Managers were watching the message boards, too. So, when Future announced the restructuring in February, it sent a short companywide e-mail with the press release attached. The company also sent out two more detailed letters, from Future's chairman and chief executive officer respectively, explaining in more detail the circumstances surrounding the layoffs. But instead of beaming them electronically, the U.S. unit printed out color paper copies and placed them on employees' desks, in an effort to keep the note from being quickly posted online or cleanly photocopied. Ms. O'Neill stepped down as president at the end of March.
Leaks are nothing new.
Worse, a scramble to respond to investor and press inquiries can sometimes result in embarrassing reversals. The Web-consulting industry is among the most closely scrutinized sectors on Web rumor boards, and companies are under constant pressure to respond. Melissa Kramer, a Razorfish spokeswoman, confirmed that the company called an undisclosed number of employees at home Saturday to tell them they no longer had jobs, and sent them packages confirming their involuntary termination. She says the voluntary plan hadn't drawn as many people as hoped. Ms. Kramer says the activity on the message boards had no effect on how layoffs were carried out, either in terms of how affected employees were notified or the timing of the announcement.