Management fires entire team out of nowhere, then tells them they can reapply for limited spaces: 'I don’t know where that leaves me'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Apr 13, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Imagine being summoned into a meeting out of nowhere, only to find out your entire team is being let go. Perhaps it softens the blow knowing that you were not the only person getting fired, but don't worry; it only gets worse. 

After a tense meeting between the work team and human resources, this soon-to-be former employee learned that while any remaining PTO was going to be paid out, details about their 401k accounts remained vague and unclear. That's not exactly the most professional level of transparency any employee wants to hear. 

Eventually, the team was told that they could interview to keep their jobs but that there would be a limited number of spots available. Talk about some audacity here! If they needed to let a few people go for budgetary purposes, you would think they would just figure that out rather than taunt employees who want to stay. Our hope is that all of these folks found something better!

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  • 01
    Monday at 3:30 PM my team got an email from the higher ups saying there is a mandatory meeting tomorrow at 1 PM at our main location.
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  • 02
    "I'm being let go and told I can reapply for my job"
    via Dan Burton

  • Let's just pause the action here to interject that whenever the entire team has a mandatory in-person meeting scheduled in their calendars with little planning in advance… well, it's never a good sign. This author understood that and seemed to already be preemptively panicking before the meeting itself. You would think upper management would have thought about the most careful, sensitive way to deliver the bad news, but alas, it's management! They never do think about that well in advance.

  • 03
    I email back explaining how I have to be home to let a guy in to do an inspection in my apartment, would she reconsider this not being virtual. She responded that I need to reschedule it and come in.
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  • 04
    Meeting comes and we are all being let go. They gave us two weeks notice. Said they will give us two weeks severance. That we will get paid for any PTO but not sick time. Then when asked about our 401k, HR didn't give us
    via Anxious-Peanut-7701
  • 05
    a great answer I don't remember what was said but a mass email was sent later about it. I recently took out a loan on mine so I don't know where that leaves me.
    via Anxious-Peanut-7701
  • 06
    They said we can apply for our jobs back but there will only be limited spaces and some will have to move to a different position thats more work but
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  • 07
    same pay. I forgot to say that I work for a large behavioral health organization and they got hit with the budget cuts.
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  • 08
    When I got the email I was immediately sent into a manic episode. I have now not slept in three days with naps here and there.
    via Anxious-Peanut-7701
  • 09
    I am on FMLA and I already get treated differently by management because of it. So now I have a feeling I won't get hired back because of that reason. Of course they will probably come up with a different reason.
    via Anxious-Peanut-7701
  • 10
    I have an interview Friday and I decided I am going to finally launch my business I have been working on. I am in recovery and I loved baking growing up, so I got the idea to make cupcakes with chocolate AA coins on top that shows your milestone of s ty.
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  • 11
    My thoughts are sponsors get sponsees a chip and flowers, why not something sweet! And I plan to do other things but I have only perfected this item.
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  • 12
    Cheezburger Image 10492835328
    via Unsplash+ (Ahmet Kurt)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 13
    boatergirl ⚫ 3h ago . Keep an eye on how you frame this lay off. It sounds bad at 1st but this could be an opportunity to get and do something WAY more fulfilling, more $, better life
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  • 14
    something WAY more fulfilling, more $, better life and this was your higher powers way of getting you there. Sometimes we get stuck in the familiar and easy. Time to grow, I'm excited for you!
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  • 15
    Affectionate_Ask... 4h ago going through a really tough and uncertain time with the unexpected job loss, the stress of managing your FMLA situation, and the anxiety about your future.
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  • 16
    It's understandable that the situation has triggered a manic episode, as these are a lot of stressors to handle at once. However, it's great. to hear you're taking steps
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  • 17
    to move forward by pursuing an interview and launching your own business, which could be a wonderful way to channel your passion and creativity during this challenging time...
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  • 18
    Previous-Mail7343 4h ago Well that ss. I had a similar situation myself years ago where I had lost a job with an outstanding loan on a 401k. The company will be
    via Anxious-Peanut-7701
  • 19
    contacting you soon about this but I can tell you that unless you are above the age where you can start withdrawing from that you will have 2 choices, neither are great. You are either
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  • 20
    going to have to pay back the loan into the 401k or it's going to get turned into an early distribution in which case you will have some big penalty on top of it being taxable income on your next
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  • 21
    years taxes. I don't remember what the penalty exactly is but it's something like 10-15%. This will come out of your remaining 401k
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  • 22
    balance so it's not like you'll have to pay it out of pocket but it's going to take a chunk out of your 401k balance that you would otherwise be able to rollover.
    via Anxious-Peanut-7701

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management getting fired workplace-stories toxic-manager employee fired toxic-workplace fired story work toxic-boss overworked-employees
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