What was supposed to be another day at work turned out to be the worst nightmare for 19 employees at a four-year-old startup. In an urgent meeting, their boss disclosed that the company, related to cloud/chatbot management, had run out of money and was shutting down right that moment.
Taken by a surprise, the Redditor said that none of the 19 employees saw that coming because there had been “no warnings, no layoffs.”
In a Reddit post, the user said that the team received an “unexpected email” from the CEO requesting an urgent all-hands meeting midday. “In that meeting, he told us something none of us saw coming: ‘the company had completely run out of money, ’” the post read.
The techies were asked not to report to work from the next day, leaving them without pay for the month and uncertain about the timeline for landing a new job.
“We wouldn’t be getting paid this month, and effective immediately, the company was shutting down. All of our investors had pulled out. He told us not to report to work the next day,” the post read.
“And just like that, a four-year-old startup was gone. Nineteen people, myself included, are suddenly out of a job,” it added.
What surprised the Redditor the most was the lack of warning about the company's standing. “It still hasn’t fully sunk in. We had our struggles, sure, but there was no warning. No layoffs. No bridge funding. No communication that we were in real trouble.”
However, the techie shared that the company has offered to help them find new roles. “The CEO said he’d try to help us find new roles through his network, but honestly, I don't know how much to count on that.”
The Redditor said he was only posting it on the social media platform “partly to process everything, and partly to hear from others who’ve gone through something similar.”
“How did you handle the shock? How did you bounce back?” the Redditor asked.
Our startup shut down overnight—19 of us lost our jobs
by u/Traditional-Knee-834 in developersIndia
Here's what netizens suggested:
Social media users said they understand that the techie is troubled and overwhelmed at the moment, and suggested that he keep hope because things always work out for the best.
“It took me two days to process being laid off. Then, I started working towards getting a job; it took some time, but I got a job. So I think don't lose hope; you'll definitely get something. Just give it some time and trust the process,” a user said.
“I was exactly in this situation last month. I know how overwhelming it feels right now. Take some time to process it. Reach out to HR, they probably know people with openings for your experience, although chances might be small,” another added.
A netizen said, “Update your profiles. Have some open-source projects you can showcase on GitHub. Keep applying.”
“Relax, you will get a job. Notch up your skills and also start preparing for interviews. Actual work and clearing interview are two different things. So focus more on interview preparation,” another suggested.