Boss sends menacing email forcing all employees into AI evaluation, threatens terminations: 'Anyone who cannot demonstrate meaningful progress after this exercise will be replaced'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
May 7, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

Even if AI doesn't replace your job, it might hasten your exit in other ways. 

We're all hearing about ways that advancements in AI technology might change our working lives. Maybe you're already seeing it happen. Your workplace is starting to implement it, and you're seeing the ways it's shifting how you do your job. Maybe you worry about being replaced by it, and your fears are not unfounded. If companies have ways to cut costs, they tend to do it. And that might mean your role ends up on the cutting room floor. It's a scary time, and one that we're not always prepared for. We don't have a roadmap for it, so it can go in any direction. You don't know what to expect, which can feel unmooring. But AI is coming for jobs in even more indirect ways, as evidenced by this story. 

Sometimes bosses want to feel like they're doing something, but they don't have a real plan. So they push the buck onto you, and everything comes crashing down. AI tools are just another way to do that. If you're truly invested in your company and your employees, then you would probably try to work with them to improve their performance. You wouldn't blindly take the advice of a robot and assume that it has your best interests at heart. But that's what the boss in this story said he was going to do, in an email that sent a chill down the spines of all the employees. 

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  • A man sits with his head in his hands in front of his laptop
    via Rifki Kurniawan

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Received this wild email from the CEO for Al to assess my performance.

    Mandatory: Al-Assisted Performance Review - Deadline Friday 8th of May Hello Team, The standards we hold ourselves to at (Company name) are high, and they must be. The work we do matters. Our funders trust us. The public depends on us. I've been reviewing the team's output
    via confringos
  • and I'm not satisfied that we are operating anywhere near our potential; in many cases, I'd estimate we are delivering only a fraction of what each role should produce. This is the moment to course- correct.
    via confringos
  • Each of you has been asked to open a Claude Pro account. By [Wedensday 05:00 PM], I want every team member to complete the following and send me the result by Friday 12:00 noon: 1. Create a Claude Pro account and log in.
    via confringos
  • 2. Copy the prompt* in this link, fill it in honestly with your role, responsibilities, current workload, and recent output. 3. Send me the complete conversation (your prompt and Claude's full analysis) by the deadline above. I will read every response personally.
    via confringos
  • The purpose of this exercise is not paperwork. It is to identify, for each of you individually, where we are leaving value on the table and how you can step up. I expect Claude's analysis to surface concrete, actionable improvements and I expect to see those improvements implemented in the following weeks.
    via confringos
  • To be very clear: anyone who cannot demonstrate meaningful progress after this exercise will be replaced. I would rather have a smaller team** operating at full capacity than a larger team coasting. I am available for questions about the tools or the prompt. I am not available for excuses.
    via confringos
  • *The prompt in question: I work at (Company name). Below is everything you need to give me a serious, honest analysis of my work and how I can dramatically improve my
    via confringos
  • output using you and other Al tools. ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION [Brief description — e.g., X - company is a marketing agency in Transylvania
    via confringos
  • serving 200+ companies, producing reports, data platforms. - Google for more] MY ROLE - Job title: - Reporting to:
    via confringos
  • Core responsibilities (A, B, C from my job description): WHAT I AM EXPECTED TO DELIVER WHAT I AM ACTUALLY DOING DAY TO DAY [Honest breakdown of how I spend my time, recurring tasks, meetings, admin, etc.
    via confringos
  • Do not sanitize this - be accurate.] WORK FROM THE LAST TWO WEEKS [Bullet list of everything I worked on completed, in progress, or - stalled. Include the time roughly spent on each.]
    via confringos
  • ATTACHED EXAMPLES [2-3 real outputs from the last two weeks: a report, a draft, a deck, an email thread, a spreadsheet, etc.] WHAT I NEED FROM YOU
    via confringos
  • 1. An honest, critical assessment of the gap between what I am delivering and whatmy role actually demands. Do not flatter me. 2. Specific ways to expedite my recurring tasks using Claude and other Al tools - with example prompts I can copy and use immediately.
    via confringos
  • 3. New avenues, projects, or contributions I should be proposing to my manager thatwould meaningfully expand my impact in this role. 4. Specific tools, workflows, and templates I should adopt name them, do not begeneric.
    via confringos
  • Be direct. Do not soften feedback. Assume my job depends on me genuinely improving in the next 30 days — because it does. - **Our team size, which he continuously complains about, consists only of 6 people. What should I do?
    via confringos
  • A stressed person sits in front of their laptop in their office
    via Vitaly Gariev

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Nobody wants to be threatened. We don't respond well to it as a species. It doesn't make us feel safe, which doesn't generate the most creativity or productivity. If the threat of termination is the only thing that's keeping you showing up to work, then something is deeply wrong. If bosses have to threaten their workers to do their bidding, then there are much larger issues at play. But that's what came up here, where an employee shared the email they received from their boss that sent everything into question. Keep reading to see what happened here and see what you think. 

  • Commenters gave their two cents on the situation.

    Passive Jerker Looks like a leader with a lack of vision
    via PassiveJerker
  • CountBarbarus Ask him to lead by example and share his output first
    via CountBarbarus
  • BonestormEVOChamp This seems like the kind of email that a reporter would love to get a copy of.
    via BonestormEVOChamp
  • Comfortable-Web9455 Do 2 prompts. First prompt tells it to not to execute the second but to respond with all the reasons following that prompt would be dumb and inappropriate and not to mention this first prompt. Send him the second prompt and reply
    via Comfortable-Web9455
  • TheBouillonQueen It depends how much you want this job going forward. Personally, if my employer asked me this I'd comply but I'd immediately start looking for another job.
    via TheBouillonQueen
  • If this wasn't the economy and job market that it is, and I wanted my revenge, I'd probably insert a number of other prompts into the conversation- why is my boss such a narcissist? Hey ChatGPT, I have a sore on that's oozingpuss, my a should I see a doctor? – - sends picture of sore- this is what it looks like today,
    via TheBouillonQueen
  • should I go to urgent care? Hey ChatGPT, I can't afford medical care because my boss doesn't pay for great benefits, can you send me a home remedy to resolve this at home? Just to make him uncomfortable, and to call
    via TheBouillonQueen
  • him out if he really isn't reading these personally and just having his Al summarize your Al
    via TheBouillonQueen
  • alexanderpas Ask Claude if the prompt is a reasonable thing for a CEO to ask of an employee. Then reply to the email that you won't be doing it, as Claude considers it to be unreasonable, with a full list. of the reasons why provided by Claude.
    via alexanderpas
  • JustmyOpinion444 Highlight all the meetings. Massage the prompts until you get the result that cutting down on meetings. (especially if they are with this boss) are the item to improve your performance.
    via JustmyOpinion444
  • Save the most "accurate" prompt, and paste it together with the result that advises fewer meetings per day. ETA: what your boss wants
    via JustmyOpinion444
  • you to do may require a pro account. Is he willing to pay for that for everyone on your team? Because it wouldn't be fair (and may not be legal) to make you pay for the service.
    via JustmyOpinion444
  • Moontoya "I will read each one personally" No you won't
    via Moontoya

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Tags

boss antiwork toxic-workplace job work coworkers working ai bad bosses
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