Leaving a job is a significant step to take. Usually, it is followed by signing the paperwork and saying your goodbyes—a pretty standard operation overall. However, some people want to leave with a bang. Or with an interesting story to tell, at least.
Such attention-worthy narratives often end up on the internet. We have browsed it to find some of the best stories of people parting ways with their jobs and compiled them into this list here. Scroll down for the accounts, ranging from wholesome moments to temper tantrums, and everything in between.
In order to better understand the subtleties surrounding leaving a job, Bored Panda has gotten in touch with two experts who were kind enough to share their thoughts. In the text below, you will find opinions by Nora P. Reilly—an organizational social psychologist and the director of the psychology program at Fielding Graduate University, as well as Daneal Charney—a start-up growth coach and an award-winning human resources specialist.
#1
I had to lay off my entire staff (and myself) with 8 hours notice.
I was the contract project manager on a government project (office type work). At our periodic review on a Thursday, the government announced they would not be renewing our contract and our last day was Friday (the next day).
I brought everyone into the conference room first thing the next day, let everyone know that we were all out of a job and that today was everyone's last day. I had everyone email me their resumes, and we went over everyone's on the conference room projector and updated them over the course of the day. I then printed out "reference" sheets for everyone, and we all spent the remainder of the day writing letters of recommendation for each other. I ordered everyone pizza, and bought everyone a round of drinks at the bar next door. Most folks had jobs by the end of the next week.
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239points
#2
My dad went into the boss' office during lunch and said "I have been contacted by the mothership. I have to return to my home planet. Thank you for the job". Shook the guy's hand, left the building, and never contacted them again.
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159points
#3
My cousin got bored and frustrated with his job, decided to leave. Searched and interviewed for a while. Landed a new gig. Friday morning he was going to put in his two weeks notice with his boss. That same Friday she told him, tears in her eyes, that his entire team was being laid off and it was their last day. He got three months' severance pay.
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135points
When it comes to workplaces, people come and go constantly. However, in the last couple of years, quite a few of them chose to go out through the door rather than in. In 2021, an astonishing number of people in the US—over 47 million—left their jobs; that is nearly one fourth (23.5%, to be exact) of the entire workforce resigning in just one year.
There can be millions of different reasons for that, but in a lot of cases, one thing remains the same—leaving a job is quite a significant change in life. Especially if it wasn’t the employee’s decision to part ways with the company.
Such situations are unfortunate but not uncommon. 2022 research reveals that 40% of Americans have been let go at some point in their careers. Trying to make it as easy of a transition as possible is always a good idea, but it requires thorough planning, as there are lots of aspects to consider.
#4
Was working at a restaurant in M'boro TN. Found a better job that actually gave me hours and went in to put my two week notice(was more like a week a few days due to timing of the new gig) in out of courtesy. I got a lecture about how I could never come back to the company since it wasn't a full two weeks. I then suggested politely that "that's great, let's say today is my last day then.".
Was such a relief.
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118points
#5
Was at a job for 3 years, consistently in the top 3 of my department in terms of performance. Asked my supervisor repeatedly if I could be recommended for advancement/promotion and he always told me he was trying his best to get me new opportunities. Found out from a friend in a different department that I'd been considered a top candidate for 4 different promotions and each time my supervisor had blocked it.
When I confronted him with this information he told me it was true and he did it because "I could never find someone who does what you do without paying them a lot more". Internally said f**k this, I quit and found a new job within 3 months. Took all my PTO and on the day I came back I quit 2 hours into the day leaving him high and dry at a peak time. F*** that dude.
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113points
#6
My first quitting story - My boss told me that we were going to spend our breaks doing mandatory Zumba, and I told her I was going home.
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101points
#7
Working at Walmart, after a couple years of being a mindless goon, I save up my 2 week vacation and put in for it. Told them I was seeing family. The last day of work before my 2 week vacation, I put in my 2 week notice. Took the manager a min to do the math “So...you’re not coming back?”
“No. No I’m not. Take care”
“No. No I’m not. Take care”
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86points
#8
I worked for Best Buy back in the early 2000s, before Geek Squad, as one of their computer techs while in college. The job itself wasn't horrible, but it was boring as hell because anything past a simple upgrade was sent out to some depot, so I wasn't very invested in the job. On top of that, they never got around to ordering my work shirts, so I just walked around in a black polo I already owned instead of a black Best Buy polo. You'd think that was a hint that they didn't give a s**t about their employees, but then came all the issues with scheduling. I had a very rigid and predictable school schedule: 8AM to 330PM every day. I told my boss when he hired me about it, and he said it wasn't an issue. However, they kept scheduling me for Noon to 8PM or some weird s**t that conflicted with my schedule at college. After the first few times of "Where the hell have you been!" it kinda became a running joke...and I realized maybe a better job was a good idea.
Cue the biggest shopping day of the year: Black Friday. Store was set to open at some ungodly early hour like 3AM, so they wanted everyone at the store at 2AM to get ready. I drag my a*s in, and an hour later all hell breaks loose. Customers being a******s, coworkers being grumpy, and the store manager being a d**k to everyone. It sucked, I was tired, and we quickly figured out that there was no intent on giving any breaks even though we were scheduled enough hours to legally require one.
About 5AM roles around and coworkers are getting pissed at management for no breaks and started treating customers like c**p. Manager comes over and starts yelling, so I take off my name tag, throw it on the counter and tell him I quit, right in front of the computer dept staff and customers and grab my coat and start walking out. He yells after me "YOU HAVE TO TURN IN YOUR SHIRT RIGHT NOW!" to which I turn around and yell back "I'VE BEEN HERE THREE MONTHS AND YOU NEVER GOT ME A SHIRT!"
Petty, but damn that felt good.
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84points
The organizational social psychologist and director of the psychology program at Fielding Graduate University, Nora P. Reilly, told Bored Panda what are some of the important factors to consider before letting someone go. “Be sure to plan ahead. Be sure to follow the organization’s policy. Be sure to be consistent in the application of the policy. One would hope that the organization had a policy for regular performance reviews, feedback opportunities, and performance improvement plans (PIPs).”
In addition to that, the employer should ask themselves certain questions about the situation in order to properly evaluate it. “Before you let someone go for cause, have you documented past performance deficiencies? Was the employee aware of them? Have you tried to develop their skills and knowledge? Did you speak with the employee before this last resort? Were you, as the employer, aware of any special circumstances that may have affected the employee’s performance (was the employee or a family member ill, was there some major life event that was distracting them, etc.)? Don’t blindside the employee,” Nora pointed out.
#9
While I was a conscript, I had two of the world's greatest idiots in command of my unit. Both had been stuck in their current rank for years, and neither gave a f**k about how the unit was run. At the whim of either of them, we could be expected to wash and scrub all the cars and garages (transport unit of around 50 vehicles) up to 4 times a day, and be deliberately held from leaving until the last bus has left the base. It's a 2km trek from the company line back to civilization.
One day, about 2 weeks before I was scheduled to leave, they decided to f**k with medical records. I had a doctor's appointment previously approved by the army's doctors one day, and for reasons only known to himself, one of the commanders decided this would be a good day to lock everyone up in camp and delete my appointment record from the company's system. I checked with the other commander (technically his superior by 1 rank), who basically told me to go f**k myself and stay in camp.
On the final day of my service, I brought all my medical documents, including my appointment records with the army doctor's approval, to the battalion CO (who was about to release me to civilian life). To my understanding, they both got slapped with a pretty severe fine and are no longer eligible for further promotions.
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81points
#10
Worked at a job for over eight years. Was promised a promotion if I stayed when I was about ready to look for something else. Was called into the office down the road a bit to be informed they were bringing in an ex employee who had quit a year or two before for the job I was promised. I had heard a rumor of this and had already made my decision. The boss looked shocked when I said I quit. I punched out and left. Simple but sweet.
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75points
#11
I put in my two weeks at a call center and my supervisor (who was great the whole time i was there) said "Yeah, I'm just gonna give you two weeks paid vacation. I know how done you are with this place- with your notice in, I give it an hour before you would call the first rude customer you got a c********r. Have a nice life man, it's been good working with you"
Wherever you are these days Chris... good call, you were 100 f*****g percent right. F**k that place and its customers.
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70points
The award-winning human resources specialist and growth coach for start-ups, Daneal Charney, emphasized the effect laying off an employee can have on their former colleagues. “Any termination of employment diminishes trust between employees and the company so positioning the why is really important,” she said to Bored Panda.
“Employees who are directly impacted (and even those who are not but have a strong relationship with the departing employee) will want their questions answered. Companies should always arrange one-on-one conversations following a termination as well as an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session in a layoff situation.
“Especially in small companies and growing startups, social connections are tightly interwoven. One termination can lead to other employees leaving and take the company by surprise. Even with non-solicitation clauses, when employees move to other companies, they tend to pull their former workmates with them,” Daneal added.
#12
I was a janitor at an elementary school. I worked there for several years and was popular with that k-1st grade teachers. I had to move to a different shift so I could work another job. So I swapped with another janitor that the 2nd grade hallway teachers liked. It made them mad I suppose and they would file complaints on my work and I often got called into the office. I was doing my job, but they wanted their other guy back. They were even being rude to me to my face.
After several months of this, I get called to the office. My supervisor says "one more incident and I'm going to write you up" I was calm and said, "that's ok, I'd like to put my 2 weeks in". He looked shocked and said "Uh, don't you need some time to think about this?" I said ""I have. Their opinion of me isn't going to change, and I rather save us some time " while not that epic. The look of "wth?" On his face was priceless. It was nice being able to quit like a calm reasonable person. In conclusion, I went back to school and got a much better job I enjoy.
After several months of this, I get called to the office. My supervisor says "one more incident and I'm going to write you up" I was calm and said, "that's ok, I'd like to put my 2 weeks in". He looked shocked and said "Uh, don't you need some time to think about this?" I said ""I have. Their opinion of me isn't going to change, and I rather save us some time " while not that epic. The look of "wth?" On his face was priceless. It was nice being able to quit like a calm reasonable person. In conclusion, I went back to school and got a much better job I enjoy.
65points
#13
I really like my supervisor but hated my job. He was a real cut up so that made it livable.
I got a new job and handed him my written two weeks notice. Just my luck it was April 1st, he didn’t believe me. Every day I’d remind him how many days left. He started getting testy, he’d played a long game himself but this was too much.
Apparently he was quite surprised when I stopped showing up!
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62points
#14
Promoted to assistant manager at Gamestop, specifically to go to another store to help deal with one of the biggest Loss Prevention disasters the district had been dealing with for months. Had worked for the company for four years, including the transition from EB Games. Survived *multiple* "Nearly the entire store is fired for stealing" nightmares. Because. You know. I don't steal.
Help clean up the store, and get everything back on track. One morning, I even found $2000 worth of XBOX 360's that weren't in the inventory. Double check. Triple check. I could have walked out the door with them, and nobody could have known. Call the district manager, who thanks me and tells me to enter them in inventory.
Overall the store is doing better. Not great, but things are moving in the right direction. Get a much better job offer, though I'm not going to start for a month. Immediately give my notice. Soon after that, the company isn't pleased with the Store Manager's performance, so he's fired, and the temporary store manager *and* the District Manager *beg* me to not quit early, since the Store Manager was a good friend and they thought I'd be pissed. I assured them that I wouldn't do that.
Last day comes and goes, leave on good terms. A few months later, i decide to reapply as a sales associate to get some extra cash during the holidays. They tell me I'm on the no-hire list because the store I had worked at had lost so much money to theft. Yes, the very same store I was hired to help clean up. The one where I'm on record having brought $2000 worth of hardware to upper management's attention that I could have walked out the door with.
tl;dr - F**k Gamestop.
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60points
#15
I was working as a field manager for a company that had a small team. They had recently hired 2 new guys who were fairly green to the industry but not totally brain-dead.
One guy, let's call him Gary. He's kind of quiet, kept his head down. I had a distinct feeling that he didn't like me, because as his direct supervisor it was up to me to train him up. Granted, I wasn't the best teacher, as I was somewhat blunt and direct. But never insulting or demeaning.
It's a slow week, and we're cleaning up our warehouse. The five of us are all knocking it out so we can get out early, but Gary is kind of slacking off. Since he's not really putting much effort in, I ask "Hey Gary, can you run the garbage out?" So he loads up the truck and heads out to the dumpsters behind the building (we had a lot of trash). But leaves behind the cardboard... So I think he's making two runs, to kind of stretch out the workload, right?
He comes back, and proceeds to not also take the cardboard. "Yo Gary - can you also do the cardboard." He gets pissed, storms out to the office, and proceeds to scream about me being a d**k to him, to the bosses.
Important note, I did not know this. I figured he was going to hit the bathroom?
I walk into the office about 5 minutes later to hear him complaining about how I'm an a*****e. The people he's telling this to look at me over his shoulder, and I realize that he's talking mad s**t about me. He realizes it, turns around, and it's a classic "oh f**k."
So my one boss, he tells Gary that I am his supervisor and while he may not like me, he has to at least do as I ask, provided it's within reason. And taking garbage and cardboard out is part of our regular duties, and we all take care of it. Gary gets insanely pissed, starts screaming about how we're all just buddy buddy, and quits. He removes his keys from his belt (we have truck keys) and literally THROWS THEM at my boss, and storms out cursing.
We're all in shock and I'm feeling kinda bashful.
Gary comes back in 5 minutes later and asks for the keys... because his own car and house keys were still attached.
Once he gets them, he says "f**k you" to all of us, and storms back out.
So epic. To this day, still my favorite of all time quitting stories.
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59points
#16
I may have told this story on here before.
In high school, myself and a bunch of friends worked at a newly opened Steak n' Shake restaurant in town. At first it was fun. We could work and goof off a few days a week after school. As the months went by, most of my friends quit and I was the last person of my group left working there. As my friends quit, the management didn't bother hiring replacements. On the nights that I was scheduled, I was working a three-person station all by myself.
A few weeks of this went by, and it was incredibly stressful. Trying to keep up with orders from the dining room and drive thru, with no help was daunting. On top of that, I'd have waitresses coming back and screaming at me, the drive thru guy screaming at me, and eventually the managers coming back to yell at me.
After one particular rough evening, my shift finally ends and I head to clock out. Literally as I'm heading for the door, the manager on duty (a particular omega-class a*****e) runs in front of me, blocks the exit, and says that I can't leave, because they don't have someone coming in to cover the overnight shift (it was a 24-hour restaurant). I explained to him that I'm a high school student and cannot work past 9 pm. I also have homework and studying that I need to do.
After a few minutes of arguing, he won't budge. Rather than continue this charade, I pretend to clock back in, then walk to the back and proceed to climb out the drive thru window. As I'm walking around the parking lot, the manager sees me out the window and throws his hands up like, "WTF are you doing?"
I respond by firing back with both middle fingers and a lude gesture. It felt so satisfying.
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53points
#17
My friends story:
She was getting laid off by a firm whose business dried up. She was hired by another firm and quickly realized the CEO, while good at the stuff the company did and a good salesman had no idea how to manage people, plus he was really cheap.
He was constantly changing his mind, making outrageous demands (once she got called away from her birthday party on a Saturday night because he had an idea and wanted all hands on deck to make it happen *now*) and underpaid everyone.
So her year end review comes. And bonsues were supposed to be a big factor in compensation. She has had positive reviews by her direct bosses for most of the year.
And the ceo tells her she isn't good enough to get a bonus.
She's livid but needs the job so she bites her tongue.
Then she goes and job hunts like a m**o. Winds up getting a better job offer (well better salary, theoretically the bonus would make this job better). So she goes to his office about two weeks later and asks him to reconsider etc. Points out when she was hired this was sold as a major part of her compensation.
No dice he says. It's not a given and he just doesn't think she's good enough.
She says she has a job offer. So you need to match this or I'm quitting.
He then said fine, but I'm not paying out your vacation and you need to work the next two weeks.
He didn't know her supervisor had already approved a two week vacation for her, and was absolutely livid.
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45points
When it comes to the pivotal moment itself, the superior has to be well-prepared for the meeting. Firing someone is rarely an easy thing to do; however, there is believed to be a right way to do it. Of course, no two situations are the same, but there are some points to remember to make it less painful, likely, for both of the parties involved.
“We’re talking about empathy here. Be sure to conduct a one-on-one termination interview in a private location but have another representative from the organization present as a witness. There is a debate about whether this meeting should be quick, like ripping off a band aid, or whether the employer should provide some limited amount of details,” said the social psychologist Nora P. Reilly.
“The employer should have information about picking up personal items, receiving a last paycheck, and arranging for any other benefits they may be entitled to. Unless there is a security concern, avoid a perp walk. And provide access, or at least specific information about, employment counseling,” she advised.
#18
I had a position that was a year's contract. The year was coming up and I decided that I did not want to continue past the end date , so I told my boss (a complete moron) that I wasn't going to renew my contract. This was 6 weeks before the contract ended.
Starting from that day I was person non-grata in the office. I wasn't CC'd on any e-mails, not invited to any staff meeting, they had a "team building" event outside the office one day - I showed up for work and no one was there in my department ....they were all out "team building". I spent the whole day just reading a book, surfing the WWW etc.
On my final day, it was about 1PM and I was saying good-bye to people in other departments. The boss comes down and says "we need you in the office NOW"!
I used the phone to call someone and they said that they had planned a goodbye party for me ! After 6 weeks of being treated like sh*t, they wanted to make themselves feel good by giving me a cake.
I said no way - and snuck up to my desk (already cleaned out) and walked out the front door, got in my car and drove home.
Turns out they started paging me for about 30 minutes, then realized that I was gone and the boss got PISSED.
She decided NOT to send out my record of employment so I can collect unemployment insurance. I sent an e-mail to her boss, her boss' boss and the CEO explaining what she did and they had 3 days to get me my ROE and if it did not arrive with my final pay cheque, I would file a complaint with the government and see where it goes. It arrived via Purolator the next day....she was fired 2 months later
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44points
#19
So I was managing an IT group in a fortune 50 company. At this time I was trying to figure out how to keep my retirement benefits and retire way early. I have a nice sailboat and took rather long vacations with unpaid time too.
One of my guys and his wife came over for an evening and asked a ton of sailing questions. Later I was gone sailing for nearly 3 months. When I returned there was the usual line up of folks needing to talk. The first guy in line was the one who had taken an interest in sailing.
They had gone to the Caribbean and took sailing lessons. He gave me his notice with a huge smile. They went back to the Caribbean and bought a boat. He managed to beat me out of the door by a couple years. We are both still cruising.
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40points
#20
My boss told me that we were going to spend our breaks doing mandatory Zumba, and I told her I was going home.
Little back story - This was at a kids camp where I was a cook. Kids would come in on Sunday and leave on the Saturday, so I was there all week making 4 meals a day plus a mid-afternoon snack for 100+ people. The one break I got in the day was an hour sometime before lunch, but we were working from 7am - 11pm every single day(for $200 a week)
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39points