Man laid off after 14 years says recruiter offered him same job months later: ‘He thought I’d be perfect’

In his post titled “A recruiter tried to recruit me to replace me”, the man wrote that he had been laid off in April after 14 years at his company. He described the move as a “bullshit cost-cutting” decision to keep the stock price up. The OP wrote that although his employer claimed his position was being eliminated, they later tried to outsource the role to a “lower-cost country”. “When that didn’t work, they opened a role in the US, but one level below where I am,” he wrote.

The Redditor shared that months later, he was contacted by a recruiter on LinkedIn who believed he’d be a “perfect fit” for a role – one that, to his surprise, turned out to be his own old job. “I could tell from the description that it was my replacement,” he said, adding that the recruiter confirmed the client was his former employer.

“Somehow he read my LinkedIn profile closely enough to get my qualifications, without noticing I was already employed by his client,” he said.

(Also Read: Redditor shares harsh reality of being laid off: ‘Suddenly everyone thinks I’m useless’)

Social media reactions

The post quickly gained traction, with users sharing similar experiences.

“The same thing happened to me. I was laid off, position eliminated. Then the company realized that the position was actually needed after all (dumbass greedy management trying to cut where it was not feasible) and so they reposted a similar position a few months later. I found this out when I received an email from a recruiter saying I was a perfect fit for this role. I wanted to reply back and tell the recruiter that I had just been laid off from that position a few months ago, so they would know what a dumbass they were. But I just ignored the email. I had already found a better job,” one user commented.

“I had something similar happen. I had a 3rd party recruiter reach out in LinkedIn about an another position in the company I already work for. It’s like they don’t actually ready your profile. It’s probably an algorithm that says ‘this person may be a good match’ but the recruiter does zero actual research,” shared another.

Some social media users also reacted with a mix of laughter and disbelief.

“Apply and see if they turn you down for not having ‘relevant experience,’” one user jokingly suggested.

“Accept the recruiters offer, show up to the interview. I’d love to see the look on their faces. Priceless,” commented another.

(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)