It's not a 'simple inquiry' though, because the context matters: it's an ambigious message from someone above you in the employment chain, that often has to make calls on employment of the people under them. Same reason why people bring up HR setting up zero-detail 'sync' meetings out of the blue. Getting an ambigious "Hey, can we talk?" from a coworker provokes vastly different feelings than one from someone who would make calls on my employment status. I like my employment status. I use it to buy food to put in my mouth.