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“Firing through the webcam was a sign of attention”. To say it in an interview to the newspaper La Stampa Stefano Bena, the general manager of Yazaki who fired three employees of the multinational using Microsoft Teams.
“We are surprised and embittered by the uproar that the story has had, we have been in Italy for almost thirty years and it is the first time that such a thing has happened to us. It was a complex process that is not yet completed but we have complied with all the formal steps required by law. It would also be improper to talk about layoffs because these employees still receive their salaries. We had sent them a registered letter and just as a sign of attention we thought it was right to individually anticipate the reasons behind this painful but necessary decision that the company has made. So we felt it would be better to use Teams. It is the tool we usually use also for meetings with trade unions ”.
On the decision not to call them in person, Bena replies:
“We are still strongly in smart working, personally I think it is an excellent disincentive to the spread of Covid. I found it even more unpleasant to call someone back from smart working simply to deliver a letter. They were not easy phone calls, some said that we fired them with a click and instead they were long interviews, lasting almost ten minutes in which we explained the reasons and offered an outplacement service for their relocation. It seems to me the only thing the company can do in conditions like this ».
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