Automated Emails For Laying Off Employees Is Just Like Rubbing Salt Into Wounds

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The layoff season is in full swing, and I am sure if you have logged in to your LinkedIn profiles, you might have seen plenty of software developers, financial consultants, HRs, and many other professionals laid off for no fault of their own.

However, because some of those laid off are on H-1B visas, there has been a sense of urgency in the posts. For those who are unfamiliar, an H-1B visa is a type of visa that allows US employers to hire highly skilled workers from other countries.

The layoffs didn’t just happen in the US, but also in companies in other countries such as the UK and India, the country I am from, among others.

The layoff reasons given out by these companies are also strange, as almost every organization has a tailor-made template for apologizing and blaming themselves, sharing that they over-hired and underestimated their growth during their pandemic.

Heck, an employee with 16 years of experience at Google was absolutely devastated by the way Google terminated him. Justin Moore, like the other 11,920 employees, received an automated email informing him of the news.

Justin Moore’s post on LinkedIn

You see, when you are fired by an automated email, even after working for 16 years for one of the best companies in the world, you have every right to be angry and pissed off.

You not only lose your job but also your work colleagues, with whom you might have collaborated on endless projects, ideas, bug-fixing sessions, and some mundane meetings.

The automated email system works best for these massive corporations because it eliminates the need for difficult face-to-face interactions to deliver the bad news. It is understandable that automation makes things easier, but it makes the employees feel their absolute worst.

I have been in touch with a friend who was laid off from Google India’s Gurgaon office, and he said he had worked tremendously hard to prepare for Google interviews after going through multiple rounds of interviews, and just like that, he was asked to leave.

On a side note, he recently got married and was planning for his honeymoon, but unfortunately he had to cancel his plans due to obvious reasons. However, he had saved at least nine months of his salary as an emergency fund, and that is incredibly well thought of.

The thing that we all should understand is that we must protect our own interests. And of course, you shouldn’t forget that your company doesn’t care about you.