The Dangers of Incompetent Consolidation

I used to work as a contractor for a small company (we shall call "AF") owned by a large company ("Exp"). While I was there, they were beginning the process of being merged with two other companies that "Exp" bought. Each had very different cultures, processes and technologies. "AF" was independent but soon after I left became under control of "LMB."

Anyways, I found out last week that a VP at "LMB" laid off a former "AF" co-worker of mine. But not just any... he was their guru, the one tech guy who had been there since the beginning, who had worn many hats including PC support, database support, programmer, and overall expert on the way the business worked from a technical standpoint. Apparently, in a cost-cutting effort, he decided that they had no need for a "PC Support" person. He never consulted with his boss, or anyone at "AF" as to whether the guru was someone who could be let go. No, the guru was unceremoniously kicked out (given 15 minutes to leave) without anybody at AF knowing about it until later that day.

Oops. Talk about a company shooting itself in the brain. Now the darling company owned by the big company is leaking their top people, abandoning ship. It pays to do some due diligence before you axe the wrong people, no?