I worked as a creative writer at a very small agency for about 7 months before being laid off last month. There were no more than 16 of us split into two teams, heralded by the most narcissistic man I've ever worked for. He's a manipulator, gaslighter, and sociopath. Some of what he'd do includes:
- Reprimands employees for doing exactly as their told
- Tells employees, “Do you just think I'm a fucking asshole?” anytime you “didn't listen” to him
- Gaslights the office into building a team-wide project, watching it fail, and then blaming the team for its failures—even though he orchestrated each aspect
- Forcibly changed the once-hybrid policy to mandatory in-person for no discernible reason, with private shaming included
My position was a one-man show, so now that I'm gone, the rest of the creative team has had to pick up the slack with work they're completely unfamiliar with. One client's already fired them, and several more on the verge of doing so.
My lay-off was abrupt, and it's left a bitter taste in my mouth. I have several friends from there who I keep in contact with, and they've told me it's been a disaster since I was let go. For instance, because the sales team hasn't closed a deal in close to three months, he refuses to buy snacks and drinks for the kitchen pantry.
The icing on the cake, though, allegedly came today. He's turned the sales team against the creative team by telling the creatives that they suck—and to focus entirely on being salespeople without an ounce of knowledge or training. He's also threatening to close down the business if they don't reach a comically unrealistic financial goal by the beginning of January.
The best thing he could've done is lay me off. I get unemployment and he suffers. No wonder no one wants to work for them anymore.