It’s one thing to get fired from a prestigious bank like Goldman Sachs. It’s another thing that happens after showing up for what you think is a routine meeting.
On Wednesday, Goldman cut 3,200 jobs, or about 6.5% of its workforce. It’s no surprise that CEO David Solomon has warned staff last month that he expects “headcount reductions to take place in the first half of January, citing” monetary conditions that have dampened economic activity.
But the firing appeared to surprise some employees who showed up to what they thought was a routine meeting, according to insiders who spoke to them New York Postas the newspaper reported on Friday.
The employee reportedly had emailed calendar invitations for fake meetings, some starting at 7:30 a.m., at the bank’s headquarters in New York. But when they showed up, he told them he was fired, with his manager looking on.
Wednesday was internally dubbed “David Demolition Day,” according to the Post.
fortune reached out to Goldman Sachs for comment but did not receive an immediate reply.
Etiquette around layoffs has begun lately, particularly in the tech sector, which has seen dramatic job cuts in recent months, even as the U.S. unemployment rate remains low.
At Salesforce earlier this month, CEO Marc Benioff came under fire for avoiding questions during a public meeting about the mass layoffs announced the day before. One employee asked whether the Hawaiian concept of “Ohana” – the idea of family bonds that encourage people to be responsible for each other – should still be core to the company’s culture, as Benioff created in Salesforce’s founding.
Elon Musk was heavily criticized in November for the way layoffs were handled on Twitter after a chaotic takeover. As fortune reportedly, some employees found their jobs eliminated after they were unable to log into the company’s email or messaging system. Others learned their fate through an (unsigned) email sent after work.
HR professionals do not mince words when considering tactics. “I’ve worked in HR for over a decade and seen all sizes and types of companies handle layoffs,” one tweeted. “From where I’m sitting, Musk’s Twitter is very — legally, ethically, and humanly. Infuriating and heartbreaking.”
On the other hand, one CEO received widespread criticism in August after posting a teary-eyed selfie to a LinkedIn post in which he explained the guilt he felt over firing staff. Detractors called it a PR stunt and accused him of fishing for sympathy.
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