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Laid-off employee recontacted, accidentally offered his own job months later
The post quickly went viral, attracting over 3,500 upvotes and hundreds of comments from amused and incredulous users.
The post quickly went viral, attracting over 3,500 upvotes and hundreds of comments from amused and incredulous users.
A viral Reddit post has sparked widespread discussion about corporate cost-cutting and hiring practices after a worker revealed that a recruiter had tried to hire them for the very same job they were laid off from earlier this year.
The incident came to light in a post titled “A recruiter tried to recruit me to replace me” on the popular subreddit r/recruitinghell, where the anonymous user described how they were dismissed in April after serving their company for 14 years.
“It was a cost-cutting move to keep the stock price up,” the employee wrote, explaining that they had been placed on a “transition plan” until the end of the year after being let go.
According to the post, the company had spent four months attempting to outsource the role to a lower-cost country, but when that failed, they reopened the same position in the United States—albeit at a lower level—three months later.
The twist came when a recruiter reached out to the laid-off employee on LinkedIn, unaware of the irony.
“He thought I’d be perfect for a role they were filling. I could tell from the description that it was my replacement,” the user said. “I asked if his client was my company and he confirmed. Somehow, he read my LinkedIn profile closely enough to get my qualifications, without noticing I was already employed by his client.”
The post quickly went viral, attracting over 3,500 upvotes and hundreds of comments from amused and incredulous users.
“Don’t be surprised. Recruiters aren’t typically known for their guile, perception, and intellect,” one commenter quipped. Another user joked, “Accept the recruiter’s offer, show up to the interview. I’d love to see the look on their faces—priceless.”
Others shared similar experiences. “The same thing happened to me,” one Redditor wrote. “I was laid off, position eliminated. Then the company realised the position was actually needed after all. I found this out when I received an email from a recruiter saying I was a perfect fit for this role.”
The story has since become a talking point on social media, highlighting both the disconnect between HR departments and recruitment agencies and the increasingly impersonal nature of corporate layoffs and rehirings in the age of automation and outsourcing.
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