Member-only story
I Was Laid Off on a Team Zoom Call
I will never again be financially dependent on an employer
This is how corporate America does things now. Workers aren’t even given the decency of a private call to let them know they’ve been terminated.
I had taken a sick day that morning but received a text from my director saying I needed to jump on a “team” call. I told him I had taken the day off because I wasn’t feeling well, but he insisted I attend. That was red flag number one.
Red flag number two was that he bypassed my manager and texted me, which he had never done before.
Red flag number three was logging on and seeing the VP and an unknown person on the call. She turned out to be from HR.
I still wasn’t concerned because I thought the call would be about a personnel change.
Then, I noticed my manager and two other team members were not there. Red flag number four.
Red flag number five: we were all muted by the meeting organizer. Gagged.
That said it all.
As soon as my director started in on how the company wasn’t doing well financially, blah blah blah, I knew the gig was up. They don’t pull any punches when they terminate you. It’s like a surgeon’s knife—one clean cut.
