Eric Dale is fired - Margin Call (2011)
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- Опубліковано 25 жов 2019
- The head of risk management, Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci), is being fired. He repeatedly tries to stress the fact that he's been working on something very important, but the HR staff won't listen. On his way out he gives a USB stick to risk analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) and urges him to be careful.
Film: Margin Call
Released: 2011
Director: J.C. Chandor
Distributors: Lionsgate, Roadside Attractions, Benaroya Pictures - Фільми й анімація
The two women in this scene do such a great job of depicting how cold, lifeless, robotic and psychopathic modern HR can be.
Haha totally. Spot on.
My favorite moment is when the senior lady has to pause and check his file to see that he's been there for NINETEEN YEARS.She didnt' even check before he came in ...that's how humdrum this is treated.
and that vocal fry one the one made my eye twitch
you literally just copied @davidrendall7195's comment but changed the wording a bit. what the fuck is wrong with you? ever had a thought of your own? i have them every day. it's nice. you should (and will fail miserably) try it someday.
Surprised there wasn't a women of color on HR staff which is the norm.
"Considering your"
*looks at paper*
"...19 years at the firm"
Nice touch
That right there is grounds for a lawsuit if he gets fully vested in a pension at 20 years.
@@akulkis in reality it wouldn't matter lots of people have that happen for that very reason & trust me its harder to prove then just saying i'm 11 months short or I'm 60+ years old been here 19 years & so they fired me. And most law firms wont even touch it.
They are tasked with firing 2/3s of the floor which means lots of people they aren't going to know every little detail about each person their letting go or even why their being let go. This isn't a guy being fired for cause & obviously in either case they don't want to personalize the person because that makes it harder to do even if it's a single firing of an employee who clearly did something wrong like striking another employee. Ironically I've seen people in unions who can threaten & even attack co-workers & they can't be fired or even transferred. I've also seen it where the person who was attacked was transferred or fired even though it was on security camera a dozens of witnesses that the female supervisor was harassing & slapped the male co-worker. Neither of whom were union but the guy ultimately was give the option of transferring sites or being fired because clearly the two couldn't work together but the female supervisor who also was older then 45 was more of a risk for lawsuits the company could face & felt the dude was less of a threat & less likely to sue if for no other reason then time & money it would take to do so especially when most labor lawyers wouldn't touch it because it would be a hard case. Unlike firing of a female manager in her 40s or older who'd also been there for 15 years. It's easier for 20 something dude to try to find a new job or career then for a over 45 especially a female in a management position etc. Plus obviously many companies these days want to show themselves as not hiring just males for management some industries & companies are legally required to have certain number levels.
@@craighanson-rc1md
They were perfectly satisfied with his performance right up until a few months before he would be vested in a pension is a prima facea case. There doesn't need to be any other evidence. The act of wrongful firing in and of itself is all that's needed for a plaintiff to win such a case, unless the company has concocted some faked-up "poor performance" records to justify it.
Even "the position has been terminated" often isn't enough. The employee should be offered another position to stay employed. There is nothing new about this, but many companies THINK that they can get away with it.
@@akulkis i am aware of that but when you get fired for any reason things change & my point was it's not uncommon for companies to find "reasons" to fire people just before things vest.
"While we appreciate your concern, this is not your problem any more."
A few hours later:
"HEEEELLLLP! Please help us. Please, please, please. We'll pay you lots of money. Please."
They didn't want him to help with anything.
They just wanted him contained so that he couldn't tell anyone about what was about to happen until the sale was complete and the information worthless.
He was paid to sit in a room doing literally nothing
Both Eric and Will didn't really understand the gravity of the thing that he found. It took Peter putting the finishing touches on it to really figure it out. Only then did they understand the issue.
this was shocking to me, he is getting fired and his only concern is what will happen to the firm, let me finish the work please.
Take em for everything they're worth, then don't help.
@roc7880 He knew the implications of what he was working on. This was a marketwide issue, he may not have been able to complete his models but he knew what they were indicating in general. Other firms were doing the same thing they were. He wasn't just putting together something that showed how at-risk the firm was, it showed the potential collapse of the entire global economy. Hence the "be careful" and his three attempts to pass his work off prior to being shoved out the door-plus the brief mention of "I never should have gone to her a year ago with that" was probably him warning of the possibility of this type of occurrence. Though I'm sure he didn't see it being as bad as it ultimately was.
A word to all young people, never ever sell your soul to the company. It will not be valued. View it as a job, do your best so that no one can criticize your work or effort, but don't ever think the company genuinely cares about you despite all the rhetoric. The company is just that, a company. No feelings, it's not a person. If you sense the firm will be struggling, be the first to find a new start.
Couldn't agree more
Never Ever sell your Soul...PERIOD!
Even if you do your best the company can find ways to criticize your work of they decide to. Nothing can protect you
It's not personal, Sonny...it's strictly business
Waiting for all the greedy corporate boomers to go bat shit over this sound advice.
Unlike these poor folks, my boss is 100% trustworthy and always has my best interests at heart. I'm self employed.
Haha
Don't trust him. You don't know what he'll do behind your back.
I LOVE your comment
I tell people all the time; good news, I work for myself, bad news, he’s an asshole
Idk I heard ur boss is weird
These two did a fantastic job capturing the nature of modern HR - almost psychotic lack of empathy, preplanned.
HR ..... must stand for humanoid robots.
No shit. HR doesn’t work for you, they work to protect the company.
Human resources hardly care about human empathy at all
When the personnel department became human resources - it all changed
@@specialandroid1603 About the same time teachers became 'educators'.
I once had an HR lady I was on good terms with get salty with me over lunch when I pointed out we aren't friends.
She'd made a comment about enjoying "Lunch with friends" when I told her "We aren't friends. You work in HR. We can't be friends. If you were told to you'd fire me before I'd finished by coffee."
HR is not your friend. They're there to protect the company, not you.
Yeah sure but just because she would be the one to tell you if management decided to fire you doesn't mean you can't be nice to her you stupid sperg
the “looking ahead” folder is such a nice touch in making that situation so real and infuriating
Haha totally thought that. Would be better if it was a middle finger.
Made me think of George Clooney in "Up in the Air". Amazing how all the brochures they hand out are all boiler-plate the same. That bloody picture of a boat sailing off into the distance....
so true, so true. Don´t think you´re being sacked: we´re giving you that long-wished-for opportunity to finally have your own boat in the nice blue sea!
It can actually be much worse... During my Dotcom Bomb layoff years ago, we went through the exact same routine as is depicted in this video with a special extra touch. The third party hired to handle the layoffs wanted to escort me out of the building immediately without allowing me to return to my desk to get my personal effects. Which they said they would "mail" to me at their earliest inconvenience... At which point I made it clear I was not going leave my car in their parking lot and break into my own apartment because they invited me to an ambush style termination meeting without telling me to bring my personal effects. But I encouraged them to try and stop me from getting my things if they thought it was worth it to them. They may have been assholes, but they weren't fools...
He was looking ahead when the threw his Blackberry; I know that "just stuff it" feeling.
The old saying: "There's no Human in Human Resources."
It used to be called Personnel but they took the people out of it
Ain't that the truth. Human's use reason. When those college trained monkeys are replaced by robots, I suspect more reason will return.
@@terryjohnson8317 Now known as the anti-personnel dept.
This is how they get away with calling people 'resources'. It's been in the terminology for some time.
It's absolutely repugnant.
Maybe thats they call it these days Talent Management.
“Looks down at the paper”
“19 years”
Implying she has no idea who she’s talking to.
They act just like this. Banking is next! The USA has 10,000 banks and 98% of them are not necessary!! Canada only has about 400 banks!
She’s probably not even employed by the firm. She’s with an outside company hired to do the firings
@@iamgermaneCanada has a smaller population than California
@@badlydrawncars6460 So what? Still too many banks in the USA.
of course she doesnt, the other one thought Zachary Quinto was Eric Dale
I love how Emerson essentially confirms it was Robertson that had him axed with the look he shoots Dale. And it was because Dale came to her with concerns about the very things about to happen. She found it out a year ago but wanted the music to keep playing as long as possible and Dale was a threat to that. I'm glad she was the fall guy in the end.
I think she was the fall guy from the very beginning (ie a year ago). Tuld knew something like this was possible, and sorta planned for it.
Best part of that scene is Emerson refusing to look at Dale's work. He knows exactly what's on there but when the inevitable shit hits the fan he wants Tuld etc to think ha had no idea..
This happened to me. The very people I warned about risk were the people that stood to make $$ from it. And if it blew up in their faces , the risk analyst that warned them all along is the first to be cut.
"fall guy"... yeah... gotta be tough to walk away with millions.
This is not correct. Later it is revealed that Robertson actually took the issue up to her higher ups but was forced to keep on going by Tult himself. Her flaw is that she eventually agreed to go along to safe her own career and thereby ditch Eric Dale.
I was a "victim" of two massive housecleaning layoffs at NY investment banks, and both followed this scene's script to a tee. These HR women are perfect. Token fake empathy, so they can move along to the next dozen people they have to let go that day and have never met. Yes, security does usher you out too... They also provide you with cheesy follow-your-dreams transition folders!
LOL perfect job for a woman 😂
@@DimitriTheBarbarian HR is often referred to as a "pink ghetto" cuz it's a department that women get stuck in and cant' get promoted out.
Was your severance package comparable to his in the movie?
@@DimitriTheBarbarianYup. Cold, fake empathy and doesn’t require a lot of intelligence or skill other than being soulless and totally indifferent to others.
@@shriharihudli8596 that is why HR employees are ALWAYS exclusively WOMEN. My favorite is front desk staff at DENTAL offices: these women sit there doing basic function like little robots without any attachment to reality. “It will be 5,000 dollars final bill for your dental implant, Sir.” - But 6 months ago I was told total bill would be 3,500?!! - PIKACHU FACE. Frustration. Annoyance. Would you like to talk to our “billing department” - just another soulless female printing some billing info she can’t understand and can’t explain
This is why you never put the company over family. You are just a number to them.
100% agree Buck. I never have personal stuff in the office. Always be ready to leave quickly.
and you and I are an atm to women. sad but true
I don’t have a family. But I still agree with your point, I’ll never put work before my personal life.
And companies are just opportunities to them. If they find better ? They quit. So, it's balanced. Let's not make companies evil, when the general public does exactly what they do, just on an individual level.
@@f.c.2475 Corporations take more government welfare than any entity. Stop drinking the Republican cool aid. I’m a multi millionaire and I think corporations are evil. Stop being a putz and wake up.
If there was one guy at that firm who knew his "future vested options" were worthless, it was Eric Dale.
Exactly!
"Six months severance at half your salary." Basically three months salary.
Stanley Tucci played this scene beautifully. The looks of disbelief, confusion, anger and finally acceptance. So much of this is conveyed with so little.
Mr. Tucci is an asset to every film fortunate enough to have him. His sublime work in this scene is a superb example.
Agreed. It could easily have been overdone, but he responded precisely how a real person would have. I should know, I've been in his shoes in a nearly identical situation, all the way down to having my computer access revoked while the meeting was taking place.
Man those actresses nailed the droning tone of HR doing terminations.
mighta worked at hr
I like how she has to pause and look down at his sheet to see he was there for "....over 19 years." LOL great scene
Nice details
Yeah typical HR. The one who knows jack about you fires you not your boss. They are scraping the shit. For them you are just a number, an asset.
Yep. 10 years at my firm. The real winners are all sociopaths.
Michael 100% agree. Same at the company I work for, only sociopaths and narcissists gets promoted.
Great scene, she’s legal. So the less she knows the better. Plausible deniability
Two years ago the same thing happened to me after 15 years of hard working for that company.
The reason: Structural reorganisation, new sourcing etc. To be honest: I didn't expect such a thing to
happen, but I always was prepared. Always had a plan B and when the two HR people started to mumble down
that scripted BS I stopped them and said: Ladies, you're wasting my time. What do I get and when can I leave
this room? To make a long story short: Never ever get emotionally attached to a company. Always have a plan b
in your pocket ready to run. No company is your family, No company cares about what you care for. Not sayin' you
need to be an A-hole, but draw a clear line between you and the entity.
I don’t know…Milton Wadoms had the right idea.
Strong move, bro.
I've been let go from a job I landed right out of college. We knew the company was going down. Everyone warned that when they take away the direct deposit feature offline and you have to collect your paycheck in person from HR, the end is near...and indeed it was. I did alright...some of the other cats that were there far longer...not so much.
Nicely said!
I always Done it the other way around the Company needed a Plan b when i leave
This is why we need unions
I was at my old job for 12 years, worked 16-18 hour days, and even worked 24 hours a couple of times. After 12 years the new plant manager decided he wanted to let me go. Unlike the guy before me, who jumped out of his chair and told him, "if I catch you on the streets, imma take it to your ass". I got up, shook his hand and said, good luck, you wont make it a year". A year after they let me go, he was terminated. It was a blessing in disguise, so many things happened because of that. Life is short, play hard no matter what, even when people dont deserve you or appreciate you, the world has a balance, things will work themselves out.
Their coldness almost cost them the company, and one man's warmth saved their company.
The first time I saw this sequence I thought Dale's was being fired just as part of the massive layoffs the firm was undertaking; HOWEVER, when you see the whole film you realize it was cold hearted move of corporate Sarah Robertson whose job was being threatened by Dale's discoveries regarding the huge risks the firm was taking. In other words, she just used this massive layoff that had nothing to do with dale, to include him in the black list...
This is an example why i work for nothing an hour, refuse to engage in company politics because thats where the reward is.. being likeable and blame passing. My mother once said that adult life is nothing like jr. High...she was wrong. Its exactly like jr. High politics. Hard work is almost always looked over in preference to group popularity.
bingo
@@jfayiii Corporate Sarah Robertson knew she is going to be exposed and she used the layoff situation as a smokescreen to fire Eric Dale inorder to prevent him from discovering the TRUTH AND TO PREVENT HER BOSS FROM DISCOVERING THE MONKEY BUSINESS ACTIVITIES THAT SHE IS DOING.
That's also why he says "be careful" when he hands it to the new guy. I didn't catch this at first either, but he meant that looking at this and alerting the wrong people could get you canned.
@@darthvader5300 Robertson gets canned in the end. I believe they keep Eric Dale. I don't think you have enough information to attribute the layoff completely to Robertson; for instance, how would she know what Dale was working on? Also don't forget that if Dale/Sullivan don't figure out the MBS bomb in time, no one gets any bonuses. I think everyone up and down the line must have known the firm was highly leveraged; I think Robertson tried to say this was, well risky, and was overruled. Someone had to take blame and they decided on Robertson; if they had been honest, they could have fired just about everybody.
It's incredible how much loyalty companies expect from employees when they give none back in return.
Because they are MFERS..
That’s why I don’t give a two week notice anymore and just quit, even with jobs I like, my bosses have looked at me and said I HAVE to give a two week notice, I always point out there is no law stating I have to give a two week notice and I was at lease, not owned.
He could keep his unvested options.
@@mreese8764 exactly. And 6 months of half pay of a salary that takes most people a decade to earn. Everyone at these companies makes far far more than they deserve and it comes with the knowledge you could get nuked.
Find the hidden advantage... If they don't give af, you don't have to either.
Happened to me as well. The HR wench and new Golden Boy were smirking as they let me and all of the "old timers" go. I hadn't been gone 2 weeks and they were calling me asking for help. Unlike Eric Dale, I told them to pound sand. The plant is closed now........
hahahaha love it
You could have made some good money there. Don't let emotion do the talking.
Could've been real mercenary right there...
I would’ve told them it was going to cost them. I would’ve demanded double the pay and immediate firing of the people that fired me.
@@thefutureisnow7300 Forget that. Hourly rate at 4 times, 4 hours minimum billing per call. Let them keep their jobs... no sense throwing TNT into the gold mine.
Imagine if Dale had just not given the flash drive to him and instead gone home and bet against the market.
Imagine if the security escort had done his job. Moving around flash drives of corporate files is exactly the thing that he should be trying to prevent the severed employee from taking with them 😂
@@JeremyHoffman i literally had this exact thought the first time i saw it, but thats the way it is in real life too - when you have that many people to lay off, does a security guard care if one guy quickly hands a flash drive to another who still works at the company? probably not
The lady that read the terms of the severance was soulless.
pretty much like corporate HR in real life
Good acting.
That's what they're paying her for.
Yeah great acting. How it really goes down in real life.
Not soul-less, but I think deliberately having to put on a mask to get the job done - - otherwise, I suspect she wouldn't be married...
The “Looking Ahead” brochure is just the biggest insult.
Lol at the sailboat.
Notice the non-disclosure agreement paperwork right underneath the brochure.
@@jasonrfoss248I'm happy to say that in many states, it's now illegal for an employer to require an NDA for access to post-job benefits. Progress!
@@funkmonsterthey’re basically telling Eric he’s old and he should do what old people do. Move to Florida
@@thefutureisnow7300 Nah. It means sailing to the Undying Lands and dancing with the fucking elves.
That is why you must always keep an eye for that exit door. Never get comfortable in that chair, no matter how large and comfy it feels. You are a professional who has been hired to perform a service in exchange of your time, and you must always maintain that freelancer mindset, even if you're a full-time employee. Think of your company as your "client" that has hired you for a gig, even if that gig takes decades. If you have the freelancer mindset, you will always have an exit strategy ready at hand for whatever comes your way. Always be prepared. As the HR manager said in this video, it's nothing personal, it's all business. Then treat this both ways.
This scene is actually a master class in antagonist introduction and tension building.
I have seen this before, and it's awful and embarrassing in my opinion, that's why I keep zero personal belongings in my office, at all. If I get fired I just go to the parking lot and good riddance.
Well said, yes it makes it easier to get the fuck out as nothing spells out "getting fired" or laid off than some sorry man or woman carrying a box out of an office who either has tears/misery in his/her eyes, or has the look of "I am going to come back to this office Monday with my shotgun to get even".
Very smart indeed.
Sad but true. Nowadays, with your own (not the company’s) cell phone & a personal thumb drive, you need nothing else.
I once picked a relative at his workplace, to go to a game. A co-worker approached, introduced herself and started asking questions of a personal nature about him. Surprised, I didn’t answer. I mentioned it to him, and he replied, “They don’t even know I’m married.” His policy is to divulge nothing personal and to have no non-professional interactions. Probably for the best.
@@bigjake2295 absolutely. When I was in a management position I gave out nothing. Turned down FB requests and had my profile locked down. Turn down offers for social gatherings. Always explained why that is was for the best. At my next company I there were parties all the time with mid and senior level management with entry level workers. I avoided that. Then finally one day the drama came out, hook ups, drug use, high school stuff pretty much and one day they began walking people out as the top top people caught wind and felt the cohesion of our department was compromised.
Had the same thoughts. So much so when I quit a job that treated us terribly, I let them clean out the stuff I had, as none of it was personal, and I walked out the door.
Peter Sullivan shows Eric Dale the only bit of real humanity he encountered that day by thanking him for his career guidance and he returns the favour. But I get the impression Eric gave him that file principally because he believed Peter was capable of discovering the truth and, thus, exacting revenge on Sarah Robertson for instigating his dismissal.
Will was nice too. He just has that tough guy personality, but he was sincere.
Still ridiculous to cast a guy with that face as a character named Sullivan
How can they be this thorough about security and avoiding lawsuits, but let him keep a fucking thumb drive with work stuff? Or Peter actually plugging that random thumb drive from a recently fired employee into the company PC? Compliance and IT would be all over that
@@BadMofo-gv3xm Actually, I think Will is somewhat on the spectrum or sociopathic. There are several moments (one early scene with Sam (Spacey)) where he looks like he is consciously working out what the empathetic thing to say is, and has to calculate it because he doesn't feel it. In this clip his response to Eric is often closer to HR speak than that of a colleague.
For such a small time on screen, Tucci makes every second count. Sign of a great actor.
This just brought back memories. At least they let him get his personal belongings. After 26 years I didn't even get that. I started my own real estate business, met the woman of my dreams from Long Island, moved to NY, got my license here and never looked back. I went from going to a cubical with a micromanager boss that didn't have a clue, to being self employed and making more than I was at the Corporate office. Best thing that ever happened to me.
19 years of service and they toss you out with the trash, what a joke of a system
I saw it happen to a woman that spent 30 years in the company. When someone higher says, 'They want you gone'...gone you are, immediately.
Knew a guy it happened to him...he had files at home....didn't return them but burned them...company lost 100k cause they couldn't find the files...he was laughing hard
@@Dilley_G45 There was a guy who got laid off for no real reason besides the fact that his new boss didn't like him. The guy went and fucked the whole company because he was the one who created the entire software that the company used from scratch. All the coding and programming were done by him alone. The day he got kicked, he made the software unusable which resulted in the company begging him to return. He just watched the place burn down (also heard that his new boss was immediately fired by the higher-ups for getting rid of such an important guy) RIP
Seems to be the norm....
Good old corporate America
I feel like they intentionally gave his character 'over 19 years' of experience to make the audience feel a sense of 'incompletion', as if he was meant to reach 20, and illustrate the idea that while humans may see that as a significant milestone, it means absolutely nothing to the firm.
Absolutely - not only that but she had to check how long he was with the firm. They didn't know, nor care, about how long he was actually there -- that line was likely scripted from HR to appear empathetic when in reality it's the complete opposite. If they cared even a little bit, they could have reviewed that information for 10 seconds prior to having him come in.
Great analysis.
Even more so they didnt even know what he looked like
Nathaniel Thomas Great point Nathaniel
Great comment
That sailboat on the "moving ahead" brochure always makes me laugh
Got once layed off - got drunk afterwards - started a new job 3 months later (I got the 3 months payed full).
Best thing that ever happened to me.
But a shitty feeling when it happened.
I did exactly the same thing. Said "OK, I have 2-3 calls planned today - let me finish those and then I am out" - and they just said: "Well your access to you laptop has been shut down already. Don't worry about it anymore..."
I love the level of the detail in this movie. The only reason the firm survives is because Peter decides to walk through the door to say a final thank-you to Eric. A bit dramatic, but this kind of stuff really does happen in the corporate world.
The firm didn't survive. It just went down with a bang.
@@windyblower1211 Nah they survived, but just barely with their reputations are wall street shattered. Likely they rode with the ballouts and clawed back up years later like Goldman Sachs did.
@@akachiokafor2338 You're right. Excuse my earlier comment. The firm was the first to know of the trouble and the first to take action to mitigate their losses. They probably survived and had the easiest time among all the firms at that point in time. Reputation is ruined the most too tho
They knew it was coming, hence getting rid of people as the end was near. They just didn't realise how near till Peter finished his work and said it's already happening.
@@akachiokafor2338 they are supposed to be goldman in this movie. Goldman got out first and survived. Lehman tried to get out second and died.
My team lead literally got fired an hour ago. Under his supervision we managed to grow retail traders by 600%. He was the person who hired me and this job quite literally changed my life. It took the firm 5 minutes to deactivate his slack. The very top people at any competitive finance company are ruthless. Not for everyone.
Is he hiring? Seems like he has talent in sails.
@@samsunga10samsung78 Trading and finance usually have little to do with maritime activities.
There's a horror story behind every weird ruling, ever.
When you wonder about why there's a sign telling you not to eat the ceramic plates in the restaurant, it's because some sick fuck once busted the inside of his mouth open when he tried to eat his plates.
When you wonder why they deactivate the access codes of an employee before he even exits the building, it's because once there was a man who was let go by his employer and who went back to set the system on fire out of revenge.
Is it a slap to the face? Sure, but that's partly due to people reacting sensitive to things they can't change instead of moving on. Fact is, there's a reason for the procedure.
@@NtoTheM Agreed.
@@chiffydragon 😂👍
These people may be rich, but 99% of them are completely miserable robots who don't have a single human emotion.
Zachary's character's human decency to say thank you to his boss led to the whole plot of the movie to ever exist....if he hadn't done that and just walked away from the glass door..the movie wouldn't exist...i am catching that small detail today after so many years...Brilliant film
I worked for one of the largest corporations in the US for 20+ years, and saw all kinds of horrible things done to employees, especially by the HR Department. And they always did it with a smile on their faces.
HR is a snake pit. Trust no one with "HR" in their job title.
It's always politics over productivity. Always. I knew this as a little boy and that's why I never strived to do anything. I'm not going to toil my life away for a system or a corporation that's just going to toss me to the wolves because someone is able to play the superiors, through Machiavellian influence, better than I am. ( Not that I not capable I'm just focused on my work and its applications= politics always encumbered my game) the corporate world is just a more complex 5th grade. If people want to make it they have to be exceptional at what they do and then be able to market it in a way that's acceptable to the culture... There are thousands of brilliant people that are destroyed daily because they're the threat.
@@jhonfamo8412 never striving to do anything sounds like an excuse to be lazy
@@will2brown50
You sound like an NPC.
@@will2brown50 Or smart..
Happened to me. Then eight months later I ended up Director of the company that was buying their services. We didn’t buy their services any longer. I told them myself we were terminating the account.
Way to bring a personal grudge over everyday business into professional workings.
One can only hope you lost that job soon aswell.
@@NtoTheM
"One can only hope you lost that job soon aswell."
You're mad that a person is using his business savvy and personal experience to ruthlessly cut off a business relationship with an unreliable and potentially dangerous party? Why? Especially when you don't have any personal investment in his business; I don't get why you're so angry?
@@roadent217 Bruh, someone gets let go by his employer. What in the fuck about that makes that company unreliable and potentially dangerous??
Clearly he did have a lot of personal investment, otherwise he wouldn't have used his professional ties for petty revenge.
If you don't see the issue there then it's not me who needs to do some explaining.
@@NtoTheM - nope. Doing really well. Barely a bump in the road. It’s a small world. Markets and industries are insular. People remember. Networks are connected. Which is why you should always be nice.
@@mattmatt7305 Nice as to make getting let go a personal vendetta and using the new position to satisfy your pride, even if it doesn't do either company any favors?
A big bump in the road. You're the people that cost economies money because they put their own ego over everyone else.
Now. All I just wrote *would* account, if only your whole story wasn't a fairytale anyway. So in the end, you're just an asshole in your own imagination. Which can be even more sad, depending on one's point of view.
The little nuances in this film are absolutely genius. The fact that this lady, who is clearly below him in the corporate ladder, is completely oblivious to who he is; how his own superior is oblivious to how much time he's dedicated to the firm; how he's working in secrecy to save the company, but nobody could give a damn. Just remarkable.
Do you know what the word 'oblivious' means? It seems that you don't. They know who he is and what he has done, they just don't care.
@@AQHackAQ they had no idea what he did until they sat down for the interview just now. Look at her reading the paper and just realizing he worked 19 years at the firm.
@@DBCOOPER888 That's not implied in the scene at all. She's just checking the paper for the exact number. The people doing these termination/layoff exercise have a quick read-through and review the profile of the people they're going to speak to, they don't do it on the spot lol.
@@AQHackAQ It absolutely is implied in the scene. They're talking to each other like they never interacted ever, and Dale was not upper management or anything. She had to go through dozens of these interviews, she didn't have time to learn about the guy days in advance. That one woman didn't even know where he sat at first.
@@DBCOOPER888 Huh I never said they ever interacted with each other before the meeting. I don't think you understand how these exercise typically work, yes they have to go through a lot in a single day, but they definitely always do a quick read-through on the profile before calling them, how do you think she would know who and roughly where to find them? Their names and position/title would be at the very top of the papers. It would be absurd to call someone in and doing an adhoc read at that moment. Each person being fired have different circumstances and different severance packages, she would need to know and understand at least that before the meeting.
I freaking love this scene. It enforces one of the primary truths of modern life: corporations are never your friends. No matter if you're a regular person, or an employee of said corporation. They are only interested in profits, that's the sole reason for their existence. The only purpose corporations have is making profit for shareholders or investors, that is 100% of their purpose and what they are required to do by law. They're never your friends and you should never rely on them, get attached to them in any way, or primarily focus on then.
But, but, what about when your company is a "family"..........
@07:33 never occurred to me before, but when he hands Peter the USB, he does it because he knows it will help Peter's chances of staying on in the company. He was resigned to leaving without handing it off, but after Peter made the nice goodbye Eric made the quick decision to help out a junior member of his team with their future career.
I don't think so. He closes with "be careful", he knows the material is dangerous to anyone's career and is effectively putting Peter at risk. He does it because he feels that Peter trusts and respects him and his work, so he's the the most likely to actually "honor" the material.
He's a better person than me. 19 years only to be laid off? They're lucky he didn't go to another company and warn them. Could've gone somehere else without a second of remorse.
James, that's true! I came here to write this. He only gave the USB when Peter made the nice gesture of saying a personal goodbye and thanked him.
@@sapphirelight748 That 6 mo severance + keeping all unvested stock means he probably has a NDA and can't work for a competitor for 6-12 mo. That's pretty standard.
I disagree to a certain extent. Remember after he was fired and his boss walked in to say goodbye, he pointed out that he was working on something big and someone needed to take a look/continue but he was effectively shut down.
Love how Seth was only concerned about himself, just to end up getting fired anyway.
Seth is a perfect character of all the people who are fully aware of what finance is like but watched wolf of Wall Street and want the Porsche hahha
that stooge should be fired the first. Typical self-centered mong.
@@Ringperfect ROFL, so accurate. Seth is like the kid whose rich parents paid for his Wharton MBA because he saw Wolf of Wallstreet and said "I want that!"
I reached a point at work that had becoming so toxic that I took out all of my pictures and personal items so that I could walk out of the office virtually clean without delay. This helped me mentally survive for six more months which allowed my retirement to vest. You can usually see what is coming if you keep your eyes open and are attuned to both the treatment you receive by your superiors and the "marketplace" and how it affects you. Assume the worst, that you are not going to be one of the lucky ones. Do not be an "Ostrich".
Still Suprised why Actors like Tucci aren't highly Recognized. This guy is very talented.
Tucci is essentially a top level supporting actor
Doesn't have the look to be a leading man
poor eric even after being fired he's still trying to help the company, if i was him i wouldnt of tried to warn anyone i woulda just sat back and watched them burn as the financial crisis hit
he had stock options in there, prob didn't want them go to waste, plus insurance coverage
First thing...call broker...sell everything
@@kincaidwolf5184 Doesn't work in the US in the way it does in the UK.
It shows that he was a decent, hard working guy that got the ax.
Paul Bettany's character is great, but it wasn't his work ethic that saved his position.
Corporations need mercenaries as much as hard workers.
@@kincaidwolf5184 In the US, unemployment insurance is used where it is funded as a mandatory tax while you are employed and utilized when you are laid off.
Almost all pensions are separate legal entities from their parent corporation, and the bankruptcy of the company would not impact the pension fund, but it is possible for the pension fund to independently go bankrupt due to internal factors as mismanagement or external factors like the collapse of an investment sector.
The US also has been moving away from using pensions in favor of individually managed retirement plans (IRA / 401K) which are funded from the employees wages and managed by the company at all, expect with the possibility of employers matching a percentage of retirement contributions as a perk.
This is a general overview of US retirement and unemployment systems which are largely unaffected by the employees' company's solvency.
Is the UK's significantly different?
I watched this happened to the best boss and director I ever had.
Ex-Navy Officer and submariner, Black Belt Six Sigma, MBA from Marquette, Master of Science George Washington. A real leader.
The man taught me so much, in such a short time.
Replaced by one of the most incompetent buffoon I ever had to work with. Talk about a kick in the teeth.
It's everywhere. It's toxic and it runs the good employees out and then they fold up like a sardine and wonder what happened.
Isn't it weird how often people with great personalities and actual skill get replaced with an incompetent morons? It's like a loopback effect.
Saw it happen SO many times...the incompetent get hired because they're the "friend of a friend."
Of course, he trained everyone in the dept to be self sufficient and so they could cut costs by ditching him and replacing him with the big bosses retarded nephew. This is the way of corporate nepotism.
Yep, 'often happens. I was fired by a total plum. Luckily there was a management buyout three weeks later and they fired him and hauled me back at more money. Talk about karma!
Not one smile in this film. If you've ever been a trader in a global economic tightening bear market collapse, you will recognize it in the eyes, even the top execs. No one is smiling, a well done realistic film and a more authentic alternative to the Big Short
This depiction is so accurate. I put my heart and soul into a job and a company for 11 years only to be laid off suddenly, given 10 minutes to clean out my desk, and then be unceremoniously escorted out of the building like some criminal. My lesson learned: reserve loyalty to your family and friends. Corporations don't deserve it. You're just a number to them.
I worked in a hotel restaurant. One day two business men come in and ask us if we have any boxes. We ask how many. Two dozen they say. Ok. We rounded them up for them. They sat in the lounge area of the restaurant all day, calling people in one at a time handing them a box telling them they’re fired and to go clean out their things. At the end there was one box left. One guy says “Hey, there’s one left. Did we miss somebody.?” Other guy says “Nope. That’s your box. You’re fired too.” Most ruthless thing I’ve ever witnessed.
I work in a restaurant too. Something similar happened.
I also worked at a restaurant, same thing
So, who made the food?
@@mikehanes4514 They didn’t work for the hotel. They just used our lounge area.
Sounds like the opening scene of Dark Knight 😂
A good version of getting laid off. Some guy I knew bought a house in North Carolina and had another job lined up. He heard rumours of a layoff, so he was hoping he was on the list. The last day that he could hold off was the exact day of the layoff. So he's at his desk and he's not getting called and starts freaking out. He gets up and walks over to his boss' office with the intention of resigning. As he walks across the floor "excuse me Rodney, can you step into the conference room?". He comes out, screaming in joy, "I got laid off!!.. ha ha ha".
Good ending
Epic...i have a similar story, my grandfather hated his job and just wanted to retire, one day the boss called him and fired him, when leaving the office he was soooo gloating of happiness that his colleagues were worried about him and called my grandmother to see if he came back X'DDD
I knew layoffs were happening at an insurance company I worked at on a specific day. I was not on the list to be laid off. I used the previous six months and my contacts there to build a part time practice. Two weeks before layoff day, I put $3600 down on an office rental and had intended to resign on the day they did the layoffs. Literally an hour before closing my boss called me in and walked me to the conference room. I got two months of full salary and four months of medical. An hour later at closing I would have quit with no notice and instead walked out with 24k in salary and benefits. They were the reason for my practice success that year. 17 years later I am still self employed.
@@maxmad1078 I worked in a place with really toxic management. I had a lot of stress and my confidence was low, so I was delaying about leaving. Then one day there was a round of lay-offs and I was included. When I was told it felt like a weight being lifted off my shoulders I and spent the rest of the "meeting" having an enjoyable chat with the team lead who'd broken the news to me. I got a nice severance and because I was in IT, I didn't have to work any notice. I drove home smiling that day and landed a new job two weeks later.
It is crazy that I find this movie so easily re-watchable. It’s much more subtle than the Big Short but still makes me wonder how absolutely crazy that nothing of consequence happened to the villains of the financial crisis.
I sat through almost this exact scene as a department Manager of about 15 computer programmers and computer engineers. Two ladies but one being our new V.P. and an H.R. lady. Same stern faces and sanctimonious attitudes. In my case i had to hold back a smile as I had been warned weeks ago that it was coming and had been speaking with other groups in our company that I had contacts in and I managed to already have been offered a position, so after I was "Laid off" I just walked across our parking lot to a new building where I worked for the next 25 years until retiring in 2018. But I at least was offered 6 months at full pay...6 months at half pay is damn cheap.
I bet those two HR characters are a riot at parties...
the actress that escorted him to the office had multi-episode appearance in "How I Met your mother" show.
@@rivermerchant6102 She's also been the lead actress on several Hallmark movies.
Company offering "six months severance at half your salary". Love how they are selling off three months salary to the senior risk management guy:-)))
To a risk management head... That's truly ironic....
You’re missing the point.
Halving the wages extended his medical coverage by double.
Who had a ton of years put in...talk about cheap...and they ALL knew he just bought a new brownstone and was relatively strapped for cash...then again, he's in the market moreso than most, he should've known better than buy in, though this was at the very early days of all this risk and chaos coming to fruition, we were all blindsided in some way.
@@neoneherefrom5836 thank you for that comment! Anyone from outside of US probably missed that. I know I did. We don't have issues like that so stuff like that often goes over our heads...
@@neoneherefrom5836 after 19 years, for a senior exec that's still a pittance.
The cameras and sound for the phone throw are perfect. Great technical work on this film.
Currently I work from home, while I was working in Morgan Stanley I didn't had a pencil in my desk that could be considered personal.
My director once asked me why is your desk so empty, put some plants and family pics, you will feel better. My answer was that's Ok sir, I don't come here to feel better.🙂.
Love your work. Never ever love your company. Morgan Stanley never fired me, I quit the job my self. But I saw my director getting layed off the exact same way.
I stood up to at least shake his hand for the last time but my colleague stopped me saying that's not the right time. And I was too much of a chicken shit to ignore him.
He was my mentor and I still remember his face while he was walking out holding a box after working 20 years for that fucking firm.
Exactly why I never put up any family pictures on my desk, these companies don't care and will just kick you to the curb
When i was laid off after 10 years and my boss was following me around watching collecting my things, I swear to God I was seconds away from pushing her teeth in.
I think thats why they have security at big firms do it
@@nczioox1116 I told my bitch boss where to go and what she could do to herself while she was going there!
But you didn't, proof that you are a professional!
@@maxmad1078 Still sucks being laid off by people who aren't professional.
NEVER care about your company. always jump.
There you go. That's the lesson. They welcome you when you're needed and the minute they feel the exploitation has dissolved, they cancel you
Will doing the best version of visiting a family member or friend who is dying, but only doing it for themselves. Excellent acting.
Masterpiece of a movie.. no matter how many times I watch this.. every single scene is etched in my brain..!
11 years ago, to the day, I was laid off, in part from all this. 11 years of loyalty and hard work. Increased company profits by at least 30%. When I was let go, the owner followed me around as collected my things, as though I was going to suddenly steal from him, or something. Jokes on him, though. He had to hire two people to equal the work I was doing, and got busted for cheating on his wife with the receptionist.
Cool story brah
"...got busted for cheating on his wife with the receptionist."
Pretty lame cliche isnt it.
@@lieshtmeiser5542 As long as it's consensual and not during working hours (or on the reception desk), this shouldn't be a reason to fire someone.
At my wife's former employer here in Germany, some head of department and his secretary were fired after being caught doing it in their office - basically not actually for doing it but for work time fraud as they hadn't clocked off before.
: Similar experience. Mine was office management, and I got the boot for finding huge fraud in the reporting of hours worked in and out of the office, not to mention other irregularities that were costing the company nearly three thousand dollars a week in only one regional office. I got called in by the RVP, given the third degree, and within two weeks my position was merged with another, with me "no longer necessary". I'd already given my report to the business manager, who before he was hassled to the point of finding a new job gave it to the COO. By the end of the next month, the regional office was shuttered, all management and both execs were fired, and folded into the corporate office (what was only six miles down the road). One of the execs was prosecuted by the company for fraud, and then the IRS got involved. Last I heard she got out of min-sec in two years for good behavior. (She had been the RVP.)
@Roy G Biv me too the scumbag followed me around so i called my homies they came and did a drive by shooting but shot the security and doorman instead now im doing 15 years :(
Mr. Tucci fantastic as usual.
One of the most undersung actors of our time, yes
I agree...so underrated...but so good and on point in every role. He is my main man.
I love him..
Fabulous 💭
I like that little detail showing how cold and distant that is
"I hope in your...." *checks notes* "...19 years of service"
An excellent and very much underrated movie,with a great cast,script and editing….. with a 18 to 24hr timeline….a juggling act of numbers,finances and the urgent need to avoid (or minimize)disaster as well as a management in crisis where decisions have to be made before the rest of the world is aware of it or is even awake….a brilliant portrayal of morality v necessity…!
I worked for a large bank during the crisis and got laid off. This is exactly how it happens. Pulled into an office with 2 HR people. Told I was being let go. Told my severance. Took my work ID. And had security waiting with a box of my stuff by the time the meeting ended.
When I was made redundant in a big pharma merger, they did it over the phone, then sent a guy to sign docs, etc. They were worried I still had pens with the company name on them. But the $600 printer/fax/scanner? Nope, "keep it, not on the list." 🙄
Always remember: you owe your company zero loyalty. The moment they are done with you, they will spit you out like kernel of corn stuck in their teeth.
I had close to a similar experience. It's a horrific feeling.
I’m surprised that heavy guarding Eric in the elevator allowed him to hand over that thumb drive. I doubt that would happen in reality.
Remember the only qualification to be a contract security guard is that you are breathing. Unless he was specifically told something he will not do it. He is only there to look intimidating.
guard was just happy there were no out bursts, violence or threats ....the sooner it was done the better ....just look the other way and deny anything happened ......it was going to be a long day of escorting people get through it go home and have a beer
should've kept the flash drive to himself and went all in on shorting the company's stock
Unfortunately that would be insider trading, and he'd go to jail on top of it.
😅
Happens every day. He would just have to be smart about it and keep a low profile.
That would likely have been illegal. A better move - tricky given the tiny timescale of events - would have been to threaten to go to the media/every other counter party and inform them of what was the real situation unless he was suitably taken care of.
Sure, blackmail instead of insider trading.
This is 100% how it goes down. Down to the facial expressions. I've had it happen on skype as well. Literally, HR skype layoff.
Yes, right down to Tucci's facial expressions as he's doing the long walk to elevator with boxes. Brutal. And great acting job.
Skype...no way
Same here, was fired over teams.
Genius. Acting, writing, music, line delivery, photography. Genius.
You know, watching this brings back bitter memories of my 15 years in corporate finance. I was a loyal employee, but was shat on and kicked out the door due to 'restructuring'. I never returned to finance after that. Your loyalty to them means f&*k all. Following this, I returned to uni to study biomedical science, and now work in a research field focusing on the unknown mechanisms of the Golgi apparatus. The financial sector is the beast, full of monsters.
I was a Director at a company that was blindsided like this by a layoff. The owner wanted her just graduated daughter in my spot. Was a dark day but 12 years later I am making 3 times the salary with a much better company. You will have some shitty days but in the end its up to you to make the best of it,
Yeah, that nepotism BS. Fuck them. It did you a massive favour.
Truth.
I hope that company went up in smoke and you dancing on its charred remains.
@@djargus actually she's in prison.... for killing the owner's daughter
I’m so glad he doesn’t pick up that stooopid brochure. I actually rate this film as a 10 out of 10. I’ve seen it 38 times and it still chills me to the bone.
Agreed. This is an almost perfect movie, right down to the cheesy “Looking Ahead” sailboat.
Agreed. I can’t believe that such a great movie with this cast and almost everyone I mention it to has never heard of it let alone seen it.
I'm working on 12 times.. but I'll get there.. 🙂
"6 months severance at half your salary" is a funny way of saying 3 months severance
This movie is so underrated. It depicts corporations so well. The lifeless HR reps, the politicking, the firing. The acting is just exquisite as well.
cold and corporate......the way they fired him
Like all of them, no one care these days.
My aunt got let go from a major retail chain 4 months before she could retire. She had been with them a long time. They robbed her of retirement, and did so to a bunch of other people. There's no loyalty in business. Watch out for yourself.
The most common time to get fired is days before you're entitled to something more. Dangle that carrot, then yank it away. Suckers, all of us.
that is truly evil
I ran a small business for 15 years with my wife, actually it was a dream of ours to become self-employed designers - which we did. Self-employment can be very stressful. Around the third or fourth year, my wife began to crumble under the stress and became psychologically & emotionally unstable, basically dooming the business and seriously effecting our marriage. After 15+ years and destroying my own career to chase a dream, with nothing but fond memories to show - now in my 50's going back to tech industry, I can totally relate to this scene.
I had this happen to me 15 years ago…. guy who’d been my boss and friend for 10 years had to do it. It was excruciating for both of us and I actually felt really sorry for my boss as he HAD to do it and it was hugely difficult for him. After it was finished, I left the office and he went back to his desk to tell his manager it had been done, only to find his boss had fucked off home and left an ominous looking white envelope smack bang in the middle of his desk laying him off too, but his piece of shit boss didn’t give any fucks about how he was told.
After having lost his email access, cell phone and network account disabled, he’s being escorted out by security with a box of his personal belongings and as the elevator doors close; he pulls out a thumb drive with company data/spreadsheets on it...
Which is totally against compliance but the dude is very resourceful
Yeah, that was ridiculous. It almost took me out of the movie it was so wrong.
Donald Li yes I’m sure it happens a lot in real life
Haha by 2020 now we know this is fucking horrible. He deserved to be fired for that!
Thats actually very easy to do. Security doesn't really know whats personal and what's not. I had to take a box of stuff out of an office amd security had to check what was in there, but they aren't the TSA, you could easily take a thumb drive.
It's a mutual exchange. Ur paid for a service. It's not your family. Secure yourself for the end. Like dying you don't know when it's coming but be prepared and take precautions
Excellent underscore and ambient mixing.
The acting is all so natural, like what's really happening in Operations, this is it.
That “ thank you” saved the company.
Listen to the beats playing as Sullivan stands there gathering the courage to do that. They play again as the scale of the potential losses hits. This movie isn't quite perfect, none ever are, but damn, that there is craft.
Sad, but it’s reality. Anybody working in the corporate world should be prepared to face this kind of situation at least once in his/her career. Especially those in Eric’s line of work.
Yep...Risk management is not a revenue-generating role. They are the always in the firing line when budgets are tight. Then whoever is left in the department will be overworked. It sucks because usually you'll need at least a Master's degree in something either legal/finance related to get that kind of job. All that education and experience to be treated like garbage...
One in his/her career? I thought being fired or changing jobs was a lot more common? In silicon valley the average time an employee stays at a company is 1.8 years, but usually because people change jobs
@@nixtoshi this isn't silicon valley and he wasn't some 28-32 year old fresh nerd
I got laid off today, and this scene was totally playing in my mind as it was happening. Honestly, I feel great. I saw it coming, so I had prepared.
Why?
Tucci nails that constant air of "Ok, but I'm trying to warn you people, and you're not listening. Ya know what, to hell with you then. I tried."
I was let go from a small financial firm last week. The company does small cap M&A. The only differences between my experience and that of this scene were that I wasn’t escorted out of the building and I wasn’t offered a severance package. All in all, it’s a very shitty experience.
go back and just take a shit on ur bosses desk. then just walk out.
Don't let them demoralise yourself..... I hope you will get a better offer.... In corporate world, don't keep your hope up for anyone but for yourself. Best of luck man.
The finance field is very very harsh, but don't beat yourself too hard; I was let go like 10 months ago and I found a job lately. Don't give up, the juice still there in this field.
sorry to hear man
Bro what's your profile in which you were working? What's your education qualification
Whomever did the casting in this film is brilliant. Great writing....and very effective hand held work.
Yes ! This should be shown and analyzed by future filmmakers.
I remember my dad telling me a family friend getting fired when I was 13. I was shocked. I made up my mind soon after to never work only for myself .
I did work for a few small companies as a teen but I went out on my own at 21 . 42 years later I’m glad I kept that promise.
I keep coming back to this scene after recent layoffs in tech. I did not lose my job (yet) but this was exactly how it went. A chat with HR and then cut from all systems and contact. Funny part was, I asked chat GPT to write a generic post-layoff email and it read exactly like the one sent to the company.
I just hope those who lost their jobs find something soon. They were good people.
Imagine firing the guy who controls your RISK management department(i.e. saves your ass from getting wrecked in markets)
That would be like an NFL team, firing their DC (Defensive Coordinator) just before playing in the Super Bowl.
Any team stupid enough to do that would lose, and lose BIG.
to be fair peter was the one who completed the calculations for the volatility of the markets they are about to encounter but he made the framework of it and even was warning them a year before the fire sale
That's actually what the CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland did.
"That's too risky"
"You're out of here"
Spoiler: it was MUCH too risky
@@SalsaAdam Fred the Shred didn't last much longer himself. Good riddance to a piece of work.
I remember back in 2008-9, seeing employees of 20 plus years being led into a room then security escorting them to their desks, tears flowing... since then I’ve never had any commitment to financial services. Bunch of bastards
Bunch of bitches. Imaging crying because you failed to have a Plan B in your career and put all your eggs into one basket.
Sad
The robotic and fake empathy is scary
They also had a planned good cop/bad cop routine going. 😐
@@patriciasalem3606 haha absolutely isn't that lovely
I had already booked a flight to Kansas City for a meeting when I was “advised” to be in the office on Monday. I was in my meeting in KC when the GM’s Secretary said I needed to take a call. My boss’s boss, the guy who hired me three months earlier, told me there was a massive restructuring and the office would look different on my return. Everyone who had tenure was gone, including him. I quickly concluded “Today I am the solution; tomorrow I will be the problem.” I had four jobs in the 18 months I worked there. Fortunately, I got out with my soul and finances intact.