the cold cold business world

A while back my friend Mark mentioned that they'd come to "escort" a coworker of his from the office after she had been fired due to cut backs.

I was shocked by this and asked him if this was common in the business world.
I've never worked in quite this sort of environment, so it kind of shocked me. He works in a law office.

I suppose I'm just naive. He wrote this in response today:

No, it's not uncommon "business" procedure. Usually,
though, they're supposed to let you go on a Tuesday or
Wednesday, thus you still have some weekdays to cope
with your being let go, and a chance to go apply for
Unemployment Insurance and stuff.

They will, sometimes, escort you off the property,
confiscate your pass key, de-activate your e-mail,
etc. The fear is that you will try to sabotage the
place, and thus people with access to computer systems
or other technical things are carefully watched. And
the irony too is that the longer you've been at a
company the more they suspect you of malicious intent.
Like my uncle, he worked in the IT department of a
large insurance company. He worked there for maybe
20-30 years, and when they let him go they made him
leave that same day. No chance to say good-bye to your
co-workers, no nothing. It's very cruel, the business
world.

In that way it's much better to quit and give your two
weeks notice. Thus you get a chance to say your
good-byes (and maybe be taken out for lunch by
co-workers), you can wrap up your work, take home your
belongings, pass on whatever knowledge you have to
co-workers, etc.

But my coworkers... like _________ who was let go on
Monday...never even got to take their belongings home.
They shuffle you out the door and mail your personal
belongings to your home. You are treated like a
criminal.

I had no idea. Is he right? Is this the way it is in the cut throat world of tooth and claw capitalism? Or is it just the way it is in the canyons of Toronto.

You know they are a pretty savage race, those Canadians.