Employees Are Told Their Company Is Merging With A Competitor, But Months Later They’re All Called Into A Zoom Meeting And Told They’re Losing Their Jobs
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Few workplace invitations inspire more dread than a mandatory meeting with HR, especially when the company has recently been acquired.
For one employee at a language interpretation company, that sinking feeling turned out to be completely justified.
The worker says their employer, CyraCom, had been acquired by competitor Propio, with employees initially told the two businesses would be merging.
But as the transition unfolded, things started looking less promising.
Extra shifts reportedly disappeared, independent contractors began taking on more work, and employees grew increasingly suspicious about what the acquisition would mean for their futures.
Then came an email announcing a company-wide meeting.
On the scheduled morning, employees were instructed to stop taking calls and join a Zoom session led by HR.
Everyone was muted, cameras were off, and there was only one person delivering the news.
What followed was a remarkably brief announcement that would change hundreds of workers’ plans.
And once the meeting ended, the fallout began almost immediately.
We all got fired over Zoom
As the title reads me and all my colleagues were fired over a Zoom meeting.
To start with, I work for CyraCom Voince Language Services which starting next year 01/01/2026 no longer will exist. The interpreter company Propio bought us and three other interpreter companies.
Our VP’s James Kent, Best Ihegborow, Robyn Suminski; came to the decision to sell the company to Propio who told us they were going to merge the two companies. This was back in July. I did not trust them from the get go.
Of course not.
They had too much money and not enough clients. Turns out they don’t hire interpreters, they use independent contractors who they charge to use their platform.
Once they put themselves in our system there was an overflow of workers and we stopped getting extra hours.
We all got an email starting since last week up until yesterday morning that there would be a meeting about the acquisition.
Ruh roh.
Yesterday morning when the meeting was scheduled all our employees were told to stop taking calls and had to be at the meeting. Not good because that’s a lot of interpreters off the calls with only the independent contractors available.
The call starts and Amanda Voorhees, that’s her actual name, who is the head of the HR department of Propio comes on and lets us know to wait a few moments till we start.
I am part of the RTA team. Real Time Adherence Analyst part of Work Force Management and it was my turn to handle the sick line for the morning shift. I updated schedules when our interpreters call to mark an absence. I’m listening in as I am working through updating schedules when she finally starts.
This isn’t going to be good…
Everyone is muted, no cameras just her.
She thanks us for our time and simply states. “As you all know Propio has recently acquisitioned CyraCom and with the companies merging we have taken the time to look over the departments and make sure to avoid redundancies. With that said all of CyraCom’s employees are being let go, you will receive an email informing you of your termination date. Due to law we have to inform you with 60 day prior notice before termination. Thank you.” Ends the Zoom call.
I start getting calls on the sick line from interpreters that they can’t stay today… There was a mass exodus yesterday. Thursday September 4th. So everyone on reddit who saw all the rants and posts yes. It’s true. Our bosses sold us out so that Propio wipe out their competitors.
Whoa.
My term date is 12/12 of this year. My friends who are still interpreters and my friends who are supervisors were all told their term date is in November.
The part is that they closed down the center in Costa Rica which was a lot of people’s lively hoods. They effectively shut down the one in Guadalajara as of yesterday as well. Our Queens location was also shut down yesterday.
My center is one of the smaller ones. I knew they were going to fire people, we all felt it and even if they didn’t I saw all the people saying sh*t about Propio and knew I didn’t want to work for them.
No way.
I had been applying to other jobs at home and polishing up my resume.
Today I have to go in and keep working as if nothing happened. I’m just going to go in and use my time to apply for other jobs.
Thankfully I have some time unlike my friends. I’m not writing this hoping Propio changes its mind or some miracle happens. I just wanted to get this out of my head.
Losing a job is difficult under any circumstances, but learning about it through a brief, one-sided Zoom announcement can make an already devastating situation feel especially impersonal.
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According to the employee’s account, workers were initially told the acquisition would involve merging two companies. Months later, they were informed that their positions were being eliminated.
While acquisitions frequently lead to restructuring and layoffs, employees deserve clear communication about decisions that directly affect their livelihoods.
The reported lack of opportunity to ask questions during the meeting only adds to the frustration.
That said, the employee’s belief that Propio acquired CyraCom specifically to eliminate competition remains an allegation, not an established fact. The company’s actual motivations and the full scope of the layoffs would require independent confirmation.
The employee also mentions a 60-day notice requirement, although applicable obligations depend on the circumstances and relevant laws.
For now, the worker is focusing on finding another job while continuing through the remaining weeks of employment.
And perhaps that’s the most frustrating part: being expected to carry on as usual after being told the job you’re doing has an expiration date.
This person feels for OP.
This person has some insight.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a person who changed their minds about donated items, only to return to the shop to find them all sold.
And this person can relate.
The company called it a merger, but for these employees, the only thing coming together was everyone on the same Zoom call to get fired.
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