A former Vice President of an unnamed company shared their painful experience on Reddit, detailing the abruptness and frustration of being laid off despite a seemingly stellar performance record. After 1.5 years at the company, during which they received no negative feedback and earned a significant raise and a 25% bonus earlier this year, they were suddenly told their role was eliminated due to cost-cutting measures.
“Last Wednesday, the CEO and COO called me into their office and I was pretty much told that it wasn’t personal, that they were trying to cut costs and my position was eliminated. They gave me 10 weeks severance and will pay for COBRA for 10 weeks as well,” the former VP revealed.
The real blow came when they later discovered that the company had already hired someone else for the exact same position—a bitter realisation that only compounded their frustration.
“Today I went on LinkedIn and saw that they hired someone else with my exact title and my heart dropped,” they wrote.
The Redditor detailed that they had been reliable and good at their job and never got negative feedback.
“I never missed a single deadline, I was reliable, I did whatever was asked of me. Didn’t take all my PTO, would work weekends and was always available at any time. I never received any negative feedback or had to be sat down to speak to. I was doing the work of 3 people and still,” they wrote.
The former VP said they were angry that the bosses did not tell them the truth.
“I feel angry, embarrassed and just frustrated with the whole situation. They couldn’t even tell me the truth to my face and said they were expecting for to me pick up calls because they’re paying me severance. What a joke,” they concluded.
Was laid off and I feel embarrassed and angry
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One commenter shared a similar story of a coworker who was asked to document their entire workflow just weeks before being replaced. Another detailed how their role was reposted at a lower salary, following the appointment of a new COO.
Many comments highlighted the disillusionment and feelings of betrayal that accompany such situations, particularly when employees give their all to their roles, only to be dismissed seemingly without cause.
One commenter noted, “Sometimes it is just personal. Somebody doesn’t like you or feels threatened by you.” Others offered words of comfort, reminding the former VP not to dwell on the loss. “You can overanalyse everything you did right, but maybe from a business point, it didn’t make sense,” one user wrote.
For the original poster, the process of recovery has already begun, as they have started applying for new positions and reaching out to their network. However, the emotional scars are undeniable. "It still eats me alive," they admitted, encapsulating the all-too-common feeling of being betrayed by an employer in an unstable job market.
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