I'm glad I didn't think of this when layoffs were in the air at my former company a year ago: A man in Spain was arrested for hiring a contract killer to murder his boss so that he wouldn't be laid off.

And he got the job done, too. That's right -- he had his boss whacked so he wouldn't lose his job.

The desperate act to avoid being laid off was done by the head of audiovisual services at the Barcelona International Convention Center, according to a Reuters story.

The director contracted a Colombian man who shot and killed the director of the convention center on Feb. 9, according to police. The director had planned to lay off the arrested man during a restructuring project at the convention center.

Audiovisual gigs must be particularly hard to come by in Barcelona.

Through his sister, the suspect contracted a team of six Colombians who planned and carried out the killing, police said. All have been detained, including the sister.

Again, the sister was dumb enough to help her brother out in this situation. Why? The recession is horrible and losing a job, home or business is devastating. But worth a life? And not to state the obvious or anything, but he still lost his job, didn't he?

Maybe the audiovisual worker can retrain in prison, where he no doubt will be spending his remaining years.