Hundreds of Sykes Enterprises workers lost their jobs last year as part of a $21-million "restructuring" plan that closed five U.S. and European call centers.
Further layoffs may be afoot, the Tampa company said in its quarterly conference call last week.
In fact, CEO John Sykes already has a new euphemism for just such an occasion: "facility and cost rationalizations."
Sacking American workers is no fun. It's bad for morale and a public relations blot, even when the employer in question has little choice but to do so. Sykes says its clients are demanding prices it can provide only in low-cost locales such as India or the Philippines.
If Sykes has responded with the linguistic equivalent of a fog machine, it's by no means the first employer to do so.
Euphemisms for corporate layoffs in recent years have included such gems as "normal involuntary attrition," "negative employee retention" and "dehiring."
Of course, shareholders usually don't view layoffs with the same dread employees do. After Sykes' conference call Tuesday, the company's stock closed at $9.37, a one-day gain of 26 percent.
