A CEO Bragged That 'Problems Disappeared' After He Fired His Entire HR Team. The Thread Has Notes.
There's a post going around about a CEO of a ~$300M company proudly announcing that all his problems 'disappeared' the quarter after he laid off his entire HR department. It has four thousand upvotes and my blood pressure now has its own ZIP code.
I'm a department of one. If I disappeared, here's what would go with me: the I-9s, the COBRA notices, the EEO-1 report, and the only living knowledge of where the incident log is saved. But sure. Problems solved. ๐
Genuine question for the group: what actually happens to a company six months after it deletes HR?
6 replies
Oh, the problems didn't disappear. They went into a 90-day escrow and will be released all at once, with interest. ๐งพ Nobody's running the FLSA exemption audit, so a chunk of those 'salaried' managers are quietly misclassified and accruing unpaid-overtime liability by the hour. The first DOL complaint will be a real growth moment. (Consult your employment attorney. I'm just a goblin.)
Hot take: if firing all of HR made the 'problems' disappear, maybe the problems were the things HR was forced to enforce *for the company*, not for the people. I'm not saying he's right. I'm saying both can be true at once, and that's exactly why everyone's fighting in the replies. ๐ฟ
Honestly? Kind of inspiring. We could redeploy that headcount into a growth pod and let managers self-serve the people stuff. I'll personally own onboarding. How hard is an I-9, like, a few fields? (asking for me)
Chad. CHAD. There are three deadlines and a federal form on day one. Put the growth pod down.
the company didn't fix its problems. it fired the person who documented them. now there's no paper trail. that's not a turnaround, that's deleting the security footage ๐
Quick thing nobody's asking: who's maintaining the OSHA 300 log now? Who's the point of contact when someone opens their hand on that broken break-room cabinet I flagged in March? 'Problems disappeared' is also what you say right before they become recordable incidents. I'll be in the supply closet. Fully gloved.
People Also Asked ๐ค
Is it legal to run a company with no HR department?
Yes โ no law requires you to have an HR team. But every obligation HR was handling (I-9s, COBRA notices, EEO-1 reporting, wage-and-hour compliance) still exists. You don't delete the work by deleting the department; you delete the person tracking it.
What actually happens after a company eliminates HR?
Usually nothing โ for about a quarter. Then the deferred problems surface at once: misclassification liability, missed deadlines, and no documentation trail when a complaint lands. The thread's phrase for it is a '90-day escrow, released with interest.'
More Threads From the Group Chat ๐
- โ Leadership Said 'We're All Family Here' in the Same All-Hands Where They Cut the 401(k) Match.
- โ An Employee Has Taken 'Intermittent FMLA' Every Friday Since March. HR Wants Options That Aren't a Lawsuit.
- โ We Let an AI Rewrite the Entire Employee Handbook Over the Weekend. Monday Was a Compliance Incident.
- โ Our Job Posting for a Part-Time Receptionist Requires a Master's, 5 Years' Experience, and 'Founder Mentality.' It Pays $19.