End Of Contract: How would like to be told by your boss?

I'm actually really surprised and almost shocked at how your friend was "let go." An e-mail is extremely unofficial and could even be taken as a joke, so I really don't think that's the way to go about laying off an employee. The boss also didn't have very good typing ability or grammar. If he/she was going to let his/her temporary employees go, he/she could've at least put a little more time into the e-mail! Also, waiting for a text message to determine whether or not the employees would have a job the following year is about the most unreliable method of communication. For one thing, unless the company provided the phones, (which would probably be taken away anyway upon termination) some people don't have text messaging in their cell phone plans and some probably don't even have texting capability. An e-mail and text message for termination just doesn't seem very official. I don't know what kind of company your friend worked for, but it seems really slack to me. These methods wouldn't fly where I'm working. I wouldn't want my manager to let me go at all because I don't believe I have done anything worthy of such an action. However, if I were to be let go, I would like it to be in person. It would be difficult to hear this kind of news in person, but I believe that would be the best way to go about it for several reasons. First of all, if my boss were to call me into her office, it would be a private setting. No one else would need to know what was going on (until later, of course). Second, talking in person allows me to ask questions or beg my boss to reconsider (LOL). Also, talking in person finalizes things whereas an e-mail and/or text message would leave me wondering if my boss really meant what she said. Termination can be a very sensitive thing depending on how it is done and why it has to be done. Having said that, I believe managers should carefully plan such actions during such a difficult time. I've heard of times where a former employee is actually hired on again at a place he/she was laid off. It's entirely possible for a former employee to be rehired because in many cases, the parting was on good terms, which is extremely important. Former employees can also require a lot less training. For these reasons, it is so important for managers and employees to part on good terms.

E-mails can do everything these days. The electronic media sounds very cold and unfeeling to me. When the boss told us all that our company was closing down she didn't talk to us either. But it didn't seem as heartless as the e-mail idea because she did call us all together and gave us each a letter to read. Maybe, she would have used e-mail as well, if her computer was working.

This is definitely something that should have been done face to face. This can be a devastating situation enough, but to be as impersonal as to send it as a short e-mail really says that "We don't care about you, the job is over, dispose of yourself as you wish." A company should care about its employees, and should take every opportunity to let them know that they do. This is the exact opposite, and I wouldn't be there long anyway.