A 31-year-old man was left stunned after apparently discovering that he had lost his job while he was on holiday. What made the situation even more unsettling was that he did not learn about it through a formal conversation with his employer, but through an automated reply from his own work email account.
(Also read: Man fired over video call on first day of Hawaii vacation: ‘It couldn’t have waited?’)
Sharing his experience on Reddit, the man said he had sent an email from his personal account to his work address after remembering something related to a project. He wanted the email to serve as a reminder when he returned to work.
Out-of-office message had been changed
“Hi everyone, I am 31 and am pretty sure I just found out I was laid off. I am on vacation, but I had a thought regarding something I am/was working on, so I sent an email from my personal email account to my work email so I would have the reminder when I got back to the office,” he wrote.
At first, the automated response did not appear unusual because he had already set an out-of-office message before going on leave. However, when he read it carefully, he noticed that the message had been edited without his knowledge.
{{/usCountry}}At first, the automated response did not appear unusual because he had already set an out-of-office message before going on leave. However, when he read it carefully, he noticed that the message had been edited without his knowledge.
{{/usCountry}}“Only after looking at the automated response did I see that it had been edited without my knowledge to state that ‘this individual is no longer employed by X Company’ and to contact my manager,” he added.
The man then recalled that his boss had contacted him earlier in the week and asked whether he could join a last-minute call. Since the company was small and employees regularly communicated through text messages, even during holidays, he did not suspect anything at the time.
“I told him I was not able to due to the time difference and lack of consistent Wi-Fi, so he told me to just keep enjoying my time off,” he said.
Promotion made the news harder to process
The possible layoff came as a complete shock to the employee, who said he had been promoted in January and had received positive feedback from colleagues and senior leaders. He had also met his boss for lunch only a week earlier and noticed no warning signs.
“I am supposed to return from my vacation and go back to the office next Tuesday, and I am honestly shocked and confused. I am not sure what I should be doing since I am still on vacation. Any advice or words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated,” he wrote.
(Also read: ‘Microsoft was my endgame’: Techie claims he was laid off while vacationing with wife, 2-year-old)
He shared the post with the title, “Laid off while on vacation… Any advice or words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated.”
Reddit users react
The post drew several reactions from users. One user wrote, “Take screenshots of the automated reply and save every message.” Another said, “Do not let this ruin your entire holiday. You can deal with it once you have the facts.”
A third person commented, “Finding out this way is deeply unprofessional.” Another added, “This is really unfair.”
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)