Thursday, November 20, 2008

Jargon Buster - Recession Special

Nokia (one of their new retro-phones pictured right) have found a new way of announcing redundancies.

Imagine going home to your family with a P45 and explaining that you have been a victim of "synergy-related headcount adjustment"

And there's me thinking that Local Government had the last word on euphemistic jargon.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My first committee after the elction was Health Scrutiny and I sat through a presentation from the PCT that was composed entirely of Acronym and euphemisms! !5 minutes as well, some achievement! I didnt learn much!

Anonymous said...

The Conservatives in Carshalton and Wallington certainly have their collective digit on the pulse.

Last week I received a letter in the mail from our local Conservative Parliamentary candidate's office assuring me that he is still personally working on getting my local post code changed from a Croydon to a Sutton code.

Naturally, I was deeply impressed by someone so dedicated to such a vital issue when we are, by consensus, in the midst of the most serious global economic crisis since WW2.

I wish him much luck. I've lived at my present address for the last 20 years and my post code hasn't changed a jot during all that time.

Unknown said...

Bob

The Beddington postcode haven't changed due to the intransigence of Royal Mail and the lack of interest from businesses in the area.

The former is no surprise - look at how they have dealt with post office closures. The latter is disappointing and will be hard to change in this climate as they will have to change letterheads etc.

However a change will have an effect on people's income in the area. CR0 is one of the highest postcodes for insurance around, SM6less so. Ken Andrew can only have a limited effect on a global economic crisis as he has not been elected. Meanwhile two Conservative councillors who cover the economic development brief and who have small businesses, played a significant role in developing the Council's 10 point economic plan.

Anonymous said...

Paul,

How many more years will it take to change the post code when all lobbying efforts over decades so far have failed to yield any results?

I'm encouraged to read about the LBS economic action plan although I suspect the plan will have little impact downstream compared with the government's modest fiscal stimulus in the Pre-Budget Report on Monday, equivalent to about 1% of Britain's GDP.

At least that LBS initiative cleared up why John Maples, a deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, found it necessary to apologise "for saying on Monday [17 November] that the recession should 'take its course'. He told the House of Commons yesterday: 'I realise I may have caused offence to people who are the victims of the recession. I regret that. What I meant, and what I believe, is that the economy cannot recover until levels of private debt have been reduced. I do not believe, and I did not mean to convey the impression, that the Government should not help victims of the recession. I fully support borrowing to do that.'"
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/business-backs-brown-and-darling-1028233.html

Btw I'm not generally regarded as an unqualified fan of Gordon Brown but, rather like the CBI and other informed commentators, I do think he is right about the need for a fiscal stimulus to Britain's economy now.