According to The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney, the Chicago Cubs laid off more than 100 people in the 2020 season. This is an incredibly hard situation for everyone within the organization to deal with and has hit every facet of the organization.
Story with @PJ_Mooney, a comprehensive look at a Cubs organization that has been decimated after laying off 100-plus employees https://t.co/7U4nZnER4K
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) October 21, 2020
The Cubs prided themselves on being a great place for people in the business to work. From ensuring anyone and everyone that wished to be at the World Series games, could, to providing a ring (or necklace) to those after winning the championship. Through the Ricketts, Theo Epstein, and Jed Hoyer – along with Crane Kenney, the Cubs built a destination organization for the best and brightest minds to come and work.
The club announced that they had laid off more than 25% of their baseball staff in September, and Theo explained how difficult of a process that has been.
There are no real answers. I know many people out there call for the Ricketts to personally cover the staff’s salaries, but that just isn’t how things work. Tom Ricketts has an estimated worth of around $2.4 billion – but that is NOT the Cubs money.
We don’t know everything (anything) the chairman or the Ricketts family have done for their employees, it shouldn’t be expected that they just open their pocketbook and cover salaries for an undetermined amount of time. With no one knowing how long we will be in this COVID bubble, the family can’t maintain 100 plus jobs for an undisclosed period of time.
There have been some owners that have done this, but this is the remarkable exception and not the rule. Praise those that do for their incredible act of kindness, don’t shame those who do not as it’s unfair to put our expectations on another person.
This should really be about the people that were laid off. The people that are either looking for new employment, forced into early retirement, or just waiting back in hopes that the Cubs will call them when there’s a clearer picture.
My heart goes out to those how were laid off. My thoughts are with them as they seek new employment. I hope they rebound quickly.
