This company sacked 2700 people at the stroke of midnight, over email

The employees of this American furniture company got the rudest shock of their lives just before Thanksgiving.

At a time when people are in a mood for celebration and looking forward to catching up with their family and friends, the staff of United Furniture Industries woke up to some devastating news - they were being let go.

According to The Guardian, the drivers who were out on the road to deliver furniture were told to return home. Many were asleep since it was just before midnight on Monday when they got the ‘regret letter’ informing them of their lay-off.


According to the New York Post, the company was debt-ridden and on the brink of bankruptcy. The management reacted to the financial turmoil by laying off its workforce, comprising nearly 2700 employees. “At the instruction of the board of directors … we regret to inform you that due to unforeseen business circumstances, the company has been forced to make the difficult decision to terminate the employment of all its employees, effective immediately,” said the regret letter.

The employees as expected did not take well to being sacked unceremoniously.

Many are worried about their bills and health. Several senior employees are heartbroken that their unconditional loyalty and impeccable performances amounted to nothing. “It's not fair to the laborers who seriously worked so hard to be blindsided like this,” one employee told the news website FreightWaves. “It is not fair to the mom who just had a baby to wonder if she even has health insurance to cover it. It is not fair to the cancer patient in the midst of chemo about how to pay for her treatments,” said another worker.

An employee has filed a lawsuit against the company for not providing 60 days' notice.

Large-scale layoffs have been a worrying trend in 2022. Many tech firms downsized their workforce to cut costs. Under the aegis of Elon Musk, Twitter sacked 50 per cent of its 7500-strong staff. Facebook parent organisation Meta also announced a layoff of over 11,000 employees. Earlier this year, the CEO of Better.com fired over 900 employees through a virtual conference.

Overall, 2022 has not been kind to employees. Let us hope 2023 turns out better for the workforce.