I was laid off from HPE in 2020. I was 55 at the time, and I firmly believe age was a factor. Since then, I’ve seen my old job—or near duplicates of it—posted and filled over and over. I’ve applied 15 to 20 times. Every single time, rejected.
I don’t want the job back. I’m retired now.
I keep applying just to mess with them. To force someone in management to look at my name and remember. Maybe feel a flicker of discomfort. A little cognitive dissonance. A reminder that the person they cut wasn’t dead weight—it was someone they didn’t want to pay anymore.
They won’t say it out loud, but we both know the truth.
At this point, it’s a hobby. Like birdwatching. Only instead of birds, I collect automated rejections from a company that once called me an “asset.”
Stay classy, HPE.