The Ghost of Employers Present: 2024

Humbugs seem to be everywhere this season

Greetings card, John Callcott Horsley, 1843, England. Museum no. MSL.3293-1987. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Note: This is a redux of an entry at this time last year, updated to reflect current events. Unfortunately, it seems like it may become something of an annual tradition here. If it’s new to you, tuck in. If you read it last year, give it another read—you may get something new out of it.

And don’t forget to listen to Lewis Lapham’s reading below.

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.” — Charles Dickens, 1843

Two weeks before Thanksgiving, a friend texted me. He had been unexpectedly and unceremoniously fired.

No warning, no performance review issues, nothing. Just done.

Another friend in another part of the country shared on social media the following week that he was being let go as well. Same kind of scenario.

And then later that week, the very same thing happened to a third friend.

Rig…