Getting fired is not fun at all. Resigning, on the other hand, can be pleasant, especially when you end your letter with “with the assurance of my sourest feelings.” But getting fired, oh no, it’s a bad time to have. But, even in horror, there is a gradation. It’s not the same thing to be fired face to face with HR or to realize that you can no longer enter the premises after an evacuation drill. Not the same thing at all.
1. A Singapore company fired all its employees during an evacuation drill
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Evacuation exercise: 5000 employees evacuate the head office from their box. They gather outside according to the instructions given to them and then hear the following message:
“Dear employees – It is with emotion that I announce to you that for many of you this was the last evacuation. Because of the crisis, we are parting with about half of the workforce. When you get home, if your badge doesn’t work, you’re part of that half, and your things will be mailed back to you tomorrow. We did this to avoid filling mailboxes with thousands of farewell emails, and also to avoid arguments on the premises. We wish you a good career pursuit. Please come in and try your luck. »
2500 people fired at once. On the other hand, good news, there was no fire.
2. An English county administration fired everyone to rehire them for less
Cash flow problem in your business? No problem. The administration of Shropshire has found a solution: fire 6500 employees and rehire them by lowering their salaries by 5%. Apparently, it was that or fire 400 for real. And it is true that to circumvent a salary negotiation, it is practical. Liberalism, ultimately, is nothing but pragmatism and freedom.
3. An American club voluntarily organizes a strike to fire everyone
The Gate Gourmet box was judged in 2005 for just that. Basically, the employees had organized a sitting to protest against their working conditions. Management’s response to the megaphone: all the strikers are fired, as well as those absent, whether they are on vacation or on sick leave. 670 people fired. Where it’s even worse than we think is that we found an HR note indicating the following thing: “Recruit and train […] new employees. Announce it to the union representatives, provoke a spontaneous strike, dismiss the strikers and replace them with new recruits previously trained. »
Coolos.
4. A fiber optic box moves but does not notify employees
In 2004, the 14 employees of OCT, a box in Essonne specializing in the manufacture of optical fibers, arrive at work but there is no longer a place to work: the English company had emptied the premises the night before. . In case it was not clear enough, the employees then received a letter making it clear that they were all fired with immediate effect.
Nice, what.
5. A packaging factory fires everyone by letter, without warning
Also in 2004, the employees of a factory in Normandy received a registered letter telling them that they were all fired and that the site was closing. No one had warned the employees, the decision came out of nowhere, but it’s true that it’s still the most practical solution to be sure that no one organizes themselves to contest the decision.
6. An auto parts company picks up its employees and forces them to carve out
La Barre Thomas, an auto parts company, fired 309 of its 1,400 military employees. Managers would pick up workers at their workstations, grab them by the arm, make them empty their lockers and throw them out on the basis of “you don’t work here anymore”. Immediate release: not even the right to say goodbye to his colleagues.
But since we are not dogs, the employees were still entitled to compensation: bonbecs. Without laughing.
7. Security guard employee fired by text message
He is not the only one, but the method is more popular in the United States than in France. The guy woke up one morning and got this: We confirm your conservatory layoff as of today, cordially”. Obviously, he seized the Prud’hommes and won. We still appreciate the attention paid to cordiality.
8. An AOL employee fired by the boss in a videoconference in front of 2000 people
In 2013, during a videoconference organized by the boss of AOL in which a lot of employees participated, an employee was released in front of everyone. The CEO made a whole spiel about the sense of duty and commitment to the box and, during that time, one of the employees was taking pictures. Response from the CEO: “You’re fired. Right away. Everyone is uncomfortable and thinks it’s just empty words, but not at all. The next day, the guy receives confirmation of his dismissal. Good atmosphere.
9. An employee disappears from radar in ten minutes
One day Philipp had an appointment with one of his colleagues for lunch. But the colleague didn’t show up. Philipp therefore went to see her at her office. There was no more office. When he questioned the girl’s colleagues, they pretended she didn’t exist. A guy ended up letting go, all the same: “we made her disappear”. North Korean atmosphere in the United States.
10. Employees of an Ohio box called to vote on whether or not to fire their fellow accountant
Democracy is nice. So nice that the boss of an audiovisual box in Ohio, who was not satisfied with the job of the accountant, decided to consult all his colleagues to find out whether to fire her or not. We organized a secret ballot and either the accountant in question stank of shit or she never returned the pens we lent her, but she was fired by mob retribution. Synergies, group spirit, all that, all that.
11. Twitter employees fired by email, some of whom are asked to return to the office two days later
It happened on a Friday in November 2022: around 9 a.m. nearly 3,700 employees received an email explaining to them that they were fired from the company following the takeover by Elon Musk, we even wrote a note in the email which says that if employees are on their way to the office they can turn around and go home. It’s not very classy, it’s even overall sadistic. But the added bonus was the fact that some of those fired employees received phone calls the following Monday telling them to come back because they had been “misfired” and needed to turn the box. There we reach a fairly high level of inelegance.