Clicky: Fired

[niq]

IHO v's friend. If your job was reorg'd out of existence, pick either laid off or fired for cause depending on what you think really happened (sometimes high level managers are reorg'd out of a job rather than fired)

If you're willing to, share gory details in the thread.

[ddi741]

I chose laid off. Our entire department was let go and they outsourced the work.

[audette]

I've been laid off. The writing was on the wall when the director overseeing our group passed away of a sudden heart attack in the middle of a major company re-org.

I might end up effectively RIF'd shortly. My company is merging with another, and the new boss (the re-org will have me under someone from the other company) has a very dim view of tele-workers. Heck, the new CEO still has trouble remembering I'm an employee instead of a contractor... Unless something changes, I suspect I will become superfluous in a year or so. Not happy about that. I've been offered my dream job with the new org - on the condition of moving back to the company's city and working in-house, which I can't do unless DH and I decide to live apart.

It's still fairly new information for me, so I'm in the processing stage. Part of me hopes that the new boss will realize he's dreaming if he thinks he can find someone who does what I do for what I'm paid in that town (I'm a steal, relatively speaking, because I know that the flexible telework option is a benefit that makes up for a reduced income). Part of me is worried that DH will get RIF'd in the next year, too (the military is doing RIF's right now... he was spared this year, but isn't so sure about next year). In which case, this worry might all be moot...

[littlemisssunshine]

I was the events manager/assistant food and beverage manager at a yacht and country club for 1.5 years before being fired. I was a temp for the GM as his admin assistant for 6 months, and then promoted into the management position. THe GM was terrible person and boss. He like to make staff miserable and unhappy. His specialty was micromanaging and writing people up for the littlest infractions. He once fired one of my servers for eating a french fry from a tray of left over banquet food in the kitchen.

I was written up for 30 minutes of overtime during the busy Christmas season because I should have taken a lunch break. Sorry, we have 6 events at the club with over 600 people throughout the day, and I was managing a staff of 40 servers. I'm not clocking out just to continue working so you don't have to pay me an extra 3.50/hr. I was paid exactly 2 dollars more an hour than my servers plus tip share.

The turnover at the place was unbelievable. He went through 3 admin assistants after me, two executive chefs in a year, and I couldn't keep servers to stay. By August he fired his new admin assistant, my beverage manager quit, and suddenly I was the only F&B manager working. I was pulling 16 hour days, opening and closing plus doing a ton of admin duties that weren't my responsibility.

I was fired exactly one day before my official 1 year anniversary (when I would have access to a one week paid vacation, 401k and insurance). The reason? I hadn't designed the invitation to the annual Commodore's Ball we host every year. Not in my job description in the least. I had mentioned I could do it since I had Photoshop at home, but was never given a deadline to have it done. I really believe they wanted to fire me and needed a reason, and apparently the invitation was it.

[jillboston]

Laid off from big law exactly one month after 9/11 along with 20 plus other senior associates. My department head made the mistake of not checking my schedule. He told me and I had summer associate to interview as soon as he walked out the door. He was mortified. You have a massive target on your back when you are a senior associate and the economy tanks.

2008 - April 1st. Got a call from a younger female attorney who started asking what it was like to work for the partner I worked with the most. I walked down to his office and said "I'm out right?" He swore up and down it had nothing to do with performance (I'd been there 5 years) but it was the economy and a power struggle with one of the other depts (my replacement split time w/ my real estate work and eviction litigation - something I didn't do). She was laid off less than a year later too. It was pretty painful but DH said he was relieved - I knew it wasn't what I wanted to do forever and it was a tough place to work.

[spunkarella]

I was fired from Wendy's in high school. They had a policy of termination for the first no call/no show. The job was 15 miles from my house and I called to check my schedule rather than driving there to check myself. The person I spoke with gave me the wrong days. I didn't show up to my first shift for the week. I got fired. 

[h]

I have never been fired, laid off, or quit. All of my jobs before my current one were of limited duration (internships, fellowships, teaching assistantships, clerkships) and just ended.

[noodleoo]

I have never been fired or laid off, it I have quit 2 jobs with no other job lined up because I just hated them. One was right after college, I was living with my parents and the commute was awful. The job wasn't a good fit and I quit after 4 months. The other was just last year. I had made a job change and the company turned out to be awful. It was so stressful, I was crying in my car regularly on the way home from work. I hated it and quit after 6 months. Took me about 6 months to find a new job both times, it is a good thing I'm a a saver. It is amazing how good it feels to be able to leave when you are miserable, you feel like you regain control of your life.

[Dusky]

I've been fired once. When I was in high school my mother called in sick for me because I had completely lost of my voice. The supervisor she spoke to OKed the sick day, but when I went in for my next shift the store owner yelled at me for not calling myself and fired me on the spot.

[crashgizmo]

I was fired at 22 from a bartending job. I had been there almost 2 years when we got a new General Manager, who happened to be the ex-girlfriend of another manager, who I was dating. You see where this is going, right?

So I worked an open to close double shift on a Saturday (16 hours!) and we had one of those all staff meetings at 8am the next morning. I showed up, sat through the meeting, and then the GM called me into the office. She said she had me on tape not ringing up a shot that I had sold at 1am the night before and accused me of stealing. Now, there were 3 of us working that night, and the shot was $6, so in reality, I would have gained a whole $2 if I had done that. Not worth risking my job for at all. But, since I was exhausted the night before, I probably HAD not rang up the shot and then grabbed the money from the bar later thinking it was a tip.

Either way, I was fired. Luckily, the other manager I was dating worked at a different restaurant and let me fill in there until I found something else.

[gt7301b]

I was left my previous employer a few months before my entire group got laid off. There were two groups that did almost identical work and I knew one of the groups would go during the next reorg, it was just a question of which group would be reorged. I'm pretty sure I could have found a job in another group, but it was time for me to move on.

[imojoebunny]

I had a really crappy job at an accounting firm about a year after college. It was so boring that my brain would go to sleep, like you foot goes to sleep. It was hell. I was fired after 3 months. I had another job within a week.

In retrospect, it was a great experience. I discovered I am really not cut out to be doing boring repetitive work, especially in an environment with little personal interaction. Failing at that job led me in a direction that I was much more suited for.

[rbp]

No, but I'm in my first real job. 

[sporky]

I was fired from my very first job when I was 16. I worked at the place because it was opened up by my good friend's aunt. Then friend and I had a falling out (which FTR lasted all of about a week). So aunt said she wasn't putting me on the schedule anymore, LOL. She was a super mature adult.

[Deleted]

Both. I got laid off in my early 20s but it was awesome, two months' severance and then unemployment (which was more than enough to support my single self at the time). Earlier this year I got fired unexpectedly, I was called into the director's office (who barely knew my name, it was a big department) and said I had poor attendance and was released. He even acknowledged I was a good worker, and my immediate supervisor and co-workers were devastated and thought it was unfair, so I at least had that going for me. Again got unemployment and now have a better job, but still, it STUNG!!!

[halfpint]

I was RIF'd several years ago - they reduced headcount in my department, and went to more of a shared services model. They dropped a lot of "corporate" functions like finance, HR, customer service, marketing, etc., and moved them to headquarters.

Caught me completely off guard, they'd done a lot of reductions several months before. My boss learned about it the day before, her boss had known about it for a couple of weeks, they came in around 10am and told me my position was gone effective xx date (a couple of months out). I figured that meant I would work until that date, and while it was a little shocking, I was ok. I said I'd start working on wrapping up loose ends and preparing things to transition to other people on the team, and they were like, no, sorry, you need to leave right now. We'll pay you out.

Honestly, it was the best way to go - get paid out, plus I got a severance package, I didn't even like the job very much - but the suddenness of being told I needed to leave immediately was really hard to take. I may have cried. A lot.

[lmb5109]

My first job out of college I got fired for being on the internet too much. Live & learn.

[stealthmom]

I have technically been RIF'd twice. Both times my principal was given the money to keep me at the 11th hour. Not fun.

[agnes]

I have never been fired or laid off. I do wish one job would have laid me off instead of cutting my hours, though. They gave severance to the people they had let go. pfff

[lime]

I've been laid off twice.

Both times were for a corporation with a handful of divisions and the one I was working for was effectively shuttered.

[joenali]

I had a noncontinuing contract at the first public school I taught at. Essentially, I was needed as a class size reduction teacher and didn't need to be there the following year. It was like being laid off.

[Deleted]

My last employer just abandoned my business line altogether. Part of the speech from the minister was "we will no longer do water engineering". I took that as a sign, being a water engineer, to start planning my exit. I volunteered to be laid off. My whole section ended up being downsized, although some people at my level remained and I could have fought to stay. It would have been terrible, though.

So instead, I got $50K to walk away, plus great references, and now I have a much nicer new job for the same pay.

[M]

I was laid off once because the jewelry store I worked at filed Chapter 7. I was offered a crappy severance and an extra $2/hr to stay through the liquidation. It was really the best thing to happen to me. I worked there during college and would have stupidly stayed making peanuts if I wasn't forced to leave and find a job in my field. The liquidating company did offer H and I a job to travel together and liquidate future stores, but we turned it down.

[delawarejen]

I've been both laid off and fired, but not from a full time job. Laid off was from a seasonal job in high school, fired was from a part-time job as a receptionist. I also quit once before they could fire me because my job description changed (I was part-time inbound customer service, then they made us sell things) and I am terrible at selling people things on the phone. They did pay out my notice which was nice.

(This all makes me sound awful. I've been at my day job for 15 years and promoted twice. I've also had plenty of successful second jobs, especially when I stick to running a cash register.)

[thatgirl2478]

Laid off with no chance for rehire. Really though, I was a contractor and my contract was terminated. They wanted someone onsite and I was remote.

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[thumper55]

I was in the middle of a quarter life crisis because BF and I broke up. I was with him from 18-25 years old, and had planned to marry him.
One day my boss (VP of sales) got into a pissing match at work, and left, and everyone under him go re-org'd.
Out of depression, I had gotten into the party scene and didn't have my head on straight at work. Truth be told, I was very fucked up all the time, and could not do my job. I asked for a month off to "study for the GMAT". When I came back, I was "laid off".

[protozoa]

No, but DH was fired from the same Pizza Hut 3 times when we were younger.

[Norticprincess]

I got laid off after I was already on medical leave. It had been years in the making and I knew about it before it happened. Honestly didn't care as I was only there on paper, it had no effect on my disability insurance.

[meltoine]

I have never been laid off or fired. I have quit many jobs because of moving, and I've been passed over for jobs because of MH's job, but never fired or laid off.

[drloretta]

I was laid off after our company was bought out and I chose not to move to their new HQ. They paid me handsomely for the trouble