A Reddit user recently described how their former company laid them off—only to post the same job opening weeks later, exposing poor planning and a lack of foresight in handling critical operations.
A Role They Couldn’t Replace Easily
The user explained that they and another colleague at the same level were laid off last month, but the company has since struggled to fill the position. “They didn’t have me transfer knowledge which I thought was incredibly dumb on their part. The people who had trained me on it had retired within the last year,” the post read.
According to the user, one monthly data process involved multiple error types that only trained staff could handle. “This one data process had 4 different types of errors a month and if you were untrained you’d have no idea how to resolve a couple types,” they said, adding that they had streamlined another complex monthly process after a year of handling it.
The user noted, “It’s nice to picture the manager having ruined her Labor Day weekend doing my work while I was on vacation.”
Corporate Stupidity and Costly Mistakes
Others joined the discussion with their own experiences of questionable corporate decisions. One commenter said, “My job was determined to be a job that paid $70,000. I was paid well over that. I was let go and they replaced me with four people, but was told (by someone who knew in secret) that none of the four people made over $70,000. Corporate stupidity. One just at (lets say) $100,000 was worse that four people totaling $280,000 (at most).”
Another user recalled a company that tried to “time” a recession to cut costs, only to backfire. “They got rid of a bunch of staff over a 6 month period thinking once the recession started later that year they would rehire cheaper. Recession never came. They hired expensive temps to get by. Things fell apart quickly. The people they got rid of were paid below market. Once they realized they had to rehire, they had to pay full market rate for every position, and still had trouble filling roles and retaining. That was a hugely expensive mistake (I knew the numbers). All to save a few dollars on salaries.”
Lessons From Layoffs
The thread highlights how short-sighted layoff strategies can end up costing companies far more than they save. From poor knowledge transfer to failed recession predictions, users pointed out that layoffs not only impact workers but also disrupt critical workflows, erode morale, and inflate long-term costs.
Disclaimer: This story is based on a post shared by a Reddit user. The details, opinions, and statements quoted herein belong solely to the original poster and do not reflect the views of Financialexpress.com. We have not independently verified the claims.