It made for a dramatic headline: GM lays off 38-year employee with a 5 a.m. email. But how he’s doing now may be a prime example of why companies should be gentle when cutting ties.

Last year, General Motors cut about 1,000 workers in a swift round of fourth-quarter layoffs. The cuts were set to take effect on November 15, 2024. A few days before the deadline, Adam Bernard got an early morning email.

He wrote on LinkedIn, “Well, in unexpected news, I was let go from GM at 5:07 a.m. this morning via email.”

This sort of corporate behavior always confuses me. It takes very little effort to sit down with someone and let them go honorably. At the very least, you can schedule a video call. A company as large as GM employs HR specialists trained for this exact process. And if they’re overworked, supervisors could step in to help.

From loyal analyst to industry expert

Bernard started at General Motors in 1986. When he posted about his termination on LinkedIn, supportive comments poured in. Many commenters said he deserved better than the “impersonal” firing because of his decades of dedication to GM.

But that’s not all. Bernard started his career as an analyst and worked his way up to associate director of competitor intelligence. He had become an expert on the industry, its future, and the major players—all on GM’s dime.

By letting him go, the company didn’t just lose his expertise. It also put that expertise out on the job market. Comments on his LinkedIn post praised his legendary contributions to GM and reminded him, “You will be a major asset in your next role!”

Those weren’t empty words—companies and startups such as Lucid were already circling.

It looks like the Detroit-area native chose the consultant route. He’s now listed as the founder and principal of Auto Perspectives, a consulting service “providing unique insights into the changing automotive landscape.” I wonder if he’ll pick up if GM calls?