Days before Thanksgiving, a Mississippi-based furniture company laid off 2,700 workers across the country—via text and email—while many of them were sleeping.
United Furniture Industries sacked nearly its entire workforce in the state, as well as employees in North Carolina and California, and in a heartless parting blow, discontinued the employees’ health care benefits, according to reports. After the mass layoffs, one company driver was published United’s message to staff.
“At the instruction of the Board of Directors of United Furniture Industries, Inc., and all subsidiaries (the “Company”), we regret to inform you that due to unforeseen business circumstances the Company has been forced to make the difficult decision to terminate the employment of all its employees, effective immediately, on November 21, 2022, with the exception of over-the-road drivers that are out on delivery,” the firing notice stated. “Your layoff from the Company is expected to be permanent and all benefits will be terminated immediately without provision of COBRA.”
“We regret that this difficult and unexpected situation has made this necessary,” United continued, adding: “Thank you for your service and dedication.”
Last summer, the company fired its CEO, CFO and executive vice president of sales and laid off 300 employees, Furniture Today revealed. The firm then named Todd Evans as its new CEO. “Our industry is experiencing a drastic decrease in consumer demand,” Evans said in July. “Our inventory levels remain high and new orders from our customers remain slow.”
United Furniture Industries has yet to comment on the firings.
