When Your Coworker is Fired

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Is it appropriate to contact a co-worker you only knew briefly, after you receive a company-wide email that they are no longer with the company?
Thank you.

Lori of AZ 12:02PM October 03, 2012

Just dealing with this...when I went into work yesterday, I found out that one of the co-workers whom I was very close with was fired out of the blue Thursday morning. He was a great associate; he was always so friendly with people and just fun to be around with. I was so upset - I texted him to say I am sorry but I also joked that "he could get some sleep now, finally!" (He was working 2 jobs before he got canned.) I will miss him - but he's too smart to work in a place that treats him and everyone else like crap. Looking forward to leave as well, as I put in my 2 weeks notice. (Yes, it's that bad.)

Loly of FL 6:55PM October 08, 2011

How long should i wait before i can call her on a personal level & find out how she is doing?

lorrain of CA 12:17PM May 24, 2011

My workplace has the tactic of firing people and then not notifying anyone that the person is gone. And if anyone dares ask where that person is, they are told that "HR can't talk about confidential matters". This makes it worse! They don't have to tell us all the confidential details, but it is a little weird when they just aren't at their desk anymore (especially when you still have work that involved them). Should employers tell coworkers? Are they allowed to?

Steph of LA 11:29PM January 27, 2010

You forgot to mention the grieving/sadness that some employees may feel when their co-worker has left.it makes no difference weather or not they were fired/job eliminated because of economy/laid off. It feels like a death has occured, it makes no huge difference knowing ahead of time that this was to happen.The shock adn disbelief are still there.In a small office when personal attachments are made and one of our "extended family members who we have worked with well for 8 hrs or more a day" for a long time is now gone.How do you deal with the sadness/Grief/loss? It's like a death in the office,a void, a loss.

Valerie of CA 7:57PM May 12, 2009

I can't express enough how much I would love to print this off and distribute it to my employees. While my company doesn't have a huge turnover rate, we're very careful about dealing with disciplinary action, so the individual's co-workers are often left wondering what happened with very little context. Rightly so, of course, but I wish more entry level folks understood the delicate balancing game that has to be played when someone has to be let go.

Shinsei of MN 9:05PM February 15, 2009

If the termination is a layoff, managers should be clear about whether there are more to come. If it's not, then while you didn't see it coming, your terminated co-worker should have seen the writing on the wall a long time ago.
Feedback is always good to ask for.

Evil HR Lady of PA 8:15AM February 10, 2009