Txt2fire is great for rude companies

August 8, 2006 · Filed Under Adventures in (Mis)Management 

Worker is fired by text message

The biggest surprise to me is that it hasn’t happened sooner. Job offers are being sent by e-mail now and I check my e-mail by PDA more frequently than on a computer.  I am sure someone has been sacked by e-mail by now.

Companies evolve in their method of communications. I rarely snail mail an offer letter. I am a big phone person but if I can’t get a hold of someone on the phone, I send an e-mail and sometimes get a response quicker that way.

I would never do that to an employee but to think of the number of times since e-mail’s popularity that I’ve received an immediate resignation by e-mail (over a dozen), I secretly laugh a little at the person that was canned using a ruder method.

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Comments

7 Responses to “Txt2fire is great for rude companies”

  1. gdub520 on August 9th, 2006 11:26 am

    While i have yet to be fired by email, I was asked to put a resignation in writing after my doing it verbally…I was ASKED to send an email to the appropriate people

  2. CJ McD on August 9th, 2006 6:08 pm

    What if the text message was not acknowledged? Would it hold up in a hearing or a court?

    All that aside-it’s very unprofessional…and very uncool.

    What would Miss Manners say?

  3. serena on August 11th, 2006 12:41 pm

    That is kind of funny in a sick way. I think I’d show up for work the next day, all smiles, just to make them squirm a little, and then have to fire me in person. That’s just not right. But I do agree that it was just a matter of time, given the many asinine ways in which people give notice.

  4. Brazen Careerist on August 14th, 2006 9:43 pm

    Happiness is being with people who aren’t crazy

    After a short blogging hiatus, I made it to Madison. I can’t tell you that my happiness levels have changed dramatically, but I’m optimistic. And, after decidedly UNhappy traveling with two young kids, I’m ready for a little normalcy –…

  5. Mikerochip on August 20th, 2006 1:31 pm

    Recruiting Blog Swap - Weeks 6 & 7

    Week 7 of the Recruiting Blog Swap is here. Last week was Week 6, but I neglected to post a preview like I normally do. For Week 5, my guest blogger was Steven Rothberg of the CollegeRecruiter Blog. I guest blogged for Jim Stroud of Jim Stroud 2.0. For…

  6. Alexandra Levit on August 20th, 2006 6:59 pm

    I can’t fathom firing anyone electronically. We may live in a wired society, but hopefully we haven’t lost all sense of propriety. If you can’t fire someone in person, without squirming, then maybe you should be doing it at all. The instantaneous text message seems like a knee-jerk response anyway, don’t you think?

  7. Happiness is Being With People Who Aren’t Crazy » Brazen Careerist on February 9th, 2007 7:50 am

    [...] A company fired someone via text message (thanks for the link, Tommie). A lot of bloggers have written about this event, and mostly people complain about the company and how bad it must be. [...]

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