Losing your livelihood is now doubleplusgood!
Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH and the world’s fifth richest man, has coined a new phrase for those who are being laid off — “being promoted outwards, so to speak.”
Arnault came up with the eye-roll-worthy corporate jargon Tuesday during an investor call for LVMH, the parent company of Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Dior, Fendi, Tiffany & Co, and several other luxury brands.
The French billionaire made the “promoted outwards” comment while discussing social media company META’s decision to lay off low-performing employees, according to Fortune.
Arnault, 75, claimed that those who lost their jobs are actually being “promoted” to better jobs at different companies.
The Orwellian turn of phrase was meant to soften Arnault’s announcement that the iconic Tiffany’s Jewelers will also undergo a downsizing effort.
In another twist of words, the business mogul called Tiffany’s a “sleeping beauty” and said it will be revitalized by pruning the staff at the shareholder meeting
Neither Arnault, nor LVMH, announced how many employees would be “promoted outwards” or when the lay-offs would go down, Fortune reported.
“When you’re used to sleeping for 10 years, and you’re all of a sudden asked to become fierce, and when you’re expected to achieve high objectives, some people can’t,” Arnault said during the earnings call.
The high-earning CEO was seemingly inspired by META’s decision earlier this month to cut 5% of staffers in a move to cut under-performers from the tech giant.
“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster,” META CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a memo.
“We typically manage out people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of a year, but now we’re going to do more extensive performance-based cut,” Zuck added.
