New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS): Global investment firm Goldman Sachs sacked more than 3,000 employees in disguise of business meetings as early as 7.30 a.m. and the meetings with senior managers were put on Google calendar under "false pretenses", the media reported.

The New York Post reported that Goldman Sachs' CEO David Solomon "e-mailed calendar invites that called targeted employees to phony 'business meetings' at its New York headquarters" last week.

Once the employees arrived at the conference room -- some as early as 7.30 a.m. -- they were told by their managers that they were being fired.

"Managers were sorry to do this but their hand was forced and they wished him the best of luck," the report said, citing inside sources.

Another employee was told to arrive at 7:30 am for a call with Goldman counterparts in the Asia-Pacific region.

The impacted employee "didn't question the early meeting since those with other regions are typically during off-hours".

Those sacked were given the choice to leave the office immediately or wait for colleagues to arrive so they could say goodbye.

A Goldman Sachs spokesperson said that "this is a difficult time for people leaving the firm".

"We're grateful for all our people's contributions, and we're providing support to ease their transitions," the spokesperson said.

The layoffs at Goldman Sachs were dubbed as "David's Demolition Day".

The layoffs at the global financial services also hit Indian workers hard and some of the impacted IITians and IIM graduates shared their plight on various social media platforms.