Employees of the high-street brand HMV used Twitter to confirm they were being sacked today (January 31st), sky.com reports.
They live-tweeted the event via the brand’s official Twitter page, under the @HMVtweets handle. The first tweet read: “We’re tweeting live from HR where we’re all being fired! Exciting!! #hmvXFactorFiring”.
The second read: “There are over 60 of us being fired at once…” then the second: “Sorry we’ve been quiet for so long. Under contract, we’ve been unable to say a word, or – more importantly – tell the truth #hmvXFactorFiring”.
Instantly, the tweets began circulating round Twitter via re-tweets and mentions of the handle. Although the social media content has since been deleted, other tweets appeared from the mystery tweeter – stating that the staff felt forced to make the situation public after being treated so poorly.
Not long after the tweets were posted, administrators confirmed that 190 staff have been fired from the brand’s warehouses and offices. No in-shop staff have been made redundant, according to Nick Edwards, a joint administrator.
Cited by bbc.co.uk, he said: “Since our appointment as administrators over two weeks ago, we have been assessing the financial position of HMV.
“Following this review, a number of redundancies at the head office and distribution centres have been made,” he added, calling it a “necessary step” in getting the business back on track. Edwards also thanked the British nation for its commitment to HMV and said there had been significant interest in the brand as a going concern.
