BadLayoffs

A record of how companies treated people on the way out.

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7 incidents documented
Incident #001 Mass Anxiety
M
Meta May 2026
Sent 4am termination emails to 8,000 people — rolling westward around the globe — with no advance warning of who was at risk.
8,000 people
laid off
Mark Zuckerberg
MZ
Mark Zuckerberg
LinkedIn
"Leadership had handled the run-up badly."— Mark Zuckerberg, internal memo to staff
Notices began rolling at 4am in Singapore, sweeping westward through Europe and the Americas. Employees had no prior warning of who was affected. The company posted record revenue the same quarter.
Incident #002 Locked Out
WF
Webflow May 2026
Employees discovered they were fired when their laptops stopped working at 7am — before any communication was sent.
140 people
laid off
Linda Tong
LT
Linda Tong
LinkedIn
"Access to company devices was restricted a few minutes before notifications were sent."— Webflow spokesperson, official statement
Termination notices arrived in personal inboxes minutes after the lockout. Employees described waking up to floods of panicked Slack messages from colleagues trying to figure out if they still had jobs.
Incident #003 PR Spin
CF
Cloudflare May 2026
Cut 20% of staff during a record revenue quarter, then published a WSJ op-ed labelling the laid-off as "measurers" made obsolete by AI.
1,100 people
laid off
Matthew Prince
MP
Matthew Prince
LinkedIn
"AI systems can now measure an organization with a level of objective detail and precision that was previously impossible even for the best employees."— Matthew Prince, Wall Street Journal op-ed
Prince sorted his workforce into "builders," "sellers," and "measurers" — then used the framework to explain why those in finance, legal, and middle management were let go. The op-ed read as a CEO using his own employees' terminations as a thought leadership vehicle.
Incident #004 PR Spin
CU
ClickUp May 2026
Announced 290 layoffs on the CEO's personal X account — paired in the same post with $1M salary bands for those who survived.
290 people
laid off
Zeb Evans
ZE
Zeb Evans
LinkedIn
"Most savings from this change will flow directly back into the people who stay. We'll be introducing million-dollar salary bands."— Zeb Evans, posted publicly on X
290 people lost their jobs the same day Evans used the announcement to grow his personal brand. The post went to 229,000 followers before employees had been individually notified.
Incident #005 Locked Out
G
Google January 2023
12,000 people notified at 6am. Some found out by being unable to badge into the office that morning.
12,000 people
laid off
Sundar Pichai
SP
Sundar Pichai
LinkedIn
"Egregious and unacceptable."— Google employees describing the process
Employees who commuted to the New York and Chicago offices found out they were fired when their badge wouldn't scan at the door. Others learned from panicked Slack messages before the email arrived. Long-tenured and recently promoted staff were cut without individual context.
Incident #006 Locked Out
𝕏
Twitter / X November 2022
Fired 50% of the company overnight by remotely logging everyone out of their laptops. Contractors got no severance.
3,700 people
laid off
Elon Musk
EM
Elon Musk
LinkedIn
"All badge access suspended."— Twitter internal notice sent to all employees
One week after the takeover, offices closed and employees were remotely logged out with no warning. Some received termination emails; others just lost access mid-session. Contractors were cut immediately with no notice and no severance.
Incident #007 No Notice
B
Better.com December 2021
Fired 900 people on a 3-minute Zoom call two weeks before Christmas, then accused them of stealing.
900 people
laid off
Vishal Garg
VG
Vishal Garg
LinkedIn
"If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off."— Vishal Garg, opening a Zoom call with no prior notice
The call lasted three minutes. Days later, Garg published a letter accusing the same employees of "stealing" from the company by working only 2 hours a day. Three senior communications executives resigned within the week.
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