High Stakes for High-Profile Jobs -- Just Ask Leno and O'Brien

After a failed prime-time slot for Jay Leno, NBC wants to put him back in his old spot, which has been occupied, briefly, by Conan O'Brien. The two talk-show hosts have been using their monologues -- and the rest of their shows -- to duke it out. Meanwhile, Americans speculate and NBC -- and its lawyers, I'm sure -- make some final decisions.

The whole situation makes me wonder: How would this play out in an actual workplace? If Company X promotes Susie to a new job and then promotes Bill to Susie's old job, what happens if Susie just doesn't do well? I'd think it would be toxic to take Bill's promotion away from him in order to put Susie back where she belongs. Would the company just work with Susie to make her more successful? It seems like more of the onus needs to be on the manager who made all the changes rather than on the workers who were moved around. Note: Jay Leno is publicly saying the ordeal is not his fault.

According to TheCelebrityCafe.com, this is NBC's plan: "…an agreement seems in sight between the network and O’Brien. What seems to be the deal so far according to ABCNews.com is that O’Brien would leave NBC with a severance payment between $30 and $40 million and go to another network, allowing Leno to reclaim his late night spot. The “Tonight Show” staff, many of whom came with O’Brien from New York, would get severance and contract buy-out packages."

With all the mudslinging that has been going on between O'Brien and Leno, in blogs and on other late-night shows, I'm glad nothing about my work or job searches has ever been on TV. In a down market, job searching and keeping your job has been tough enough. Have you been part of an unsuccessful job swap, competition or reorganization?

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