CALGARY, Alberta – Alberta’s unemployment rate is predicted to rise to 79.3 per cent in 2020, reaching levels that will dwarf the Trudeau Senior-era NEP-driven levels seen almost 3 decades ago, according to a new report.
This prediction is driven in large part due to layoffs in the oil and gas sector that started in late 2014 and early 2015, and continue today. Just earlier this week, Crashent Point Energy, a former Canadian Energy stock market darling, sold assets in Saskatchewan and we can tell you that this doesn’t mean that they are looking to hire.
From disabling login credentials and key-cards before staff are formally let go, to throwing company-wide surprise going away parties, HR departments are becoming very creative with ways to let people go.
More recently, outplacement consultants, also known as the grim reapers of the oil and gas industry, are hired by companies during a downsizing period to help former employees transition from working to not working. But one such firm, Ninja Outplacement Services, is taking things to new levels.
This brand new Calgary-based outplacement outfit is quite different. Armed with nothing more than the name and photo of the employee who is to be terminated, the company pretty much makes them disappear. NOS’ VP of operations explains.
Stacey Ugo Kinjo, with NOS
“Most outplacement firms are introduced at the point that an employee receives the termination letter, which we believe is too late, because they already know that they have been laid-off. We felt it would be better to come in earlier to spare the poor employee the pain of having to know that he or she has been terminated.” – Stacey Ugo kinjo, NOS VP operations.
The President and Ceo of PeopleMinus Incorporated recently hired the NOS team to terminate 120% of its workforce.
“I remember getting a call from Tray Greengrass, the CEO over at PeopleMinus and he said it’s time for his company to clean house, but he wanted it to be under the radar. When I asked for headcount, he said 120% of his staff. For every 10 of his staff that I was to outplace, I was asked to take care of 2 people who didn’t work for PeopleMinus. He told us that one of the big benefits of NOS is that he doesn’t have to worry about severance or legal action.”
According to the company’s prospectus, Ninja Outplacement staff don traditional shinobi shozoku outfits when they work. They are busiest between dusk and dawn as they typically operate under the cover of darkness. In most cases, staff members are targeted when they are not in the office, but exceptions can always be made.
When asked by 2P News reporter Rodecker Smith exactly what happens to their clients, NOS’ Stacey Ugo Kinjo went on to say:
“When somebody has been out-placed by NOS, there is no trace of them, and no trace of their family or friends. NOS will go as deep as necessary down the family tree and friends lists on social media so that it appears that the client was never born. It’s a complete job!”
