Today we received a lengthy tip from a frustrated employee of Bracewell & Giuliani, reporting support staff layoffs at the firm’s Washington, DC office.
Here’s is what the tipster had to say, edited for length & clarity:
I work for the firm Bracewell & Giuliani, and would like to share the layoff process they conducted this past Monday, April 6, 2009.
Just a little over a month and a half ago, we were all told by the office administrator that B&G was one of the only firms in DC that was not going through any type of layoff. We were all assured that our jobs were secure and that if anything should arise we would be the first to know.
During this meeting we were also told about the expansion the firm was in the process of making. … They would be hiring more attorneys, associated and secretaries. We were told that the firm was growing and we were all lucky part of that team. They really pumped us [up], making us all feel extremely secure.
My suspicions [were] aroused when we were all told that they were replacing our Special Service team, with an different agency that was more affordable. Special Service folks were given the opportunity to interview with this particular agency, but if they agency did not hire them, they were out of a job.
These folks have been with B&G [as long as] 30 years.
On Monday… a secretary at our firm… was told that she was being “laid off” and needed to leave the building immediately. They called a cab and gave her a voucher. Shortly thereafter, they called another secretary and then another.
The following day the layoff rampage continued and they let IT folks go, and sent them out the door with out anytime to properly gather their items or tell people they had been working with for years good-bye.
The tipster takes issue with the way the layoffs are being handled.
The process almost seems rude, cruel and inhuman. It seemed to me that the HR bosses from Houston took great joy in walking around the hallways for the next few days, intimidating us. I also overheard a few people laughing and making jokes about the people that had been laid off.
At this point, no one cared about the stress they were causing us and how their nonchalant attitudes affected us. I felt terrible and continue to feel terrible for the people that were laid off, and feel so incredibly angry every time I see the Partners having their expensive catered lunches.
There were rumors of B&G layoffs in January.
Bracewell & Giuliani employs more than 400 lawyers at offices in Texas, New York, Washington DC, and Connecticut, as well as in Dubai, Kazakhstan, and London.