Getting laid off is not a good scenario in any context. However, the least employers can do is lay their employees off in a respectful way. These folks definitely got the short end of the stick when it came time for them to let go. Employees reveal the outrageous way a company laid them off. Content has been edited for clarity.
Fake Promises
“I was working at an animation company when management started having issues with money. Keep in mind that the four owners had taken a long vacation in Europe and bought fancy new cars (Range Rovers & Jaguars) while we were toiling away. When paychecks started bouncing, they called all the staff into a big meeting.
During the meeting, our management promised that they were getting finances sorted out and that everything would be okay. They also promised that new paychecks were being generated but on the next payday, our checks bounced again. Management held yet another meeting with more promises and begged us to keep working so that they could secure the next contract. Stupidly, we did.
This went on for 8 weeks and then we were called in for another big meeting. They told us that we had a new show lined up, people were getting paid, and everything was going to be okay! Instead, when we showed up the next morning, the doors had been locked and chained shut with notices posted that the building was sealed. That’s when the devastating truth came out.
Turns out the four owners hadn’t paid rent in 6 months and had not paid suppliers for about the same amount of time. They skipped the country with the money from the studio and we were without jobs or pay. Lawyers put us on waiting lists to be paid and most of us took a partial payment (rather than no payment at all). The only money left after paying rent and suppliers was from selling everything inside the studio. Only a small handful were allowed inside to collect personal items before the sale. I wasn’t allowed in and my personal music player, headphones, toys, and other items were sold off.”
“Just A Threat”
“I worked for an ESL school (English as a second language). One day a rival ESL school opened up across the college campus from us. Corporate came in and told us (the employees) we were being paid too much in our state and if we didn’t fix things, he would bring up people from a different state to replace us at 1/2 the cost. To us, they were just making a corporate threat and weren’t going to actually fire us. Or so we thought.
One day, I left the office to pick up a student at the hospital and all of our employees were outside crying. I snuck in the back door to see a random woman in my cubicle. She started yelling at me that I couldn’t be in there. It turned out corporate was not bluffing. The shitbags really did fire all of us and brought in people from a state where the minimum wage was like $5.15 an hour back then.
They also threw out all of our belongings into a dumpster. So that was neat. Another cool thing was a few of us got these prepaid gift cards that would reload $50 a week for random petty cash expenses. I used mine for gas until they finally shut it off a few months later. Lucky for me, the director of the rival ESL school called me the day I was fired and offered me a job with a fancier title and more pay.”
“In The Clear”
“I worked for an online store that sold sports-related memorabilia. I was part of a team of people who would take pictures of the merchandise, edit logos of different sports teams on them, and any other web design/graphic design needs for the website. Since sports are seasonal, there were temporary workers and permanent staff. Layoffs in the offseason were normal but there were some temps that stayed around to be promoted to permanent staff or were allowed to stay.
During this particular season, being a newly hired temp that management liked, I thought I stood a chance to stick around. The layoffs came and went as expected and though morale was low, everyone including management felt we were in the clear. A few of the temps got to stay, me included. Talk of a permanent position was mentioned in my 6-month review, so I thought all was well. But I was terribly wrong.
One day, I got called into a meeting with over half of the remaining temps and we were laid off. The same manager who told me I was on my way to permanent staff sadly told us about restructuring in the company and cutbacks. We were expected to work our two weeks and morale was at an all-time low. A week after I had been laid off, the company decided to have an employee appreciation party to celebrate our most profitable season ever and to welcome the new CFO.
At the party, we were fed free BBQ and people were receiving recognition and awards, but the mood overall was somber. Eventually, the CFO shows up and gives a speech about how great of a job everyone does and to be excited about the next season. She then announced that there would be no more layoffs! That didn’t last long, though.
Within 45 minutes of the party concluding, the rest of the temps were called into the conference room and laid off.”
Secret’s Out!
“I work for a global company that is under the umbrella of a larger corporate business. The CEO of the big corporation, in a letter to the shareholders, put a note that said 10% of the company would be cut. However, they didn’t tell any of the employees this. We found out because the letter was put on our website with no warning to us.
Suddenly, the word spread like wildfire that there would be a 10% cut to the business. Our individual division CEO had not told anyone that this was happening. Panic ensued, resumes were edited, and everyone was stressed out. Our division CEO was pissed that he wasn’t given the heads up that the 10% cut would be included in the letter and hadn’t prepared our company for it.
We were then told the cuts would be happening in the middle of the month and only about 15 positions would be targeted. Suddenly, a week later (not the middle of the month) people start disappearing. It was more than 15 people too. Panic ensued again until the CEO confirmed that the cuts were finished. 25 people were let go. Those few weeks were some of the most stressed out I’ve ever been.”