The Worst Company to Work for in America

I'll never forget my second radio job away from home -- 1996-97 in Pittsburgh. The closely held Hearst Corporation called an all-staff meeting at WTAE. They were selling most of their radio properties to a company called SFX (which later went to Clear Channel).

Back then, I had no time to deal with and no idea how to process human emotion, so I silently ridiculed the people around me who started crying upon hearing the news. For me, it was radio. You go into the business expecting to get fired. Shake it off.

Mind you -- nobody got fired that day. We were just told that there would likely be some layoffs once the deal went through.

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That didn't matter. I got on the phone with a consultant friend and, within six months, I had a new gig.

For whatever reason, that scene of Elaine -- she was the general manager's secretary -- crying and tears welling up in people's eyes who had worked for Hearst for years stuck with me.

Whenever I hear about bank tellers or old radio friends losing their jobs on what amount to execution lines, I think of that day in Pittsburgh. And I wonder how bank executives and radio CEOs can sap their employees' spirits and crush livelihoods as part of their job descriptions and get paid incredibly well for it. It just doesn't seem fair.

I guess I had "good" timing.

While I was anticipating more layoffs at Clear Channel, I did not expect them today. However, they came and they came hard. RadioInfo.com has details of personnel cuts made at scores of Clear Channel radio stations.

Mind you, this is hardly a complete list and, more importantly, it "only" lists the on-air staff, producers and other high-profile employees. This list does not include other talent let go, including programming support staff.

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--Written by Rocco Pendola in Santa Monica, Calif.

Rocco Pendola is TheStreet's Director of Social Media. Pendola's daily contributions to TheStreet frequently appear on CNBC and at various top online properties, such as Forbes.

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