Bypassing the standard thumbs-up, a mid-level supervisor opted for a profound display of digital empathy to signal the immediate end of 60 livelihoods.
Following a company-wide memo detailing the immediate termination of 60 employees, regional sales director Kevin Hentz reportedly summoned the full depth of his executive leadership Tuesday to click the small red heart emoji beneath the devastating news.
According to server logs at the San Jose-based logistics software firm, Hentz hovered his cursor over the Slack reaction menu for nearly four seconds. Witnesses to the digital exchange noted that he bypassed the standard thumbs-up—deemed too celebratory for the abrupt loss of employer-sponsored healthcare—and carefully selected the classic red heart to symbolize his solemn witness to the department’s complete obliteration.
I wanted the team to know that I am holding space for their sudden inability to make rent.
Hentz later told reporters that he briefly considered utilizing the "praying hands" icon before determining it carried too much religious baggage for a secular corporate restructuring. He added that typing out an actual sentence expressing condolences would have cluttered the channel and distracted from the core messaging of the company's Q3 pivot to artificial intelligence.
At press time, the 60 terminated employees reportedly found profound closure in watching the tiny number beside the heart icon tick up to "1" just seconds before their enterprise accounts were permanently deactivated.