Starts at 1:00 minute mark. This is the financial industry but the question is in general. Think I survived about 12 events out of 1.5 in my career. One told me Friday would be my last day a few days before, then came in on Friday and asked me to stay. That was my 0.5 because I was already well into job hunting.

Fortunately, I would have had to try to get fired. I did make it my whole career with zero complaints that were proven to be true.

I was let go as an intern two days after my boss approached me asking if I wanted at stay full time. I had just finished undergrad, was working out of state in Wichita, and my wife was back in TX pregnant. Good times! Lol

It was a blessing in hindsight. There were 8 of us interns on that program, we all got the mandatory meeting notice with HR right before lunchtime on a Friday. Turned out to be a program decision to reduce headcount, and we were the lowest hanging fruit. Had I stayed, I would have relocated my family to Kansas only to see the entire program get cancelled less than a month before my daughter was born. 1,000 people lost their jobs and Bombardier wrote off a billion dollar loss.

I have been on every side of this.

Been give a retention package to make sure I did not quit before a merger closed then had the new owners give me another retention package to guarantee I would stay another year. (made 4 years salary in 26 months)

Been the guy that walked into a building I had never been in before with a stack of personnel folders for people I had never met...one lady broke down in tears before names were ever disclosed.

Had one guy pull a switchblade while I was terminating him.

Been in a customer's office as a contractor, when all the employees on the team were eliminated and the consultants retained. (That was the weirdest).

Worked as a consultant where part of my job was to review staffing and recommend who got cut. (Did not have to do the firing).

Been through five mergers and layoffs where there was the potential I would be fired, but I was retained. (Two of those I had prior information that I was being retained, but it is hell to watch).

Was a target of one layoff. I knew the date and knew it was 50/50 if my number would come up. Had my ducks in a row when my boss showed up in my office. Eliminated at 9:30, had a job offer at 4:30.

Its just corporate life in the 2000's

F that and F 'them'. Went through an acquisition by a Fortune 100 that cut my compensation by 2/3. Others weren't given the offer I got. Gutted it out for a couple of months out of loyalty to my boss and our prior team. Signed a non-compete with a signature of a Disney character. Bailed, and now I'm at 5x of what was and the rearview mirror has been torn off.

Corporate America is where freedom dies.

It’s all about the money. I never got terminated, but had to do it to others. Last job was for a company that was on a full blown acquisition track. My job was to go to the new companies, decide how to do a better job than the ‘new’ acquisition and do it with almost no retained personnel. There were unpleasant moments and situations. Corporate America can be a heartless place.

I've been though at least a dozen. Only one I didn't survive was my very first. It was because it was a union shop and cuts were based solely on seniority. Ever since then I've always been flagged as a high performer or met whatever criteria they had. I have made a concerted effort to avoid being a middle manager... those are always the easiest heads to chop.

Never been fired...but if I was, don't think I would have sweat it for more than a few minutes. Only thing close is I was working with an older doc with a plan to buy his practice after 12 months...that was in 2008. After 3 months the stock market went into the dump and he changed his mind and decided he couldn't afford to retire and that he couldn't sell. I left, took 2 weeks off, and found another office that has ended up being a better deal than I could have ever dreamed of. I'm a big believer that if you bust your butt, do the right thing, and have Faith, then it will work itself out better than we expect.

I've only had one corporate gig and that was soul sucking so I left. I've had to fire a lot of people over the years but I've never been fired.

My dad was the head of human resources for Liberty Mutual many years ago and they had him travel around the country firing people. I think he personally let about 2,400 people go and then they decided that they paid him way too much and told him that they were eliminating his position and said don't let the door hit you in the rear on the way out.

That reminds me. The oldest daughter worked for a big company that was on a staff reduction path. Being in HR, she would not use the terms ‘fired’ or ‘terminated’. She and her HR coworkers used the term ‘deselected’. She really was pretty cold about deselecting folks, until she got deselected. She told,us over the phone, so I didn’t have to hurt my face hiding a smile.

I own my own small company and have been seriously considering laying myself off. Just need to work out my severance package.

My Dad sold his small company, laid himself off and collected unemployment.

I worked at Lockheed (GD) in the mid 90's as a contractor. Siting in the big cafeteria one day having I think a late lunch and the HR "layoff" squad was set up in there. Had a line of guys toting their toolboxes so long it was out the door. Those "ladies" were yucking it up the whole time as probably hundreds of guys were getting the axe. It was truly disgusting.

Not a bad movie. Been through it (worst timing possible so far in my lifetime) and made it through the other side.

Close on our new house and property on a Friday, went to work the next Monday and boss lady said she was retiring and shutting the business down as soon an all accounts were closed. Was fortunate to land somewhere that fit the bill.

Witnessed it several times only to see another person come in behind with a box to fill up their belongings and meet them at the door. I work in a setting that determines these events for a large company. In most cases, they try to backfill other openings, but many times these type of events are too big to move large amounts of people into new/open roles. In the past few years, people leaving on their own have satisfied the need, but with the economy the way it’s headed, you’ll see these types of events throughout the year into next.

Closest I have been is when I worked for H&R Mortgage Co who was owned by Option One a B lender.
We were told that the company would probably be shutting completely down in the next couple of months so one week later I went and got a job elsewhere.

They shut down one month after that and gave everybody a very generous severance package, dang it I should have hung around for another 3 weeks

Very early on in the mid-eighties, it was a slow roll for me. My bosses were giving me thousand a month plus commission. I could see the meat on the string, but it was farther down the line. Less than two years into it, I was afraid they were going to let me go. I was not sure if I was worth the thousand. I told them to keep it and just pay me commission. Don't know if they were going to fire me or not, but I do know what has happened since - same outfit for 40 years now.

Been there, done that, back in 2016 in the oilfield. Our company was a bloodbath, while I survived the 1st round, eventually I got the call. That is when I learned "the man" doesn't give one sh** about you, and I never forgot that. I work for myself now, much better.

Got the call three weeks ago, after 23 years with the company. Got a call the next day asking me if I'd come back as a contractor. So I'll try that for a little while but keep throwing resumes out there in case something else comes up.

Every job I've ever had has been better than the last one. Something will shake loose.

Twice...never easy and always sucks, regardless of which side you are on. Fortunately, I've always been one kept but it only makes it slightly easier.

My cousin just went through this with her company, they pretty much let her entire department go. But the company being of good people gave them 60 days notice, any sort of training to transition within the company to a new department. I don't know how many people were in the department, but she was the only person to find a new position within the company, everyone else left.

Layoffs can be like watching someone get eaten by a lion. The only thing that can be good about it is knowing it's not you. But on the flp side, I've never known anyone who didn't come out better in the end. I liked to tell people that when it came to layoffs, I had been shot at so many times that I didn't even flinch anymore. Had a co-worker tell me the first time is the worst. By the third time, you already know where you going to find your next job. After almost 40 years in the workforce and never having been let go or fired, I never thought I would lay myself off by taking a voluntary early retirement package.

Was terminating a fiber optic line in a sand plant office a few years ago. The walls were very thin. First day they were bringing people through to the next office to be layed off. The second day the hatchet man from the first day got layed off.

I got on a conference call once and the opening line was, if you're on this call you still have a job.