Hardworking Employee Spent 15 Years At Company Just To Be Fired In A 5-Minute Meeting
Her experience holds a lesson we can all learn from.
Anna Shvets / Pexels Right now, the job market is as volatile as ever. You never know what may be coming next for you or your loved ones, even if you feel relatively secure.
One woman learned this the hard way when she lost her job in a five-minute meeting after 15 years of hard work.
A career coach shared the story of an employee who devoted 15 years to a company only to be fired in 5 minutes.
Monica Adele is a career coach who helps those who have been laid off start their own consulting businesses. She shared one of her client’s stories on TikTok, underscoring how fragile the working world can be.
“I did a consult with a professional that worked in the healthcare field, and basically they were fired within five minutes, in a five-minute meeting, versus working 15 years, a dedicated employee at this hospital,” Adele said.
The employee emphasized the hard work she had put in at this job. “I worked in different departments. I was always flexible with my schedule. I came in sometimes on my off days. I worked overtime, came in early,” she said.
Adele acknowledged that this employee went above and beyond when she stated, “What a sacrifice to make for a job to be fired within five minutes. A five-minute meeting.”
To make matters worse, the employee knew she was going to be fired soon. “They said that they felt it coming,” Adele said. “They felt the lay-off coming. So now you have lay-off anxiety. You’re showing up to work every day anticipating, ‘Today is going to be the day that I’m going to be laid off.’ You are anxious about being laid off and still having to perform your job duties.”
According to what she was told, she “was basically fired because or ‘let go’ because they didn’t have any more work for her to do.” However, despite the assertion that there was no more for the employee to do, “that same position was reposted a week later. That same job was reposted and has now been filled with somebody else.”
Adele says this is a common trend right now in the workplace.
Adele said that this is a regular occurrence. “This is what is happening right now. People are being laid off and being replaced with someone else for a lower salary,” she stated.
According to Adele, no one should feel truly comfortable in the position they are in right now. “You are not safe. It is just a matter of time before your company restructures their budget, and you are going to be let go,” she said. “It’s not a matter of if it will happen, but it’s just a matter of when it will happen.”
Not only does this actually happen frequently, but it’s legal. Law firm Hayber, McKenna & Dinsmore stated, “If your employer wishes to hire an employee who makes less money than you do, that is a legitimate reason for a termination. Employers have the right to control how much they spend on payroll.”
Adele said the safest bet is to start your own business using the skills that you have. “One thing that the job can never take away is your skill set,” she explained. “But you’re going to have to use your tools, your skills to create exactly what it is that you desire.”
Adele asserted that, at the end of the day, you have to put taking care of yourself above loyalty to a company, because that’s certainly what a company will do. “She was loyal for 15 years and was fired in five minutes,” she said. “A company will always do what is best for them, so you have to do what is best for you.”
The days of a lifelong career at one company are long gone.
Sadly, loyalty and dedication are not rewarded in the workplace anymore. There was a time when you could start at an entry-level position, and grow within an organization to upper management, but companies are no longer interested in investing in their employees the way they once were.
Instead, companies will cut employees for the sake of profitability as a way to answer to investors. The dedication and years of service an employee exhibits no longer carry weight.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.