Employee was fired and replaced with AI — 4 months later, his boss begged him to return for a reason that had nothing to do with his job
Multiple employers have incurred losses after replacing employees with AI. To save themselves, they tend to hire workers back. However, in a strange case, one man named David was asked by his manager to rejoin the company for a totally different reason. His cousin, who goes by u/MsRothArtist, shared David's story in a Reddit post on June 4, 2026. After nearly a year of working with the organization, David was let go along with a few others. Months later, his manager started pestering him to come back. Repeated calls, emails, letters, and even a call to his cousin were made by the employer, but for the most obnoxious reason.
Entitled boss fires my cousin to replace him with AI but now demands he come back so they can blame him for AI’s mistakes
by u/MsRothArtist in EntitledPeople
4 months after being let go, the boss sent out letters asking employees to come back to work. After those were ignored, the manager called David to get him back in the role. But the former employee saw right through his tricks. Turns out, AI was employed to “conduct interviews, write reports, give management legal advice, and conduct sales pitches to clients.” Due to errors and discrepancies in the report, customers sued the company. Some clients wanted to speak with the person behind the mistakes, and the boss slyly connected them with an interactive “AI man” to convince them that a human created those reports. David believed he was being rehired to cover up and take the blame.
The man was disgusted by his manager’s idea and decided to ignore his calls. However, since his cousin’s number and address were saved as emergency contacts, the boss called her to get her to convince him. The superior expected the very workers he let go to drop everything, come back, and take the blame for his poor decisions while fixing the mistakes. Luckily, David found another job a few months after being let go and had already moved back to his home to start afresh. According to data from National University, this dilemma has been plaguing several hardworking and skilled professionals.
It was estimated that by 2030, 30% of jobs in the U.S. will be automated. 25.5% of U.S. companies have already replaced workers with tools like ChatGPT. In 2023, 3,900 job losses were linked to AI. The tool has become the seventh-largest factor causing job eliminations. Like David’s boss, many employers are regretting their decisions of letting go of loyal and talented employees. According to Digital Applied, 55% of companies that implemented job cuts due to AI reported a decline in quality, morale, and overall knowledge in the workplace. As a result, many superiors bore a hefty cost in losses, rehiring processes, and so on.
Redditors were glad that the former worker didn’t bear much loss. u/DragonfruitSafe2435 wrote, “He should let that ship sink! This is why AI can’t replace everyone.” u/TechDreamcoat added, “This business got what it deserved.” u/Dougally remarked, “Manglement continues their mangling.”
You can follow u/MsRothArtist on Reddit for more content on lifestyle.