I was let go yesterday and it kind of surprised me. It sounds like to me they are in the process of “cleaning house” after they finished Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Here’s a brief history: I was hired back in October 2024 to be a Buyer at this company who is a startup manufacturer with a very flawed business structure that multiple people acknowledged. I was brought in mainly because of my procurement experience with startups. The system was indeed very flawed and a lot of stuff was through at me few weeks in that I had to balance out with maybe the expectation I would have this taken care of right away. Two months after I was hired, the company filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy which means they would seek reorganization including being transferred over by new management but maintaining business operations. My work then became more stressful since I have to communicate and negotiate with vendors who aren’t happy about our payment history with them while making sure the company continues to operate with little disruptions. Fast forward to February, the bankruptcy is over and the company has been acquired by new management however yesterday my employment was terminated citing two main incidents that I felt were kind of weak reasons as I did not really understand the scale of those situations they felt I should have been responsible for managing better and all indication I got was these were emergencies that ended up being resolved with their understanding of how I had to go through it felt like. I wasn’t the only one let go this week, others in manager roles were also let go which seems to me like the business is “cleaning house” and restructuring roles in most departments. Either way, I personally feel like I was kind of unfairly terminated based on what they said and don’t know if there was more to it.

So now I’m job hunting, and I know I will likely have to answer why I was let go by my previous employer. I know I shouldn’t be too honest and make it sound like my previous employer unfairly terminated me but how should I answer? I know they just got out of bankruptcy and going through company restructuring so would it be better to say I was let go based on that even though I was terminated with “cause”?

I was let go yesterday and it kind of surprised me. It sounds like to me they are in the process of “cleaning house” after they finished Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Here’s a brief history: I was hired back in October 2024 to be a Buyer at this company who is a startup manufacturer with a very flawed business structure that multiple people acknowledged. I was brought in mainly because of my procurement experience with startups. The system was indeed very flawed and a lot of stuff was through at me few weeks in that I had to balance out with maybe the expectation I would have this taken care of right away. Two months after I was hired, the company filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy which means they would seek reorganization including being transferred over by new management but maintaining business operations. My work then became more stressful since I have to communicate and negotiate with vendors who aren’t happy about our payment history with them while making sure the company continues to operate with little disruptions. Fast forward to February, the bankruptcy is over and the company has been acquired by new management however yesterday my employment was terminated citing two main incidents that I felt were kind of weak reasons as I did not really understand the scale of those situations they felt I should have been responsible for managing better and all indication I got was these were emergencies that ended up being resolved with their understanding of how I had to go through it felt like. I wasn’t the only one let go this week, others in manager roles were also let go which seems to me like the business is “cleaning house” and restructuring roles in most departments. Either way, I personally feel like I was kind of unfairly terminated based on what they said and don’t know if there was more to it.

So now I’m job hunting, and I know I will likely have to answer why I was let go by my previous employer. I know I shouldn’t be too honest and make it sound like my previous employer unfairly terminated me but how should I answer? I know they just got out of bankruptcy and going through company restructuring so would it be better to say I was let go based on that even though I was terminated with “cause”?