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by TheOsiris 4269 days ago
> I was laid off. > > What was the reason?... > > > Officially: no reason...

This basically reads like he was trying to dance around saying he was fired, but he was saying he got fired. You don't get laid off by yourself, and you definitely don't get a "reason".

3 comments

You're positing competence and or ethics when neither can be presumed. I can only wish they were safe assumptions. In fact in every layoff I've participated in (on either side) a reason for the layoff has been offered.

In one case where I and others were laid off we were told it was a layoff, our severance paperwork said it was a layoff, and the government was informed (for each of us individually) that it was for cause. The motivation was to get around the legal restrictions for layoffs and avoid an increase in their unemployment insurance contribution. In another case I was the only person laid off (from a small team), it was explicitly a layoff & my severance was paid out, and I later found out that it was part of a deliberate attempt to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt in the dev team. The company officer in question was later abruptly terminated and may have faced criminal charges.

In both of those cases you could argue by the standard you're using that I was fired instead, but I've got the legal documentation and if needed the witnesses to prove otherwise.

It reads to me like when he was let go, he might not have been given the clearest of communication as to the nature termination. I've been fired before, and I've been laid off. It was unambiguous in both cases.

That's not to say he wasn't clearly fired, and isn't dancing around that fact, but based on the available information, the broader internet bystander community doesn't have sufficient information to tell which story is true.

If he wanted to dance around, when asked "Why did you quit?", he could have given a generally vague answer like "I was let go." This could mean fired or laid-off. But he chose the specific "laid-off" answer. This means something very different than "fired." I don't think he was dancing around as much as just in denial about getting fired.