Investment Firm's Entire Staff Accidentally Sent Exit Email

All 1,300 employees were thanked for their service to the company and wished the best

You're fired — just kidding!

All 1,300 employees of British insurance giant Aviva's investment arm got an exit email last week, thanks to a technical glitch, that had many of them fearing they'd been canned.

The accidental note — which did not actually fire the employees but was a form email sent to all outgoing workers, Reuters reported — asked the staff to turn over their company property and safeguard confidential information.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and wish you all the best for the future," it said.

"It was intended that this e-mail should have gone to one single person," a spokesman told Bloomberg News. "Unfortunately, as a result of a clerical error, it was sent to all of the Investors staff worldwide."

About 25 minutes later, the company realized its mistake and sent a follow-up email confirming that it was not firing its staff.

If some employees were convinced in the interim that they were out of a job, they might have had reason to have thought so. The company shook up its board days earlier.

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