Company Accidentally Sends 'Black Friday: 50% OFF YOUR SALARY' Offer Email

SAN FRANCISCO - What was intended to be a clever Black Friday-themed job offer turned into a recruiting catastrophe when TechFlow Solutions accidentally sent offer letters to five candidates announcing "BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL: 50% OFF YOUR SALARY!!!"

The email, which was supposed to highlight a 50% signing bonus increase, instead appeared to offer candidates half their negotiated compensation due to an unfortunate combination of template errors and overeager marketing copy.

"I opened the offer and saw '50% OFF' in huge letters next to my salary figure," said software engineer candidate Maria Rodriguez. "I thought it was a joke. Then I thought it was an insult. Then I just forwarded it to my friends because it was too absurd not to share."

According to sources inside TechFlow, the company's head of recruiting had tried to make offer letters "more engaging and fun" by incorporating Black Friday marketing language. The idea was to announce an enhanced signing bonus as a "limited-time Black Friday deal for exceptional candidates."

Unfortunately, the email template merged incorrectly, placing the "50% OFF" discount banner directly above the salary line instead of the signing bonus section, creating an offer that appeared to pay $75,000 for a position originally discussed at $150,000.

"It looked like they were recruiting on clearance," said one candidate who immediately declined. "I half expected a 'DOORBUSTER DEAL: Software Engineers, Now 70% Off!' follow-up email."

The email's subject line - "YOUR BLACK FRIDAY OFFER IS HERE - LIMITED TIME ONLY!" - only added to the confusion, making candidates wonder if job offers now expired at midnight like electronics sales.

TechFlow's recruiting team reportedly realized the error after the first candidate replied with a single-line email: "I assume this is a mistake, or you've completely lost your minds."

The company sent a frantic correction email within 20 minutes, but the damage was done. Screenshots of the original offer had already been shared across tech Twitter, Reddit, and several Slack communities dedicated to recruiting disasters.

"We deeply regret the error and want to assure candidates that we are not, in fact, offering half-price employment," read TechFlow's official statement. "The offer terms discussed during interviews remain accurate. We've decided to retire the Black Friday recruitment theme permanently."

One candidate reportedly responded to the correction email asking if they could still get the enhanced signing bonus but also a discount on their workload since everything else was 50% off.

Of the five candidates who received the erroneous offer, two accepted the corrected version, one declined citing "concerns about organizational competence," and two requested additional time to "see if Cyber Monday brings better deals."

TechFlow's recruiting team has reportedly been banned from using holiday marketing themes in official communications. Their head of recruiting could not be reached for comment but was last seen removing all Black Friday decorations from the office.

The company's marketing department issued a statement: "We take full responsibility for this template error and have learned that not everything needs to be gamified, themed, or marketed. Sometimes a job offer should just be a job offer."

Several candidates have requested the mistaken offer letter be corrected and framed as "proof that recruiting has officially gone too far."