Connaught Administrators Sack 700 Workers by Phone‏

About 700 workers have been made redundant - many by phone and conference call - at the collapsed social housing group Connaught, and another 1,200 jobs remain at risk. Jim Woods, from the construction union Ucatt, told the BBC it was an "absolute disgrace" and workers were"fuming". http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/sep/10/connaught-administrators-cut-700-jobs

While the administrators tried to tell affected staff in person, they admitted that the large number of workers, and their geographic spread across the country, meant many were told on the phone that they had lost their jobs. A Connaught employee who worked in customer services said staff received text messages yesterday telling them to call a number at 6pm.

It was difficult to get through but when he did he found himself on a conference call where KPMG told staff bluntly that they had all lost their jobs, would receive a letter and should go down the job centre.

"You could hear grown men crying," he said, as people worried about how they would pay their mortgages. Many people did not get the texts and tried to go to work today.