Could you throw one of your colleagues under the bus if push came to shove and you were left to decide amongst yourselves who got the sack?
That is what staff at an Italian electrical company were asked to do so last month, prompting local media to liken it to something from the dystopian TV series Squid Game.
More than 60 employees of Bluergo, which makes spare parts for washing machines, in Veneto were asked over the Christmas period which colleagues they would lay off in a series of brutal questions.
Among them were ‘Who would leave at home? The one without kids?’ and ‘The one who has been employed the shortest time?’, according to local outlet Ansa reported.
Staff were asked to choose between volunteers, part-time workers, people with no family responsibilities and younger employees.
A further category known as ‘Other’ asked employees to write the full name of the colleagues they thought least deserved to keep their jobs.
Only ten surveys were completed and returned to the company.
The move has outraged staff and union members who described the exercise as ‘a cruel game’.
However, company boss, Bruno Scapin, backed the questionnaire, insisting it was ‘an internal survey to test the company climate’.
He added: ‘The market is in crisis, and our goal is to prevent layoffs.’
Meanwhile, the Italian metal workers’ union, known as CGIL trade union, said the survey was a ‘reckless move’ and was ‘an attack on workers’ dignity and an unacceptable manipulation of the solidarity that should exist among colleagues’.
In a statement, the union added that asking employees to write the names of their colleagues had ‘[amplified] the psychological pressure on each individual employee’.
It also said the exercise had transformed ‘an already tense work environment into a battlefield’.
Manuel Moretto, general secretary of the Treviso branch of the CGIL union, condemned the practice, claiming it undermines workers’ rights.
He said: ‘What we are witnessing is not only a lack of respect for workers, but an attempt to disintegrate the social fabric of a company.
‘In a time of difficulty, unity should be the answer, not division.
‘These methods do not even represent democratic consultation. We will not allow workers to be forced to play this humiliating game.’
He added that Bluergo staff have called for an urgent meeting after describing the company’s line of questioning as a ‘dangerous trend’.
While we await further developments, we urge all workers to remain united, avoid supporting this unacceptable move, and make their voices heard. Solidarity and cohesion are our best weapons against these unfair and destructive practices,’ he said.
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