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News of layoffs has seemed nonstop in January, with CNN<\/a>, Citigroup<\/a>, and Microsoft<\/a> all cutting roles this week alone. Usually, these notices are pretty standard\u2014heavy on the legal wording, and light on the cartoons.<\/p>\n But that wasn’t the case at Stripe, a payments software company that laid off 300 employees<\/a> on Monday. Some employees in the various roles affected (product, operations, engineering) were notified by an illustration of a cartoon duck, Business Insider reports<\/a>. The dates on the termination notices were also incorrect.<\/p>\n Related:<\/b> ‘We Will Have Job Eliminations’: Starbucks CEO Announces Corporate Layoffs Will Begin Soon<\/a><\/p>\n The illustration was sent as a PDF attachment and said, “US-Non-California Duck.” Business Insider<\/i> received a picture of the yellow duck from employees on a Blind chat.<\/p>\n “The comms to those laid off were flubbed completely,” one employee reportedly wrote.<\/p>\n Software company Stripe laid off 300 employees this week and mysteriously and confusingly included a photo of a duck in the email that notified workers they’d been let go.<\/p>\n While this was clearly a preventable gaffe, the far bigger one was ##Stripe<\/a> telling 300 human beings they’d\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/oeIIWhkwOu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mark C. Crowley (@MarkCCrowley) January 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n A Stripe representative told Business Insider<\/i> that follow-up emails went out to affected employees.<\/p>\n “I apologize for the error and any confusion it caused,” wrote Rob McIntosh, the company’s chief people officer. “Corrected and full notifications have since been sent to all impacted Stripes.”<\/p>\n Related:<\/b> Citigroup Eliminated More Jobs This Week. Here Are the Roles Affected.<\/a><\/p>\n Stripe is valued at $70 billion in the private markets, per CNBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite the cuts, McIntosh said the company is “not slowing down hiring” and expects to increase its workforce by 17% this year to 10,000.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n