Back in the early 1990s I got made redundant on my birthday. Of course they waited until after lunch when I had bought the cakes that employees are supposed to bring for their colleagues on such a day!

At that time the general policy was to get rid of people on a Monday morning or Friday afternoon as people are not in full work and thought mode.

Those of us who whose contracts said one months notice were paid in lieu of notice and escorted off the premises.

It was quick, decisive and over and done with.

Contrast that with today where in the UK the labour laws require written notification that your job is at risk, a 30 day consultation period and then confirmation of your dismissal.

Because you have to make positions redundant and not people everyone at your grade in your position has to be put at risk.

Its a slow protracted death that is utterly demoralising. I know the process exists to ensure that all employees are treated fairly but it isn't nice for them or there surviving colleagues.

If people know that certain postions are being reduced it can be a bit unhealthy if 5 people are put at risk but 2 positions are definitely going to go.

It's not a nice experience.

The bit about stealing data doesn't surprise me at all, even if it is unintentional. A USB key can hold gigabytes of information. There are a few times when I've used my personal USB key to transport company data legitimately but forgot to clear it off later.

There are also times when I've used my own personal time and equipment to meet a tight deadline so the source code for a project is on my own PC.

I don't have any neffarious reason behind holding onto such data. If Adventureworks was more realistic I would probably just delete it off.