When you lose on a TV game show, all you give up is a little bit of dignity. But when you lose on Fox’s new reality series Does Someone Have to Go, the next stop is the unemployment line. To make matters worse, the pink slip doesn’t come from the boss, it comes from the co-workers. Think a group of grown adults can make a rational business decision without it turning into a popularity contest? No way and that’s why Fox thinks they have a hit on their hands.
In last night’s premiere episode of Does Someone Have to Go, we were introduced to the people behind Velocity Merchant Services, a firm that sells credit-card processing machines.
The company employs more than 70 people and no two of them seem to be on the same page. When you ask an employee to point out the problem people you get a variety of answers. Shawn is a jerk. Mike talks too much. Zoe is a slacker. Or perhaps the problem lies closer to home – literally. VMS is a family business. CEO Dema has hired her husband, her mom, her brother and several cousins. This makes the non-family employees uncomfortable because they feel like they can’t speak their minds.
What VMS needs is a wake-up call, so Dema turns the company over to the employees to sort out their own HR problems. At first, they’re excited by the prospect but the excitement turns to anger and shame when they’re forced to watch pre-taped, candid, peer reviews. Ouch.
The only thing worse than finding out your co-worker hates you, is finding out that he makes more money than you. The salary reveal was a huge eye-opener for everyone and not in the way you’d expect. Sure they were unhappy to learn that Shawn the jerk makes $70,000. But they were more disturbed to learn that lazy Zoe only makes $37,000 and chatty Mike only makes $25,000. Maybe they’d work harder if they were paid a better wage?
What everyone really wanted to know though, is what the family members were taking home. Dema’s brother had the top salary of over $100,000 but he is the VP with six years invested in the company. The big surprise was cousin Tina only making $44,000 -way less than the marketing coordinator who’s been with VMS for only two years.
The second highest wage earner is Dema’s mother, Kout, who works only a few hours a week doing basic accounting.
The employees said that seeing the salary figures made it easier to vote for the bottom three, but only in one case. Surprisingly, the two lowest paid employees, Zoe and Mike, ended up in the bottom along with one of the highest — Dema’s mom, Kout.
Now, the three employees have to convince their boss and their remaining co-workers that they’re worth keeping.
Who gets fired? To find out, we will have to tune in again next week for an even more disturbing round of begging, shouting and tearful pleas falling on deaf ears. Sorry, this isn’t my idea of a fun way to spend the evening.
Does Someone Have to Go airs Thursdays at 9:00 on Fox at least until someone decides that it’s the producers of this series that need to get the boot.
What Do You Think?
Watching workplace squabbles on national TV, entertaining or horrific? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
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Photo Credit: Employees of Velocity Merchant Services (VMS) in Downers Grove, IL, are given the power to make some tough decisions at the company. c2013 Fox Broadcasting Co. CR: Chris Tomko/FOX.
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