Party Sh*tty

In a Friday meeting (because of course it had to be Friday), Party City CEO Barry Litwin announced to corporate employees that the company is going out of business and

…oh yeah…

today is your last day. 

Even worse? 

Employees won’t get any severance pay.

And a weird thing that needs pointing out?

Barry Litwin was brought on as Party City’s new CEO this August to head up a “company turnaround.”

Here’s the timeline of events according to CNN:

• 2 weeks ago, the product development team was called back from its yearly trip with vendors, allegedly because the company had stopped paying suppliers.

• Corporate employees were sent home on December 10 and security at HQ locked the doors to keep folks out unless they provided a one-day notice. 

• Word got around in corporate channels that store managers were notified about the company shutting down in February.

• And, finally, on Friday, December 20, corporate employees got the bad news.

While it might not fit your definition of “bad behavior,” whatever it is, it’s definitely terrible communication.

Employees say they were caught off guard because:

1. There was no mention of financial troubles in company town halls

2. Management seemed optimistic about the company’s performance

So when on Friday’s call, the CEO reportedly said: “We recognize the flow of communication has not been how we typically handle sensitive matters like this.”

Uh yeah, no shit.

As if layoffs weren’t hard enough, getting laid off 5 days before Christmas…awful, awful.

Want to help those affected find their next role? I found a few posts we can share:

• Five Below is hiring via Kim Sussman

• Learning about retail opportunities via Gary Thompson

• Rally House has immediate openings via Chad Fouss
  

Hey, I’m Amber! I’m a freelance content marketer/consultant and aspiring humorist. You can find me on LinkedIn, Medium, Bluesky, and my website. If you really like what I’m doing, you can buy me a coffee.