Photo of duck accidentally sent to Stripe workers being laid off


Stripe is laying off around 300 people this week, and the payments technology company appears to have made a royal blunder in making these layoffs. Business Insider reports that employees affected by the layoffs received a PDF image of a duck in their emails, along with a layoff date that was not correct.

A Stripe spokesperson confirmed the error to Business Insider and said a follow-up email corrected the error. Stripe says it still plans to increase its headcount this year to 10,000 people.

On Blind, a discussion forum where tech industry employees can speak anonymously, Stripe employees joked that someone should quickly create a custom duck emoji in the company’s Slack.

The tech industry has seen unprecedented layoffs in recent years, after nearly two decades of growth, and the mass layoffs — necessitated by excessive hiring during the pandemic — have not always been implemented smoothly. It’s often the case that employees wake up to find that their work devices just won’t turn on, or they arrive at the office and attempt to enter their badge, only to see their the access key does not work. Incorrect information is sometimes given to the employees concernedor termination emails are sent to business accounts just when employees can no longer access them.

Better.com CEO received intense heat and took leave after 900 people were laid off because of Zooma call in which he accused the affected employees of “stealing” by not working hard enough. PagerDuty CEO Quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in Email dismissal of staff.

Overall, power has shifted from tech workers to employers since a round of mass layoffs began in late 2022. Employees can no longer protest their companies’ signing of contracts with the Pentagon, nor can they fight for DEI and other initiatives. For all but the best, the tech job market no longer holds much promise, and management’s disregard for employee concerns is evident.

Patrick Collison, CEO of Stripe took enormous heat in late 2024, due to a post he shared on X showing him running in Tel Aviv, saying it was “great to be back.” Ireland, where Collison is from and where Stripe has offices, has been a vocal review of Israel throughout its war against Gaza. His business remains strong, with Stripe getting a valuation that would have been more than 70 billion dollars.