He got laid off for ‘budget reasons’ after building their entire system — then charged $250 an hour when they came crawling back
As soon as this person was let go, things started to go south
Imagine building something from scratch to help your company's cause, only to be denied any recognition. This is exactly the situation a senior developer (u/5Mirthcoil) at a mid-sized logistics firm found themselves in as they ended up being on the wrong side of their company's strategic restructuring. Despite knowing the company's functioning inside out, the developer was abruptly laid off. Although the transition was cold and clinical, it was the employee who had the last laugh.
A sudden termination
It all started with the company cutting off the developer and paying them a mediocre severance package. At the time, the firm thought that they were saving themselves a ton of money, which perhaps could've been true, but a bigger issue awaited them. That's because this was the person who kept the system running, without bragging about it.
The 'Domino effect'
As soon as this person was let go, things started to go south, so much so that they got a call recently from their former manager, asking for a "quick favor." Apparently, the system that this person had developed hit a major halt after they left, and despite two newly hired junior developers trying their best to make things work, the entire operation had come to a standstill. This led the manager to ask the former employee to hop on a quick Zoom call since they knew the system better than anyone else.
A satisfying goodbye
However, the employee politely declined, saying that their relationship with the firm ended the moment they were let go, and rightfully so. But that didn't stop the manager from sending them on a guilt trip, suggesting that they were sabotaging the junior developers' hard work by leaving "messy, undocumented spaghetti code." They pointed out that despite asking for some important documentation, they weren't provided with any, and now the company expected them to do a favor.
Charging a consultation fee
The developer eventually decided to give the company's offer a go, but not for free. Instead, they quoted a $250 an hour consultation rate with a four-hour minimum, to be paid upfront. Upon hearing this, their former manager was fuming and called them "unprofessional" and hung up the call. Since this conversation, the person has received several messages from colleagues calling them similar names. "I feel for the junior devs, I really do, but I am not a charity. If they can't figure it out, that is a management failure, not my personal responsibility," they said.
Employee layoff
Well, as it turns out, this senior developer isn't the only person who got fired only for the company to realize that they could still use his skills; there are a lot of people just like him. With AI-driven layoffs spreading like wildfire, companies have been firing employees only to re-hire them later. According to a survey held by Forbes, in which nearly 600 HR professionals took part, revealed that two in three companies fired employees because of AI and strategic restructuring and are already rehiring.
Out of these companies, 32.7% brought back nearly half of the roles they initially eliminated. Meanwhile, 35.6% rehired more than half of the roles that they initially discarded. This goes to show just how blindly companies are cutting costs, without thinking about the long game. Even more so, with nearly 31% companies attesting to the fact that rehiring ended up costing more than they saved financially from laying off employees.
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