Getting fired isn't pleasant, but it's a pretty normal occurrence. Chances are, many of us have or will experience it at some point in our lives. Researchers estimate that 40% of Americans experience involuntary job loss. At the same time, the annual layoff and discharge rates in the U.S. have been steady since 2020 – around 1.0%-1.1%.
However, some folks manage to get sacked before they're even through the door. It's a talent in and of itself, but probably not one they should be proud of. Still, these situations come with pretty amusing stories, and Bored Panda is bringing you the most entertaining ones from a recent online thread where one netizen asked: "What's the quickest amount of time in all of your jobs in which you've seen or heard that a new coworker got canned, and what was it for?"
#41
4 hours. Turns out they lied about their background and had a felony conviction they "accidentally forgot" to mention.
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19points
#42
I worked at an HVAC company. A guy was hired to work in the warehouse. He was there 20 minutes when the warehouse manager asked him to help move a new furnace. The guy refused and said that was an OSHA violation. He got walked out. I don't understand what he thought he would be doing working in a warehouse.
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19points
#43
30 mins. Turns out they called the wrong applicant and said "see you Monday". So this chick shows up and the person training her introduces her to everyone by the name "jen", she just smiles and nods. Then the boss shows up and sees this chick and nope that isn't "jen" (boss did the interviews so she knows at a glance). Had to tell "jen that there had been a mistake and that she had to go. I get that the job market is hard but when they call and say "is this jen?" And you are not jen, probly let them know they have called the wrong number. Or when you are being introduced as "jen", maybe say hey my name is actually Susan.
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17points
#44
My supervisor got canned after his first week because he was under an active federal investigation for hacking into his former employer's servers and never disclosed it on the job application. Well he didn't exactly hack his way in. He left a back door on his way out and steadily doing nefarious things that I can't mention. But then after he got fired from our company, he did the exact same thing and had 2 federal pending cases by the time I found out what happened to the guy.
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17points
#45
During the FIRST DAY orientation, he had to watch a video. He fell asleep. Canned.
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17points
#46
Worked in airport restaurant.
Must pass checks to get badge. Must have badge to have job.
Went through a period of low staffing. Lots of hiring. Lots of people lying on applications about felony charges. The airport police will call and go nope. Usually this means you worked with us for 1 to 3 days. Have seen hours happen.
Must pass checks to get badge. Must have badge to have job.
Went through a period of low staffing. Lots of hiring. Lots of people lying on applications about felony charges. The airport police will call and go nope. Usually this means you worked with us for 1 to 3 days. Have seen hours happen.
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16points
#47
In one of the restaurants I worked at, there was a highschool kid working there washing dishes, it was his first job ever. He was there about 2 weeks until one day he slept in and was like an hour late (happens to us all) but since it was his first job he didn't know he could just call in and be like "hey I'm running late" or just come in so he just stopped showing up because he thought he was fired lmao
I don't know why but that's always been funny to me.
I don't know why but that's always been funny to me.
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16points
#48
Maybe a couple of weeks? A guy got hired on as a house keeper at a nursing home. Apparently he had already made some nursing staff uncomfortable with his flirting.
He was showing a newer hire around and says, “these are the beautiful ladies who do the laundry!” I didn’t know about the previous run ins and jokingly said, “hey, that could be considered inappropriate.” As a JOKE.
And he started apologizing profusely. Came back a little while later to apologize more. I was like, “I was kidding your fine…”
And the next day he got fired, because I’m assuming we weren’t the only people he introduced like that.
He was showing a newer hire around and says, “these are the beautiful ladies who do the laundry!” I didn’t know about the previous run ins and jokingly said, “hey, that could be considered inappropriate.” As a JOKE.
And he started apologizing profusely. Came back a little while later to apologize more. I was like, “I was kidding your fine…”
And the next day he got fired, because I’m assuming we weren’t the only people he introduced like that.
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15points
#49
I had emailed my resume for a position and got a response: "Okay, please print it out and come in!" I thought it was an interview but me and one other candidate were put right to work. It was inventory and online sales, so pretty simple. They ordered us lunch and I went back to hunting for something in their archives... Unsurprisingly, the other candidate left after getting her free lunch.
I wound up working there for another year but it was so analog - handwritten time sheets and checks for weekend overtime. I appreciate the bare bones approach but no benefits meant I was playing with fire fishing out odd heavy objects...
I wound up working there for another year but it was so analog - handwritten time sheets and checks for weekend overtime. I appreciate the bare bones approach but no benefits meant I was playing with fire fishing out odd heavy objects...
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14points
#50
One day our manager mentioned there’d be random spot check days of all employee lunchboxes, purses, etc. as we all left for the day. I watched as the first day on the job warehouse guy was let go for stealing a sponge that we sold for maybe 20 cents. Shame of it is our manager always let us buy stuff during the week and pay for it on payday. He could’ve mentioned he didn’t have any cash on him and he would’ve been given it for free.
A 5 for a buck sponge. Go figure.
A 5 for a buck sponge. Go figure.
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13points
#51
Two got let go within a week for dress code violation in food service. One was a dumb policy about covering face and neck tattoos with makeup. She was told about it in her interview and agreed to it. First day, no problem. Refused to follow policy after that and got let go within four shifts for insubordination. Had another guy that I told he needed to tuck his necklace under his shirt if he was going to wear it. He refused and got sent home. Never came back after.
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13points
#52
An hour or so because he was creeping the supervisor out (wasn't actively doing anything apart from just existing but ya know giving off that creep vibe). Was escorted off the premises and next minute was routing round in the hedge and pulled out his bag...we had a perfectly decent secure staff room.
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2points
#53
In my current job, we hired someone, I created their account and setup their laptop on a Friday. The following monday was supposed to be their onboarding, but they don't get creds to log in until that onboarding. I was sitting in the conf room waiting for them to get on Zoom when HR came in and was told they were let go.
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-11points
