Top 10 Worst Layoff Announcements

CEO Vishal Garg laid off 900 employees on a single Zoom call three weeks before Christmas 2021, telling them "if you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group."

During the January 2023 mass layoffs of 12,000 workers, some Googlers discovered they were terminated when their office badges stopped working and corporate accounts were deactivated without warning.

Mark Zuckerberg laid off 21,000 employees across two rounds while calling 2023 the "Year of Efficiency," a slogan that became a bitter meme among those who had relocated for the metaverse vision.

A Cloudflare employee recorded her termination call in January 2024 and posted it to TikTok, where it went viral after HR could not explain why she was being let go after four months on the job.

Boeing left voicemail messages informing thousands of workers they were being laid off during the holiday season, with some employees finding out while on vacation with their families.

Adam Neumann laid off 7% of staff in 2016 and immediately threw a company party with tequila shots and a Run-DMC performance, displaying staggering insensitivity to departed colleagues.

Coinbase cut 18% of staff in June 2022 and simultaneously rescinded accepted job offers from candidates who had already quit their previous jobs and relocated, leaving them stranded.

CEO Marissa Mayer used the euphemism "remixing" to describe laying off 1,600 workers in 2016, adding to the corporate tradition of using dehumanizing language to soften mass terminations.

CEO Barry McCarthy announced 2,800 layoffs in February 2022 while a photo surfaced of him riding a Peloton bike grinning, embodying the disconnect between executive lifestyle and employee devastation.

CEO Vishal Garg laid off 900 employees on a single Zoom call three weeks before Christmas 2021, telling them "if you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group."

During the January 2023 mass layoffs of 12,000 workers, some Googlers discovered they were terminated when their office badges stopped working and corporate accounts were deactivated without warning.

Mark Zuckerberg laid off 21,000 employees across two rounds while calling 2023 the "Year of Efficiency," a slogan that became a bitter meme among those who had relocated for the metaverse vision.

A Cloudflare employee recorded her termination call in January 2024 and posted it to TikTok, where it went viral after HR could not explain why she was being let go after four months on the job.

Boeing left voicemail messages informing thousands of workers they were being laid off during the holiday season, with some employees finding out while on vacation with their families.

Adam Neumann laid off 7% of staff in 2016 and immediately threw a company party with tequila shots and a Run-DMC performance, displaying staggering insensitivity to departed colleagues.

Coinbase cut 18% of staff in June 2022 and simultaneously rescinded accepted job offers from candidates who had already quit their previous jobs and relocated, leaving them stranded.

CEO Marissa Mayer used the euphemism "remixing" to describe laying off 1,600 workers in 2016, adding to the corporate tradition of using dehumanizing language to soften mass terminations.

CEO Barry McCarthy announced 2,800 layoffs in February 2022 while a photo surfaced of him riding a Peloton bike grinning, embodying the disconnect between executive lifestyle and employee devastation.