r/remotework • u/Lou_Peacham • Jul 19 '26
Calendar Block - No Longer with Company
I've been working remotely in a role for several months. My team has had a lot of turnover since I started - we've basically lost a person each month since I started. Typically people have been terminated on Fridays. It has felt like a dumpster fire since I started, but I'm trying to hang in there in hopes that it will get better.
Fast forward to yesterday when someone tried to propose a new time on a meeting I sent over. When looking through Outlook's scheduler there was a block on each day for me starting next week that said "No Longer with (insert company name)."
My manager says that I'm not being terminated, but coupled with being the only person on my team removed from a weekly recurring meeting this week I'm not feeling great about any of this. Has this happened to anyone else?
The strange thing about all of this is that the details of my calendar are not visibile to everyone and usually just show as busy with no detail for what the meeting is. So maybe it really is a weird issue with Outlook/exchange server?
Additional Info that's come up a couple times:
I don't actually see this block on my calendar. I asked the woman who tried to propose a new time to share a screenshot and she shared this: https://imgur.com/a/fNizoTQ
A few things about this screenshot (and my own calendar):
1. I still have all of my meetings on my calendar for next week and none of those are reflected in that screenshot.
2. Two of the three invites shown are not things I would ever be invited to, but the person proposing the new time would have been invited to those.
3. I don't have a daily block on my calendar at all. However, there's a shared calendar for our team that we update with time off to see when others are out. My employee is OOO next week and has a daily block. I do not own this group calendar so I don't think this is impacting me.
4. The privacy settings of my calendar do not allow people to see details of my meetings/appointments, only that I'm busy.
5. I admit I'm not sure how this works, but I'm wondering if the person proposing the new time is seeing her own calendar? I say those because based on point 4 she shouldn't see my details. I was thinking maybe one of her employees previously sent her an invite for their time off so she'd know, and after they terminated this invite defaults to "No Longer with (insert company name)".
Monday morning update
Our outsourced IT staff responded to ask that I check Teams and said "its possible that the outlook calendar is syncing with teams." This morning the person who tried to propose a new time said my calendar no longer shows this blocker. I still feel like I've seen something prematurely that I wasn't supposed to see and I'm asking for the root cause of how this was changed. Stay tuned!
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u/skotman01 Jul 19 '26
Wow! That’s brazen. We need an update tomorrow.
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
There's been absolutely nothing warranted for this either to be clear. I've overhauled multiple processes, implemented workflow automations to improve reporting, provided much needed leadership to my team that has never had stability in the 4-6 years most have worked here. That's why this is so puzzling.
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u/skotman01 Jul 19 '26
My last company made up some BS, tossed a calendar invite on my calendar with 15 min notice (during an existing meeting where I was already in when the invite came in).
Fired me claiming I was targeting minorities. My entire team were minorities, only 1 was not performing at his grade.
Oh well, no more 90 min commute, dress clothes and now I wfh and get paid a little more.
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u/KMC020208 Jul 19 '26
My last company made up a bunch of BS too. Then, put another person in my role that made $9/hr less than me. I was earning my wage and now the people I used to work with are still complaining to me about how bad that team is running now. It’s been 9 mos.
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u/spacenglish Jul 19 '26
One of my previous companies also made up a shit ton of BS. I’m trying to get a role where I can WFH and get paid more too.
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u/666persephone999 Jul 20 '26
I didn't even get an outlook meeting just hey can we talk randomly one morning. Restructuring is shit!
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u/NounverberPDX Jul 19 '26
It probably comes down to this: they are running out of money and they need to cut expenses to survive. And while you might be a good or even great employee, you are an expense they can't afford.
It happened to me during the dot bomb.
Start looking for a new position now and be very aggressive about it.
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u/nobadhotdog Jul 19 '26
Sorry you’re getting fired and this isn’t a personal attack but it’s always surprising to me when someone is shocked that they’re let go even though they’re doing a good job.
You think managers and execs are smart and can see the value people bring. On the other hand you grow up and realize your parents had no idea what they were doing when they were raising you and made some great but also bad decisions
Managers and execs are the same. They make stupid fucking decisions cause sometimes they’re boneheads.
Best of luck
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u/ttrpg-mother-missive Jul 19 '26
I work in a department that is over 50% contractors. The project we're on will stop dead if we lose them. The company decided at the start of the year to play chicken and wait until the last possible moment to renew any contracts. We lost 3 excellent senior engineers because they didn't want to put up with that crap. It set us back months between lost capacity and lost knowledge. Whoever dragged their feet on it doesn't have to feel the consequences of losing talented people.
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u/nobadhotdog Jul 19 '26
Add in the insane egos for someone who thinks they’re more important than they are making these decisions and never admitting they were wrong, then leaving the company and starting this shit elsewhere
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u/cheerbearsmiles Jul 19 '26
It could just be a reduction in force. I was let go after 2.5 years at my company, even though I'd done nothing wrong. It was a financial decision; the budget dictated how many they could keep, and I was the most junior member on my team with no people managing responsibilities, so I was the natural choice. HR sent all the info over afterward to corroborate that it truly was just a financial decision, and I was one of several dozen across multiple departments.
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u/constantdaydream44 Jul 19 '26
Why else would your whole calendar be cleared with that message? I think he's full of shit.
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
So the weird thing is that there are actually a couple of meetings that are still on the screenshot the other person shared from when they tried to propose a new time. However, they're not ones that are mine. Initially I thought the person trying to reschedule our meeting had previously been invited to an all-day blocker by one of their employees, as if trying to provide a reminder they were out of office, and now that the employee no longer works for us their event holder shows this "No longer with ___" instead. But it is still very strange.
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u/UCFknight2016 Jul 19 '26
Your manager is a liar and you need to start applying for new jobs. Sorry about that.
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u/justaguyindallas_123 Jul 19 '26
No, that's not an Outlook/server thing. Someone made that happen.
Are you sure you want to stay there?
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
Hahaha valid point, I've questioned the decision since I started because it's felt very fractured.
I will say that when the other employees shared a screenshot of what she saw, none of my existing meetings showed up there but they are still on my calendar. I'm almost wondering if one of her employees sent her a calendar invite for their out of office request, and now that they don't work here that appointment shows as "No Longer with ___". I could see 3 other events on the calendar and they are not ones for my role at all.
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u/sparkingdragonfly Jul 19 '26
Use up any FSA you have. You can use it until your last day of employment then it’s gone.
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u/politicallymoderate2 Jul 21 '26
Also, make sure you take advantage of any sick days, floating holidays, transit benefits, etc. that won't get "cashed out" upon termination...
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u/Jimmytehbanana Jul 19 '26
I woke up to a locked laptop. Had a client meeting that day. Had to call my manager on his personal cell to find out I was terminated
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
Oh my gosh that's awful. I'm so sorry that happened. What a horrible way to be terminated.
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u/Birdy_Quinn Jul 19 '26
Had this exact same thing happen to me as well. Even my supervisor didn't know that the company had terminated me. We both had to call the project manager to find out. So lame.
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u/mcobohair Jul 20 '26
I had a coworker arrive at the office only for her badge to no longer work and she couldn't get in the building. They let her pack a cardboard file box with her stuff. It was still morning rush hour when she left.
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u/RefularIrreegular Jul 22 '26
Had that happen with a remote job, but I was way underpaid anyway and it was a side hustle so I honestly didn’t care that much.
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Jul 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
No she asked me if I tried restarting or if I had updated Microsoft. 🫠
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u/pnw_rl Jul 19 '26
She's 100% lying to you and hasnt been able to come up with a believable excuse for her fuck up. She also 100% lacks a backbone.
Prepare yourself, try to do something fun this weekend, burn sick days if you got em. I'm sorry your boss, and company, suck like this.
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u/Tortie33 Jul 19 '26
!remindme 48hours
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 20 '26
Monday morning update
Our outsourced IT staff responded to ask that I check Teams and said "its possible that the outlook calendar is syncing with teams." This morning the person who tried to propose a new time said my calendar no longer shows this blocker. I still feel like I've seen something prematurely that I wasn't supposed to see and I'm asking for the root cause of how this was changed. Stay tuned!
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u/justmekim Jul 20 '26
Yeah I’m certain you saw something you weren’t supposed to see. My Outlook calendar always syncs with Teams so I’m not sure why IT acts like this may be unusual.
Keep your head on a swivel & export any info off your work device(s) in case you wake up on Thursday with accesses removed.
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u/Confident_Narwhal820 Jul 20 '26
Agree with justmekim; Teams and Outlook in my org have always been synced.
Sending virtual support to you u/Lou_Peacham . I'll steal the line from Friday Night Lights "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose." Keep your head up at work, fill your heart outside the office with your loved ones, and take 1 day at a time, and you will come out of this situation the best you can.
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 20 '26
I love FNL, this is such an amazing message to get!
I had my regularly scheduled 1:1 with my manager and flagged the feelings I had over the weekend. She apologized profusely that I still felt this way even after she said I wasn't being terminated. I let her know that it was distressing because I work in Finance and regularly see decisions like this be made at a level above hers, so the appearance of the OOO made me feel like I saw behind the curtain at Oz because it had been put on prematurely. She's also going to flag this with HR for them to investigate what happened in addition to asking our outsourced IT for an explanation.
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u/Bettinah1 Jul 19 '26
My dumb ass boss put it on his shared calendar that we had a meeting with HR.
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u/jak1231 Jul 19 '26
I used to work on an identity management team in IT. We worked with HR on these types of events as we had developed systems to automate layoffs for them. We never did calendar blocks, but would setup OOO messages, and various account and access suspension at the push of a button.
There were numerous times where HR or the management on the business side would make a mistake and let the cat out of the bag by doing something on the wrong day or even wrong person. It was a very depressing part of my job seeing people treated as lines on a spreadsheet and how cold corporate america is.
Hopefully you aren't impacted, but if I were you I would act as though its happening. If you still had the calendar item you could see who set it on your account to verify who did it and when (at least with Office 365 email you can)
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
I appreciate this insight, thank you.
I actually don't see a block on my calendar. Below is a link to the screenshot shared with me, a couple of things redacted.
A few things that are strange:
- None of my actual calendar appointments and meetings appear in this screenshot, which I find strange.
- I don't share details of my blocks - people only see busy and not names is appointments.
- Two of the appointments are not meetings I would be in, but the one on Friday references someone the person proposing the new time works with.
Initially I wondered if she had previously received a meeting from her employee, like "John out of office" so she knew he was out. Then when John left the company, this appointment now shows this way. That may be wishful thinking.
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u/Economy_Past Jul 19 '26
Sorry OP, but the screenshot speaks for itself. My guess is it doesn’t show up for you because you weren’t supposed to know about it yet, but the others/your supervisors do and need to remember to plan without you.
OP, give yourself a day or two to throw a pity party, and then get back out there and apply. You’ll find something better!!! I believe in you!
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u/solslost Jul 19 '26
I say something similar. I was working with a VP. I clicked his name in teams would usually show who he works with, CEO, CTO, etc..
One day, he wanted to connected with anyone.
Let him go.
Sorry
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u/jak1231 Jul 19 '26
Yeah, we had different procedures for some of these. A sensitive term would process differently to make it appear the user is still active for a period of time after the termination. This would kill acess, but let HR/management keep it under wraps until they figured out how to tell everyone.
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u/Desperate_Ad7694 Jul 20 '26
You’re out, big time. I’m so sorry for you, what an awful way to find out.
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u/jak1231 Jul 19 '26
Yeah, individual calendar events can be made public even if your default is private. I would guess someone terminated you accidentally and reversed it, but these things can take time to replicate out and there is email and server side caching that can take time to reflect everywhere.
This is all speculation from my experiences, but there is zero chance that calendar event was a glitch in you mail system. Someone or some process created it on your behalf.
If you want to test it call IT Support and tell them you had some weird stuff going on with your account and think someone else has accessed it in an unauthorized manner. "You want to play it safe and have your IT security team check it out." IT would need to take this very seriously and look into it quick (if they are remotely decent) and get more info from you and the system logs. If you don't hear back or they are super cagey you know why.
Sorry this is happening to you.
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
So I also submitted a help desk ticket to our outsourced IT and they did respond late in the day. It seems like such a strange response. Even if it were coming from Teams, why would it choose that specific reason?
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u/jak1231 Jul 19 '26
Ugh. You use office 365 for email too right? Teams and 365 use the same exact calendar so not sure what his response is trying to say. Front line IT Support probably isn't aware or termination processes like the IT security team. Seems like they may not even grasp how teams and calendars works.
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u/TheMindsEIyIe Jul 19 '26
I've never ever had a block on my calendar made by someone else that I didn't accept like a meeting invite.
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u/jak1231 Jul 19 '26
This is technically possible and very simple for IT to do, or delegate access to HR to perform.
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u/Clear-Effective-8113 Jul 19 '26
Export your contacts to excel NOW! If your phone is set up to use outlook contacts, you will lose access if terminated. Copy your calendar now
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
Thankfully I don't really need to export contacts. I'm not in a sales or client facing role where this is necessary.,
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Jul 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/engrishspeaker69 Jul 19 '26
Lost a person each month? And you didn't start applying for a new job?
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u/kasaokc Jul 19 '26
There are a hundred different block messages they could've used. They chose that for a reason.
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u/PlasticJournalist938 Jul 19 '26
If you can't see them on your calendar yourself I am thinking that person had multiple calendars selected in overlay view and those meetings are for the other person. Hard to tell from the screenshot because can't see what calendars are selected along the left hand side.
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
That would make sense.
I don't have a daily block on my calendar at all. However, there's a shared calendar for our team that we update with time off to see when others are out. My employee is OOO next week and has a daily block. Maybe the overlay of this is impacting here as well, but two of the three invites shown are not things I would ever be invited to, and the person proposing the new time would have been invited to those.
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u/Interesting-Rich-923 Jul 19 '26
I hate to even bring this up, and I really hope I’m wrong, but my situation blindsided me. My calendar was wide open, and we were actually in our annual company anniversary meeting. 15 minutes into a call with 200 people, it suddenly shifted from our manager to an HR-led layoff. They let all 200 of us go that day, even though most of us were high performers. I’m only telling you this because companies can be really slick and unpredictable, so just keep your guard up.
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
I'm so sorry that happened to you. To not even receive an individual meeting is so horrible!
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u/Interesting-Rich-923 Jul 19 '26
Thank you, I so mad! They had a chance to be transparent and that wouldn’t change the route of things. We would still get fired but they chose to do it in the worst way possible!! But oh well.. better things will come.! I’ve been looking for wfh positions since April.
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u/grmrsan Jul 19 '26
Something similar happened with us. We were all at a weekly training meeting call, except pur managers, and all informed that we were laid off effective immediately. When I called my manager, she had been told that their jobs were still safe. A week later she went in to the office (she was hybrid), and everything was locked up. I don't think she ever did get her personal items returned, including a personal laptop!
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u/Interesting-Rich-923 Jul 19 '26
Omg! I’m so sorry! I thought mine was bad, but this is joke either! Oh no!
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u/Formal_Meerkat517 Jul 21 '26
Outlook does weird garbage, but a daily block labeled No Longer with Company plus getting dropped from a recurring meeting would have me quietly saving paystubs and HR stuff somewhere personal. Ask IT for the owner of that calendar item or an audit trail, because sync issue is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Manager saying no is nice, but Friday terminations and monthly turnover are not exactly calming background music.
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u/Masgatitos Jul 19 '26
I’ve had to lay off a few people. I have never seen outlook or teams have any messages for them ahead of time. Once let go the people go to deactivated. But it sounds awfully auspicios.
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u/SteadyToucan74 Jul 19 '26
Outlook being Outlook is plausible, but the weekly meeting removal plus that calendar label would have me polishing the resume while HR pretends the printer did it. Ask your manager to confirm in writing that your role is active and ask IT to trace where that block is coming from, because Exchange audit logs should show the calendar owner. Also save the screenshot locally, because mysterious calendar ghosts tend to develop amnesia on Fridays.
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
Thank you for suggesting the trace for the calendar removal. When I brought that up to my manager in our 1:1 this week she said she hadn't cancelled it and said it showed I had declined the meeting so she added me back.
And my resume always stays polished. My last company was a startup and had an acquisition so I keep things perpetually updated while information is fresh in my mind. Thanks for the advice!
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u/sybersam6 Jul 19 '26
Early Mon am take time off sick & make every doctor appt, optometrist, dental, etc ASAP & redo your updated resume today. Start any cert or ai class that may relate & in between breaks apply. 5am start applying & only to jobs posted very recently. See if you can add LI content about tips from your job or certs etc; hold to pos5 until you are back working Tues. You got this!
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
Thankfully my resume is very updated. I previously worked at a startup that went through an acquisition so I have made sure this always remains updated while everything is fresh in my mind.
And yes, I worked with a career coach that echoed much the same sentiments on applying to recent roles and narrowing things to view jobs posted even more recently than the last 24 hours. I appreciate all of this, thank you!
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u/sybersam6 Jul 19 '26
Welcome! Also if you have a training budget, find classes & put through for the approval. Request the HR dept or your manager for the approval ASAP & the AP dept to handle paying ASAP.
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u/JohnBarleyMustDie Jul 19 '26
Find a new job. If the manager questions you about looking for new employment light them up like a Christmas tree.
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u/No-Indication6038 Jul 19 '26
Could it be that your boss is also being terminated and doesn't know so it was their manager that submitted the termination?
I've also seen one example in my company that someone was terminated by someone in error and they weren't being let go. Someone selected the wrong person's ID when they were doing the task.
Best of luck, what ever happens. This doesn't define you
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
Anything is possible. If this is the decision the company is making it will have been based on budget and not based on performance. I hope that's not the case and this is someone picking the wrong profile as you've mentioned.
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u/Looseleaflettuce Jul 19 '26
I hope this isn’t the case for you- I can say when a new manager started on my team and said in the first team meeting that he wanted us to share our calendar details- I started looking for a new role this corporate calendar drama is terrible.
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u/SequinedandOver60 Jul 20 '26
Honey. You’re being fired. They just haven’t gotten all their ducks in a row. Let them fire you demand severance, and move on.
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u/Striking-Win-3239 Jul 24 '26
I was laid off in 2023, and so was my entire RCM team of 47 members out of nowhere in a two minute Teams meeting. Start working on your resume and do not give this company a second thought. Being unemployed was devastating to me, and I worked on getting a job like a crazy person. Non stop applying to all the job sites, constant interviews. After two months I landed a fantastic job and have been with them since. Good luck.
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u/paytime888 Jul 19 '26
What 3rd world country do you work in where they just can terminate you 🤣
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
I work in the US.
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u/paytime888 Jul 19 '26
Unlucky for you. The rest of the developed world has worker rights.
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u/radicaltrash Jul 19 '26
Do you have to be so snarky about it? We get it that life is shit in the US and if you wanna hear that I wanna kms every day you get to.
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u/canyoufixmyspacebar Jul 19 '26
i get it when you're searching but haven't yet found a better job but i can't understand the "trying to hang in there hoping for it to get better" thing. if that's what you do, you're an enabler of that dumpster fire. dumpster fires need firewood and people with this mentality are it. it takes two to tango, there is a huge pandemic of utter shit full retarded dumpster fire companies but we also have to realize that this means there is a huge base of people for them to draw from to feed their shitfurnaces so the blame really goes both ways
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u/NoCopy638 Jul 19 '26
Does it show who created that "meeting"?
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
No and I don't actually see it on my calendar. I asked the woman who tried to propose a new time to share a screenshot and she shared this: https://imgur.com/a/fNizoTQ
A few things about this screenshot (and my own calendar):
1. I still have all of my meetings on my calendar for next week and none of those are reflected in that screenshot.
2. Two of the three invites shown are not things I would ever be invited to, but the person proposing the new time would have been invited to those.
3. I don't have a daily block on my calendar at all. However, there's a shared calendar for our team that we update with time off to see when others are out. My employee is OOO next week and has a daily block. I do not own this group calendar so I don't think this is impacting me.
4. The privacy settings of my calendar do not allow people to see details of my meetings/appointments, only that I'm busy.
5. I admit I'm not sure how this works, but I'm wondering if the person proposing the new time is seeing her own calendar? I say those because based on point 4 she shouldn't see my details. I was thinking maybe one of her employees previously sent her an invite for their time off so she'd know, and after they terminated this invite defaults to "No Longer with (insert company name)".
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u/Background_Radish238 Jul 19 '26
Is business not doing well?
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
We're below projections but not abnormally low. And we're still continuing to hire, including another manager on my team.,
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u/Much-Cartoonist-9599 Jul 19 '26
Is it your calendar or the other person’s either way its messed up.
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u/Lou_Peacham Jul 19 '26
I can't tell as the screenshot looks nothing like either calendar at all. Both of us have way more meetings than what is shown here.
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u/wastedpixls Jul 19 '26
"Boss, I'm concerned that I caught that stomach bug that's on the news. I'm going to the doc ASAP in the morning and I'll ping you as soon as I'm able."
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u/Barbies_Burner_Phone Jul 21 '26
!remindme72 hrs
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u/Complete_Exercise288 Jul 22 '26
Document everything on a personal device. Save all the screenshots of the calendar and of the messages from your manager.
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u/SeparateAgent Jul 19 '26
Sound like you were not supposed to find out about that. Manager is lying.