I worked at this place for years and finally left last fall. Today I heard from friends who still work there that they suddenly announced that the paychecks that were supposed to land in their accounts TOMORROW aren't happening because the company is out of money.
But they're not folding the company and letting everyone go… they just sort of expect everyone to be cool with the fact that the last two weeks have been unpaid, and that they won't be paid until who knows when? The CEO is “working on” getting funding to keep going. He's delusional, I know him, it's not happening.
This fucking asshole waited until the last possible second to tell people about this. He fucked with their lives, their rent payments, everything. If he'd waited just one more day people would've noticed their paychecks hadn't landed in their bank accounts. That's why he announced it today. I know how that company's finances work and there is exactly zero chance that management didn't see this coming since the last payroll processed.
The one spot is that people are helping each other. I've heard hearing from former coworkers, people I haven't heard from in years, trying to get people's contact info to see if they can hook them up with new jobs. And I'm trying to do the same. But this kind of person-to-person help is not enough. Our health insurance and ability to have a home shouldn't be dependent on our jobs, which can vanish in an instant if some shithead CEO drives the business into the ground. We shouldn't have to be frantically texting trying to get our friends a different job under a different asshole CEO so they can keep living. It doesn't have to be this way.