The other aspect of this that bothers me is that to postpone, or even have the celebration in a different place as opposed to smack dab in the work area of the affected people, would have cost NOTHING. It would have requied no financial expenditure or effort to make those people's sad day a little more bearable. I understand that sometimes layoffs are necessary. Companies have to remain competitive, organizations must change to meet changing conditions, yes I understand completely. (In this case I don't think what they're doing makes much sense, but I won't go into that). But it can and should be handled in a way that respects, as much as possible, the feelings of the people who are affected.