A new form of warfare: employees "get even" in the age of layoffs.

• Author: Brod, Ernest

ANEW FORM of warfare is gripping the U.S. It is not taking place in the familiar arena of city streets, where news reports of violent crimes are common. Rather, it is occurring in the heart of America's workplace and pits two formidable adversaries in a growing battle of wits, psychological warfare, and occasionally violent activity. Employers and their employees are engaged in escalating tension and conflict, and the costs to the nation, both financial and ethical, are staggering.

The past several years have witnessed a massive breakdown in loyalty between companies and workers. Pride in being part of an organization, feelings of connectedness, and expectations of a long relationship have been replaced by resentment, alienation, impermanence, and fear. This has given rise to a "get even" sentiment that emerges as people are laid off and/or fired. Employers, for their part, have contributed to this deteriorating situation by tightening the screws in their companies, ignoring their staff's needs, and bringing lawsuits against departing employees that prevent them from going to work for competitors--sometimes making it practically impossible for them to get another job.

These employer-employee wars will get worse as layoffs and fears of losing one's livelihood continue to spread across the country. With workers refusing to go gently into the night, corporations will have to take a new, broader look at security. This will require thinking in terms of "crisis management" for the remainder of the 1990s. Consider these recent stories from the battlefield:

* The president of a computer company put down the phone, stared into space, and tried to make some sense out of what was happening. "My product is good; my service is efficient; my management team is strong--and my company is falling apart," he thought to himself. "Last month, business was humming along. All of a sudden, customers are canceling; suppliers are reluctant to deal with me; and now my banker sounds uncertain about renewing the company's credit. He said something about a letter from me. That's funny, I don't remember writing to him recently. One of the customers said something about a letter, too. Either I'm cracking up, or something very strange is going on." He decided to call a corporate investigations firm, which found that letters had been sent, on company letterhead, with the forged signature of the president, to numerous people with a business connection to the company. Each was cleverly crafted to antagonize the recipient. Through forensic and linguistic analysis, the letters were traced to a recently fired executive in the financial department, whose goal was to bring down the company.

* In Rome, the chief counsel of a large Italian chemical company (let's label it Italchem) received a telephone call from the director of marketing of its major competitor in the U.S. (label it U.S. Chem), saying, "We thought you should know that someone is out there trying to sell your secrets." "My God--how do you know?," asked Italchem. "Because," U.S. Chem replied...