Last week I accepted an offer from a better company with better pay and benefits and submitted my two week notice. It’s notable that my blood pressure has been elevated not just by these recent events and I struggle not to bring stress home from this job. Yesterday (7 business days after my notice) in an effort to cut costs, my current employer released a memo that they are buying out a large percentage of employees (nearly 500 work here) and paying severance to accept voluntary layoffs. I called HR within minutes of the memo coming to my inbox, with low expectations, and they certainly delivered. I quickly explained that I am withdrawing my notice and would like to apply for voluntary layoff immediately. I was told that I had already ‘resigned’ by giving notice and was ineligible for any severance. I explained how many years I have been employed there and that I was frequently found to be a ‘high performer’ by management with no tardiness and what corporate-types would call great work ethic. The answer did not change. I was standing in an area with quite a few people and loudly said “you’re really going to screw me like this? I quit!”I grabbed a few things from my desk and didn’t even bother clocking out. On the way out, I was greeted by a security guard who was called. I’ve known him for years and when he heard my side of the story he just said good luck, shook my hand and shook his head. Of course many people out there may feel the company is right in this scenario. I used to think that way. Not any more. Update: as I type this I was informed by a friend and current employee that the company changed and sent an updated memo to exclude employees who have already given notice or are planning on retiring within a year. The first version did not include this.