Worker Gets Told To Start A New Project Despite Being Fired, They Agree, Knowing They Won’t Do It

The loss of your job can feel like running out of air underwater. One day, you’re settled into your routine, paying your bills and sending off your kid to basketball camp, and the next, you have no clue when or where your paycheck is coming from. People need time to process this, but after Reddit user YolaGod was laid off, they were immediately told to start—and finish—a new project before packing their things. Needless to say, the worker wasn’t very motivated to complete it. Instead, they decided to get back at the managers who had come up with the idea.

Layoffs suck and no amount of corporate jargon can make them hurt less

Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)

So, this worker decided to make their exit unforgettable

Image credits: unsplash (not the actual photo)

Image credits: unsplash (not the actual photo)

Image credits: unsplash (not the actual photo)

Image credits: YolaGod

Our emotional responses to layoffs are rarely measured

Image credits: pexels (not the actual photo)

The desire of these higher-ups to integrate AI into their day-to-day is nothing unusual. Reported use of AI increased in 2024, with 78 percent of respondents in the McKinsey Global Survey claiming their organizations use AI in at least one business function, up from 55 percent a year earlier.

Currently, employees say the technology is mostly used in the IT, marketing, and sales functions, followed by service operations.

But, as the author of the post pointed out, you can’t just kick out your employee and expect them to go above and beyond while simultaneously packing their things.

Vivek Gulati, who has worked as an engineer and technical lead in the tech industry for over 17 years at companies like Google, Fitbit, and Broadcom, and Emma Seppälä, who teaches executives at the Yale School of Management, say the variability in severance packages and financial instability make it harder for people to see what the future holds, and amid all the chaos, we become very selective about whowe can place our trust in.

If the managers proved during this period that they think only about themselves, then it’s not surprising that the worker no longer felt any loyalty or obligation to go the extra mile.

Plus, Gulati and Seppälä say it’s important to honor the negative emotions that might come up, like anger, frustration, resentment, and fear—research shows that suppressing them only makes things worse.

We could argue whether the developer allowed them to take over and has hindered their ability to move forward, or whether this was all part of expressing them, but ultimately, only they know what they needed in that exact moment.

People have had a lot of reactions to the whole ordeal

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