Personnel: Outplacing the Dehired

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Saving Money Too. The outplacement firms have their critics. Some industrial psychologists feel that an executive who has been fired needs the determination to reassess his abilities and find a job on his own. Thomas Hubbard, president of THinc., raises the question of conflict of interest on the part of the companies that do both outplacement and conventional executive recruiting. "No one knows," he says, "when one company's $45,000-a-year dehiree will be touted by the firm to another company as their 'new $50,000 hotshot.' "Officials of the companies involved reply that they keep the two parts of their business rigidly separate. Dehirees are counseled not to hide the fact that they have been fired; the placement people and the firing companies work out a suitable explanation for a new employer who inquires why. One standard line is that the executive's job was eliminated by a reorganization, and the company, despite much effort, could not find another appropriate place for him.

The outplacement specialists see nothing but growth ahead for their business. The increasingly competitive economic climate, they insist, will lead more and more businesses to prune their executive ranks, while expanding firms will continue to seek experienced men. Besides, the outplacers do more than salve the conscience of the boss who sends a dismissed subordinate to them; they also may save him money. Hubbard cites the case of a company that offered to continue the $40,000 salary of a fired executive for a year while he looked for another job. After going through THinc.'s program, the executive quickly caught on with a new company. Even after paying THinc.'s $4,000 fee, the company that fired him saved more than $30,000.