Manager Finds Out He Has To Lay Off The Entire Staff, Himself Included, And Uses His Time Wisely
It's been a tumultuous period of time in today's economy. Jobs are coming and going, and people are barely functioning financially. It's not really new news, because the fluctuating economy and frustrating financial situation of the average American has been a hot topic for many years, and listening to how person and person has been screwed over by a corporation is just depressing.
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That's why when Reddit user shortadamlewis shared his personal experience on an AskReddit thread about the "best" job quitting experience ever, everyone was enthralled and sucked in. shortadamlewis was given 8 hours to lay off his entire staff, himself included, and decided that instead of a normal work day or just blowing the whole day off, that he would use the time to order pizza for his staff and help every single person write a resume!
In an interview with BoredPanda, shortadamlewis said:
While this is close to the whole story, it is only part of it, and I am not the real MVP here… that belongs to my old boss. [He continued to describe his time in the Marine Corps and how he was forced to abandon his uniform and a dream career in the branch just at the time that his wife got pregnant. As he found himself with a family to care for, the man worked hard to prepare himself for a decent job as a civilian. After jumping from one contract to another, he ended up with the job that led to the story that happened 5 years ago.]
I had to lay off my entire staff (and myself) with 8 hours notice.I was the contract project manager on a government project (office type work). At our periodic review on a Thursday, the government announced they would not be renewing our contract and our last day was Friday (the next day).I brought everyone into the conference room first thing the next day, let everyone know that we were all out of a job and that today was everyone’s last day. I had everyone email me their resumes, and we went over everyone’s on the conference room projector and updated them over the course of the day. I then printed out “reference” sheets for everyone, and we all spent the remainder of the day writing letters of recommendation for each other. I ordered everyone pizza, and bought everyone a round of drinks at the bar next door. Most folks had jobs by the end of the next week.
I was brought on as the deputy project manager on a small company to a failing project, delivering custom software for the government” the man recalled. “The PM they brought in had decades of experience in the corporate world and was very knowledgeable in how to actually run the project from an experience point of view. I had the knowledge and expertise from traditional schooling and the military” he explained.Even though they worked well together, it only took one call from the goverment for it all to fall. As the contract reached the end, the entire team was to be laid off.“I sat down with the PM and we discussed what we should do. We were part of a small company that had maybe 40 employees across a few states, and we were the only employees for 100 or so miles so there was no other work for us to fall back on. We called our company leadership, and confirmed there was no work for anybody, and then called a meeting” he explained his approach.They decided to call everyone in for a meeting and break the news. “I’m glad we told everyone as soon as we knew. I seem to be the expert on resumes and getting jobs, so I told everyone to bring a copy of their resumes and that we’d look them over in the conference room” the man continued.He also revealed that while the bosses gave everyone termination paperwork, he was pulled aside and taken over to the government offices as “[he was] very employable on paper”. “In the meantime, my PM boss took everyone out for drinks. He is the real MVP here, not me[.] Letting people go is never fun. When we can, it never hurts to try and set someone up for success in the future even if they can’t be a success working with you” he concluded.
A lot of people in this world can relate to a disappointing experience being "let go" from a job, and thus... a lot of people really loved what shortadamlewis had to share.
Not many people in his position would have been so pro-active for his staff, and there is a lot of respect in that.
A sign of solidarity is the sort of message that lasts years and years.
Genuinely impressive response to a difficult situation.
Too many people have harrowing tales about unexpectedly being laid off.
Thank you!
Optimistic thinking.
Seriously, the pizza was a nice touch. Very nice.
The world needs more people like shortadamlewis, don't you think? Have you ever been laid off? What was it like?