Aman recently hired at a new job got a sinking feeling when he checked his email, only to find the worst-possible subject line.
Reddit user u/WestTexasApostle, who asked to remain anonymous, told Newsweek he saw his “professional life flash before my eyes” when he got an email from his new workplace while at a baseball game with his friend.
He had just received an email from HR at his workplace, with the subject line: TERMINATION. “My stomach dropped, thinking I had lost my job,” he said.
But it turned out to be fine—for him, at least.
“I suppose the subject line was technically relevant, since it was about two people who were let go from the company due to some security violation or something,” he said.
And as he works remotely, without any in-person colleagues to speak to in shock about what had happened, he instead took to Reddit‘s r/mildlyinfuriating sub, to share the story.
Sharing a screengrab of his email inbox, the man wrote: “HR using the absolute worst possible subject line in a company-wide email—almost had a heart attack when I first saw it.”
And Reddit users had a big response, awarding the post more than 26,000 upvotes; one commenter described it as “how to make people open an email they would otherwise completely ignore.”
“Clickbait. HR edition,” another wrote, with a third commenting: “TERMINATION. Now that I have your attention, please remember to submit your time cards on time.”
And one comment suggested the man should email HR with the subject line “I QUIT, and a reminder to HR of the importance of relevant subject lines.”
One worker shared their own alarming story: “At a previous job, we once got an email with the subject line ‘ACTIVE SHOOTER IN THE WORKPLACE’ letting us know about a training to be held that would prepare us for what to do if there is an active shooter in the workplace. Yeah, that was fun.”
And another had a similar story, as they posted: “My college once sent out a mass email with ‘SHOTS FIRED ON CAMPUS’ in the subject line. It was the name of a lecture that was being held that week regarding gun safety/ school shooting procedures. Later that day they sent out an apology email for creating panic and confusion.”
The man told Newsweek he was “definitely not expecting [the post] to get that much attention, since normally things I post or comment get little interaction!”
Working remotely, as Reddit user u/WestTexasApostle does, has been on the rise for years. It exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, where an additional 48.7 million people began working from home, according to data from Statista.
By 2022, those working within arts, design, entertainment, sports and media positions spent the most time working remotely at an average of 3.9 days per week, while 22 percent of all workers in the U.S. worked exclusively from home.
Source – https://www.newsweek.com/employee-stunned-hr-email-day-off-almost-had-heart-attack-2116800