Wall Street billionaire Ray Dalio was recently quoted as saying that employees, who gossip about co-workers will be fired for behaving like ‘slimy weasels’. So, what would happen if companies begin to fire employees who gossip? “The world would come to an end a lot sooner than 2012,” says Rekha M., adding, “Gossip should not be taken too seriously, it’s just a form of socialising.”
Some people believe that an anti-gossip rule will only churn out more gossip. “If they bring about a rule to fire people, who gossip, then that will spark more gossip, as to whether the rule will actually come into effect. And if it does eventually, and they sack a person for gossiping, that too would become another topic to gossip about. Telling people to stop gossiping is like asking them not to whistle at an IPL match,” chuckles TV personality Bosskey.
Stand-up comedian Kartik Iyer of Higher Iyer fame thinks it’s good to ‘weed out the rotten apples’ so that work goes on as usual, without bickering employees. “Well, being in a job is about not just doing work but doing it right. Anyway, the bosses come to know about what is doing the rounds,” he says.