Ever since Jeff Zucker started running CNN, loyal employees who have been there for years, even decades, have been let go. Earlier this week several employees, some who have been there since day one, were reportedly sent a letter asking them to accept a buyout. The eligible employees must be over 55 and have worked with the company for over ten years. If you meet those qualifications, then the company is asking you to take the buyout. If you don’t want to take it, then you are taking the risk of being let go without the buyout offer.
Now what if you are under 55 and been with the company less than 10 years, does that mean you are safe? In a word, Hell-to-the-Nooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Lisa Desjardins, who was covering Capitol Hill for 9 years, says she was told that her position is no longer needed. So she made a farewell video, instead of sending a goodbye letter. She didn’t send it out to just her CNN coworkers, she sent it out on YouTube for the whole wide world to see.
Her goodbye package is Pulitzer prize winning reporting and I hope they consider it for an award. Since her sentiments could be felt by anyone, who has been let go from any company.
So now, all of you people who watch CNN, have a face to put on all the layoffs that have been happening recently. It is a brave one, but it is also one of sadness.
I wish Lisa Desjardins luck and know she will land on her feet somewhere soon. Maybe Fox News, C-Span or MSNBC will snatch her up. I mean after all, she’s one of the few people on the Hill that would know if Congress threw passages of Fifty Shades of Grey into a bill. That is a great skill to have.
