The HR Tool That Accidentally Fired Everyone - Mistake of the Week

In this week’s Mistake of the Week, a company’s HR team accidentally sent a mass termination email to the entire workforce — including the CEO. The culprit was an offboarding automation tool left in the wrong mode, turning a routine test into a company-wide panic.

Mark Graban explores what this moment teaches about automation, human fallibility, and the danger of relying on memory in systems that affect people’s livelihoods. Instead of asking, “Who pressed the wrong button?”, the real question is, “Why was this mistake even possible?”

A funny story now, but a real lesson in error-proofing or the lack thereof.

Because even when no one’s actually fired, the fear can linger long after the email is retracted.