This company called for mandatory WFH day, then laid off 400 employees over remote call

Portuguese businessman and CEO of Stellantis Carlos Tavares

Italian-American automaker Stellantis has eliminated over 400 positions in its engineering, software and technology divisions in the US. It was the manner in which the layoffs were carried out that has raised eyebrows. According to Fortune magazine, Stellantis called for a mandatory remote work day on Friday, March 22.

“We will be holding important operational meetings that require specific attention and participation,” the carmaker told employees in a notice on Thursday. “To ensure everyone can effectively participate,” the notice continued, “we have decided to implement a mandatory remote work day.”

White collar workers who joined the remote call were told they were being laid off.

“It was a mass firing of everybody that was on the call,” a mechanical engineer who was laid off during the call told Fox News. The engineer, who declined to be named, said that Stellantis is outsourcing jobs to India, Mexico and Brazil.

“So they continue to push low-cost countries that are more efficient for the company and more profitable,” he said.

The automaker -- which counts Jeep and Chrysler among its brands – told the Wall Street Journal that laid off workers have been offered a comprehensive separation package and transition assistance. “As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,” it said in a statement.

The Stellantis layoffs have once again put in spotlight the issue of layoffs etiquette. Over the last few months, the issue of how companies should inform their employees of bad news has been hotly discussed.

In 2022, during Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, several employees discovered they had lost their jobs after being unable to log in to their work email. Later, Goldman Sachs also faced backlash for the way it conducted layoffs – the company emailed calendar invites for fake meetings at its New York headquarters, where employees were then informed that they were being laid off.