Navigating Employee Termination: What to Do When Skills No Longer Match Project Needs?

I worked with an IT company. We hired a candidate with strong skills. However, we are no longer utilizing those skills as the project has transitioned to JAVA technology. This employee is currently not useful to us. Should we terminate him? We attempted to utilize him in a Java role, but he lacks experience in Java. Additionally, his salary is high, and he has only been with us for a week. Please advise on the appropriate course of action. What key points should be included in the termination letter?

Thanks and Regards,
Archana

Dear Madam Archana,

In my view, it would be unethical to consider terminating a professional whom you hired because he possessed special skills that you utilized. Remember, his skill may not be currently useful, but his ability is. He is trainable, and you have an obligation to provide him with an opportunity. Please do not treat professionals in such a flippant manner and jump to hasty conclusions of termination without taking some positive steps.

Regards,

V.L. Nagarkar
HR Consultant

On what grounds will you terminate him?

Normal labor laws apply to you. I do not know the size of your company or its reputation, but such news spreads fast.

An employee can very well file a case for compensation against you because he left another well-paying job for you.

Thank you for your reply. I know it would be unethical to terminate him, but we are a 3.5-year-old company, and giving him 45K is costly for us. We have an urgent project that we must deliver by the end of this month, and he is consistently arriving on time and leaving on time while all other employees are working. What should we do?

Buy out his resignation through a Golden Handshake. It is a good option as there is no fault of the employee. Discuss with the employee and give him a reasonable amount of time to find a job.