To the Editor:
In “More People Will Be Fired. Let’s Talk About It” (column, June 15), Jennifer Senior wisely advises that “every boss in America should be trained in the art of having this difficult conversation.” She also urges leaders to reconsider layoffs entirely. Hear! Hear!
The crisis we’re living through is largely humanitarian. Your people matter more than your short-term profits. Try every tactic to help them keep their jobs. Furloughs. Reduced salaries. Early retirements. All can be patched together to keep your work force intact and morale high.
Training a new work force is much more expensive than keeping people on in the short term, so losing staff now could actually delay your recovery for another year. If you focus on people, profits will come back faster when we begin our hike up the rebound mountain.
If you must lay people off, do it with extreme care. Your hard-working people deserve to be treated with the utmost respect; they didn’t cause this situation. This shouldn’t be so hard to do if you have laid the groundwork at your company to treat the work force humanely in the first place.
Scott Cawood
Scottsdale, Ariz.
The writer is president and chief executive of WorldatWork, a human resources association for compensation and benefits.
The Future of Learning Is Digital
To the Editor:
Re “America Has Its Priorities All Wrong,” by Jennifer B. Nuzzo and Joshua M. Sharfstein (Op-Ed, July 2):
Thank you for your opinions on why reopening schools should be a priority. I have a question for you: Have you ever spent an entire day in an elementary school classroom or building? Because that is where you might be doing your best research. That is also where the true experts are, and they are called teachers.
While teachers love being with their students, we understand that the joy of being in a school is for students to be with their friends — to laugh with them, to share with them, to hold hands and run together at recess. The pictures that I’ve seen of those “successful” countries in Europe that have reopened their schools show kids who look pretty depressed.
As a teacher who was “forced” into remote learning, I found that after a few weeks, my students were very successful as I discovered ways for them to engage with something that they’ve grown up with and we, as adults, have not. It’s called technology! Students love to spend time on the computer.
So maybe this is a good time to acknowledge that the future of learning is digital. And that at this scary moment in the world, keeping children home doing remote learning is a much better and safer option.
Kathleen Zapoticky
Somerset, N.J.