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Aspiant, a Cambridge, Massachusetts company that advertises "Practical information technology!" and promises "successful project completion through focused project management, requirements-centric architecture, and rapid project implementation," seems to be taking the economic downturn hard. Among other things, they're cutting off their employees' health and transportation benefits. What's odd is that they seem to be blaming this on -- who else? -- Barack Hussein Obama. Jeff Cutler got a copy of the letter the Aspiant CEO sent to his workers just "minutes after the election results had been announced on the major networks."
From: Mirko GeffkenSubject: Health Insurance Employer Contribution Elimination and Travel Reimbursement EliminationTo:Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 11:02 PMHi All,with the recent events Aspiant is no longer able to provide a health insurance contribution. This means that effective with the next payroll the employer contribution to healthcare is reduced from 50% to 0%. Also, all previously authorized travel reimbursement, including MBTA passes and all other travel reimbursements are hereby revoked.Effectively this means that the portion you are paying for healthcare will double. Unfortunately these steps are necessary because it is uncertain that future legal developments will allow for a reduction in benefits. To preempt this development this change is made effective immediately. It is likely that with the change in administration alternative health insurance options will become available that may reduce your health insurance obligation.It is also likely that our tax obligations will increase and it is unlikely that a raise in rates will be possible from our client in these economic times.If anyone is interested in researching alternative health plans (PPO only) that provide similar coverage (with maybe higher deductables) feel free to do so and let me know if you find one of interest. Please be aware that MA law requires you to have healthcare coverage, so it is not possible to drop coverage altogether.I regret having to move in this direction, but this is the partially the cost of doing business in the state of Massachusetts and the impact that future policies will have on this organization.I can only hope that future elections will provide a more positive environment for business or further measures will have to be taken.As always should you have any questions feel free to see me.All the bestMirkoWhat's so cowardly about this letter is how obvious the situation is. The sagging economy has reduced demand for Aspiant's ill-defined services. As such, the company's finances aren't in good shape. So they're cutting costs -- namely, employee health care. But rather than admitting what they're doing, the CEO is blaming the cuts on Obama's election and "uncertain future legal developments." The CEO, clearly disappointed by last Tuesday's results, decided to make lemonade out of lemons and recast the sharp cuts to employee compensation as evidence that the country has made a horrible political mistake. Classy.
