18 employees get fired on the same day despite boss's promise to expand their team, management leaves the meeting with a smile on their faces: ‘They walked around laughing'

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Oct 29, 2024 7:00 AM EDT

Picture this–You arrive at work on a random weekday, fully believing you are going to have a great day. Your boss is so pleased with your department's work that they have been promising for months to expand your team, going as far as showing you building plans for your new office. But then, management and HR gather your entire team, all 18 employees, and tell all of you that you are being laid off, essentially disassembling the entire team. They then leave with a big smile on their faces, and you and 18 others are left wondering what just happened, and how your lives have managed to turn upside down in a matter of seconds.

That is what happened to the 18 employees in this Reddit story, who were left more shocked by the inhuman way their management and HP people dealt with the layoffs than by the fact that their entire department was let go on the same day. 

Scroll down to read the full tale. After you are done, click here for a story of an employee who demanded money as a fee for months of driving his coworkers home for free.

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  • 01
    "This is a game of profits"
    via Syda Productions

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    18 people fired and HR walks around laughing
    via Marj_5
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    I guess I just need to get this off my chest. Yesterday 18 of my coworkers were fired unexpectedly. Upper management have been telling
    via Marj_5
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    them for months that they have nothing to fear, because their department is going to be expanded - there would be plenty of work for everyone!
    via Marj_5
  • 05
    And yesterday, one of the upper comes in, together with two HR ladies we had never seen before. Loudly talking, laughing, showing each other TikToks. They round up the whole department,
    via Marj_5
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    all 18 of them, tells them that their department will disappear and that they are all laid off. They then leave their department and walk around the building, do
    via Marj_5
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    some shopping in our store, still loudly talking, laughing, having fun. It was insane.
    via Marj_5
  • 08
    Traditional-Tune7198 • 15h ago Yup, when will people understand this? This is a game of profits. Profits don't care about people.
    via Marj_5
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    Marj 5 OP 6h ago • Never give 100% !! I def understand this. I've learned a long time ago. But, call me too sensitive or too empathetic or whatever, I'm still shocked at their lack of humanity after all these years.
    via Marj_5
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    Scottisironborn . 2h ago • Nah friend - that's not oversensivity - it's the fact that it's a lie we've been told our whole lives that they've never bothered to uncover - but we all have to keep pretending we don't know. That creates a weird space where you simultaneously
    via Marj_5
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    know they are not your friend, but that lie still exists - they are SUPPOSED to be there for us. So when they fail to be, it still s 's, it's still a surprise to see them behave that way... it's the same for me <3
    via Marj_5
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    just trying_27 • 10h ago • Im not trying to be that a**hole, but would you ever believe anything they tell you? Ive worked management before and we are INSTRUCTED not to say a d...n thing because people can run or quit right then and there.
    via Marj_5
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    We know the reality but upper management people are not very well aligned with reality. If you get the feeling its going down, start looking.
    via Marj_5
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    Marj 5 OP 5h ago Never give 100% !! I get what you're saying, but.. management has been telling them for months about the new plans to expand their department, showing them building plans, telling them the exact address
    via Marj_5
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    where they would be working (just across the street from where they were working now), they've been to meetings with elaborate PowerPoint presentations, telling them about additional people that will be hired... You cannot really blame them for thinking their jobs/department are safe.
    via Marj_5
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    MapFamiliar4062 • 15h ago • You're just a number on a spreadsheet to HR, HR exists to be the company's ally, not the worker.
    via Marj_5
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    . darinhthe1st 15h ago • "Profit over people " we every time. That's how the HR monster operates.
    via Marj_5
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    MuchDevelopment7084 14h ago • Of course management will lie about lay-offs. They need you right up until the day they don't. You are a profit center for them. That's it.
    via Marj_5
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    • Otherwise-Parsnip-91 15h ago • I've been there buddy. The last company I worked for, corporate came in with Starbucks (for themselves only) and big smiles, then proceeded to lay off 5 people including a woman who worked for the company for 30 years who
    via Marj_5
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    never missed a day of work even when her husband had committed suicide. They just devastated 5 peoples lives and left congratulating each other on a job well done. Corporate people are absolute garbage.
    via Marj_5
  • 21
    Justsayin68 • 8h ago • At a place I used to work for they would give the managers bonuses for having to go through layoffs. Unbelievable.
    via Marj_5
  • 22
    mistmanners 13h ago Yes, they're in a jolly mood because they'll be receiving bonuses for a job well done and you guys can just pick up the slack while they're planning their next yacht purchase.
    via Marj_5

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boss antiwork workplace-stories employee fired hr manager job tales-from-the-workplace reddit story ceo overworked-employees workplace Reddit company
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