It sounds like you already know this is a firing email.
The best thing is to reset your career. Graduate school is a very good way to do this. Get some wins, it will pep you up.
> how can a company expect to retain employees/contractors if the only work available is the same tedium over a long period of time, and no way to change that?
That's a pretty huge leap. I'll regularly send check-in messages like this to my employees, both if their work does appear to be suffering, but also just literally to check in and get up to speed on where their focus is. And even in cases where work is suffering, my hope is very much to be able to resolve the issue! Getting fired does suck, but firing people also sucks. Not as much, certainly, but it's not like it's something you'd choose to do when there are alternatives.
It sounds like you already know this is a firing email.
The best thing is to reset your career. Graduate school is a very good way to do this. Get some wins, it will pep you up.
> how can a company expect to retain employees/contractors if the only work available is the same tedium over a long period of time, and no way to change that?
Getting fired sucks dude.