines Quick Hit(s):
Though it turns out as a mistake... this is one thing employees need to start thinking about. "What if" he is no longer with the company he or she is working with? Does he or she have other sources of income?
Building your passive income while being employed (which is where you are receiving your active income) is a necessity these days because there are too many unknowns in the corporate world.
One of the biggest insurance firms in the world sent shockwaves to 1,300 of its worldwide staff who received a curt email telling them they have been fired – with instructions to return all company property upon leaving the premises and to refrain from divulging confidential information. Apparently, Aviva, the world’s sixth biggest insurance company, dismissed its entire global investment arm by mistake when a human resources employee hit the group button instead of sending it to just one unidentified employee who was the unfortunate recipient of the dismissal message.
It took a full 25 minutes before the error was noted – prompting the HR department to again issue another mass email apologizing for the mistake and the confusion. But by then, panic had already set in for all the 1,299 unintended recipients, since the company had announced in January that it would cut down its global workforce by about 12 percent. (Aviva says it has 36,600 employees with 43 million customers worldwide and manages assets of around $420 billion.) The insurance firm is also facing major challenges with its annual net profits dipping by 85 percent primarily driven by the economic crisis in Europe.
Last week, Aviva also announced that three of its most senior directors for the European, North American and asset management units were leaving. Add to that the disclosure that the UK firm is pulling out its operations in the United States as part of its strategy – a move that would mean over £1 billion in losses for the insurance company. No doubt the incoming new president will have his hands full trying to overturn a global entity whose shares have been described as “underperforming” by about 25 percent over the past year.
In any case, the accidental email blast left the UK-based insurance firm wide open for criticism for doing the sacking – even though it was only one poor employee – in a coldly impersonal manner. The company’s “easy to contact us online, by phone or by post” line on its website has also been the subject of sarcasm and ridicule, with people saying Aviva also finds it easy to fire people online, by phone or by post. A company spokesperson described the email blast as a “clerical error” – prompting calls for the sacking of the HR employee who pressed the wrong send button.
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=800010
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