Tangential to this, in the middle of the dot-com boom, a downsizing. Company meeting: "Here's what's happening, layoffs, etc, etc. When you go back to your desk, if you find your login is disabled, take a moment to pack your desk and come back to the Conference Room."

That's how they "notified" people. You got to play a lucky jackpot game of logging into your desktop after the meeting to see if you still had a job. Straight out of Dilbert.