The Indian-origin tech couple working in the US were still at the peak of their 15-day marriage when they both fell victim to mass layoffs in May 2025.
But the way two executives of the same company handled the same news made all the difference—one walked away with his self-worth intact while the other struggled to regain trust.
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Events developed as follows:
Roshni Chellani, a software engineer with over 10 years of experience, shared in a viral Instagram Reel that she and her new husband were both fired after 15 days of marriage.
“On May 2, I got married and experienced the greatest highlight of my life. On May 13, I returned to the US,” she told viewers, adding that she didn’t start work until May 17, even from home due to travel sickness.
But as soon as she started work for the day, she was met with the most terrifying news of her life – “You are affected by workplace restrictions,” her manager told her on the call.
Roshni said in complete disbelief as she turned off the camera as she tried to wrap her head around the news. “I asked, ‘How much time do I have? Is it because of my performance? Because I got 4/5 in the last assessment,'” she said.
However, her very kind manager assured her that her layoff was “not based on performance, but on headcount.”
“He really tried to comfort me and make sure I was okay. I was bawling so he asked me to take the rest of the day off. He even sent me resources after the call to make sure I was okay,” said Roshni.
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The flip side:
Soon after, her husband Shubham, who tried to console her, received a text from his manager – “We both knew what it was,” she said.
Unlike Roshni’s manager, Shubham’s manager asked him to report to the office immediately, despite his request for an online call, “because his wife was going through something”.
“His manager said No, you have to come to the office. I need to deliver the news to you personally,” said Roshni.
When Shubham arrived at the office, Roshni said, “His manager just put a brochure in front of him and said ‘You’re fired’ and it was such a cold delivery.
“It was so sudden and confusing. Shubham was taken aback,” she added.
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Roshni Chellani noted that the two managers had such different ways of breaking the same painful news: “One manager broke the news but didn’t break the other person’s confidence or self-worth. The other manager deliberately broke the news in a way that broke the other person’s self-worth and made him question himself,” she said.
“Same company. Same day. Same result. Two managers, two very different deliveries. One broke the news with empathy and protected my self-worth. The other didn’t,” she noted.
This difference changes everything for the couple; for Roshni, her self-worth was not destroyed. “All the interviews I’ve done, I’ve carried that strong sense of myself, but with him it was a different experience,” she said.
“Bad news is inevitable. Cruel delivery is an option,” the technician said.
In a message to managers, Roshni said: “When you break bad news to someone, please remember that you can shape how someone remembers the hardest day of their life. So the least you can do is do it with kindness.”
