2 Holiday Party invitations from company that laid me off September 2024

[Anonymous]

I personally would go and clog all of their toilets.

[Anonymous]

This was clearly an error. You keep saying they put in your personal email…that was done well before you were laid off. Do not go. I would not even RSVP

[Anonymous]

I would reach out to someone you still know in the company / someone of appropriate level and say "I appreciate the invitation, can't make it but would love to reconnect. Do you have time for coffee?" I would also RSVP negative in a way that lets HR know I appreciate the invitation.

It would be very weird to try to recruit somebody to the company by inviting them to the holiday party without prior outreach. That's why this is likely an error. But if you reach out, you will have covered all bases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was clearly an error. You keep saying they put in your personal email…that was done well before you were laid off. Do not go. I would not even RSVP

+1. There is no way they choose to re-engage with someone that was laid off at a large gathering for employees. They would have reached out to you personally to schedule a call or a lunch or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Some young admin made a mistake with the database. Don’t make this into something it isn’t.

[Anonymous]

It was clearly a mistake. Just ignore it.

[Anonymous]

Interesting.
No go!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some young admin made a mistake with the database. Don’t make this into something it isn’t.

Agree. If you are close to someone at the company you can send a text like "lol, Company sent me an invite to their holiday party. Someone didn't update the list, awkward!"
I'm certain the person won't respond back with "actually, you are invited!" but I would bet they would tell someone that the list is a mess, and then if someone actually did intend to invite you, you'll find out.

Also, the paperless post things can use an excel file, so don't assume that someone is manually sending all these invites.

I'm sorry, I know it's hard to be laid off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would reach out to someone you still know in the company / someone of appropriate level and say "I appreciate the invitation, can't make it but would love to reconnect. Do you have time for coffee?" I would also RSVP negative in a way that lets HR know I appreciate the invitation.

It would be very weird to try to recruit somebody to the company by inviting them to the holiday party without prior outreach. That's why this is likely an error. But if you reach out, you will have covered all bases.

This seems the safest approach and also the most useful to you. Imagine being at the party. How awkward is that going to be? How to explain who you are to the people you meet there for the first time, like the new junior staff you mentioned?

[Anonymous]

I was laid off in an October from a small company and was invited to a party at the company a few months later. I decided to go. In my case, this was not good for my career or future job prospects.

I knew the owner would want to save face, so I did not talk about my layoff to any of the guests.

In the long run, this worked out. He was not toxic, though. He's a bit full of BS. Overall, it's better to have him as positive connection. He probably feels the same as we both know a LOT of people.

So, OP, I'd probably go. It's a good chance to show people you are a good sport. As I get older, I think back to how decisions I made long ago affected me, and I've seen how playing the long game works well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was laid off in an October from a small company and was invited to a party at the company a few months later. I decided to go. In my case, this was not good for my career or future job prospects.

I knew the owner would want to save face, so I did not talk about my layoff to any of the guests.

In the long run, this worked out. He was not toxic, though. He's a bit full of BS. Overall, it's better to have him as positive connection. He probably feels the same as we both know a LOT of people.

So, OP, I'd probably go. It's a good chance to show people you are a good sport. As I get older, I think back to how decisions I made long ago affected me, and I've seen how playing the long game works well.

Before people say I am crazy for going to that, etc, etc...I knew about the party before the layoff and it was a book party. So, I think the old boss felt he had to keep me on the guest list...The company was so small that inviting me was def not an error by a junior person.