When you start a new job, it’s important to know when it’s worth toughing it out and when best to jump ship and look for employment elsewhere. There might not be such a thing as a ‘perfect’ job, but that’s no excuse for bad management practices and a toxic workplace environment.
You’d be surprised how quickly it can become apparent that there’s something deeply wrong with a business. Members of the r/AskReddit online community were very open and honest about which jobs they quit as soon as possible and why. Scroll down for some of their stories.
#1
I was hired on the spot to be a receptionist for an optometrist.
The first day i realized that the two other women I worked with looked very similar to me- slim, brunette, under 25.
The manager was the optometrists 40 year old son. He seemed to have fallen into that job and really let the power go to his head.
After about a week of overtly sexual comment on my body, and the other women’s bodies, along with bizarre power tripping (he’d tell me to do something one way, I’d do it and then he would say that I was wrong and make up a completely new process. It was clear he wanted to undermine me), and having to listen to graphic retellings of his sex life I’d finally had it.
I was young and broke and scared to speak up or leave a job. But then in front of a client he said I’d probably made a mistake because I was a looker not a thinker.
I said “okay. I’m done. I don’t work here.”
Got up.
Grabbed my bag.
Walked out.
Stormed down the street until I could turn the corner and cry my eyes out with fear, relief and pure exasperation.
161points
#2
Dunkin Donuts. A customer threw their donuts and Hot Coffee at me (I dodged). My manager apologized to Them and gave them a discount. Couldn't leave that job fast enough.
129points
#3
I was a debt collector for a couple of months.
I had no knowledge how debt collection worked prior to starting this job and to this day am shocked that it is legal.
Whenever you default on a loan and it goes to a third party debt collection agency, your debt is bought and sold for Pennie’s on the dollar.
On the screen when I would collect debt from a person would be a percentage of the total amount they owed that would indicate the absolute lowest I could settle their account for. However, most agents would never go that low because we would get commission on all of the debt we settled over that amount.
That’s right, we would get commission on debt we collected from people who were unable to pay and incentivized to make them pay more than they actually had to pay. I remember during my first week I was trying to collect on an account that was owed by a guy that lost everything because he had cancer and my heart dropped and I told him he owed the lowest amount I could settle the account for. I was written up the same day by my boss because I didn’t try to get him to pay more.
Anyways, I made it a little over a month with that company and most of that was spent in training. F**k that place.
Report
125points
There are lots of different factors that can make an employee want to stay at their job for a long time. Forbes states that caring management, an empathetic boss, and honest communication are some of the most important things that any company can do.
On top of that, management needs to provide new workers with good financial benefits, job security, and room for career growth. This leads to happier employees. Which, in turn, has positive effects on the entire company in terms of productivity, proactivity, and profits.
#4
Amazon delivery driver. Dead tired after trying to complete 71 stops with almost 200 packages. Still 5 hours before my 12-hour shift ends. They told me to go help other drivers. Then traffic occurred and I ended up doing a 14-hour shift. But they said they would only pay me for the 12 hours. I hadn't taken a lunch break the whole day, and had only gone for a few quick pisses in nasty porta-potties along the way, and this is what I got? After that one day, I called in and said I'm no longer interested.
After that, I kept hearing Amazon drivers are getting abused like how they have to deliver packages asap and aren't allowed breaks in between. I even met and talked to a driver in my local and he said it's getting worse; more packages and work but still the same pay. I have never been more grateful for the decision to quit I made that day.
Report
94points
#5
Kids soccer referee. The parents were just horrible. These kids were 6-8, they're not coordinated and they trip over each other constantly; but the parents would scream at me every time they fell over or kicked the ball at the kid picking flowers. I think I lasted 3 games.
Report
91points
#6
Worked at dollar general for two days. On my last day a lady drops a jar of pickles and manager wants me to clean it up. I go find the mop. Inside the bucket is filled with what looks like vomit that must have been cleaned up weeks prior. I find no soap and no place to empty and refill the bucket. So I go ask the manager where to refill it. She gets annoyed, tells me there is nothing wrong with the water already in it. “I’ve been using it for weeks like that”. Nah I quit.
Report
88points
One survey by Flexjobs showed that most employees want to quit their jobs due to toxic company culture, low salary, poor management, a lack of a healthy work-life balance, and company policy not allowing for remote work.
Meanwhile, another study, this one conducted by ConsumerAffairs, showed that the main reasons why employees quit are mainly related to finances. Namely, that their workplace isn’t meeting their financial needs. That means that if there’s pay inequality and insufficient raises, workers aren’t shy about looking for higher pay and better benefits elsewhere.
Clearly, good management practices are very important, however, the financial foundation has to be solid as well.
#7
I was 19, in college. Responded to an ad "Make $1800+ per week. Fun and exciting. No experience required. We will train." Went to 3 separate interviews in a fancy office. 3rd interview they told me to wear a suit. They told me how much they liked me and not many people make it to the 3rd interview.
Nailed the interview and got the job. Must wear a suit. I thought this was an important job.
Day 1. We meet in a warehouse. Everyone dressed in business attire. Suddenly they start shouting and chanting. It's their morning hype routine. They're now practicing their sales pitches. I still don't know what my job is at this point.
We break into groups of 5 with one team leader. We're going to meet at a different location but we're told to leave our cars here. We can ride with our team leader.
They drove us 40 miles away to a shopping center. I still don't know wtf is going on. We start walking and go right into a barber shop. The team leader busts out some Mountain Mike's pizza coupons and starts making his pitch. "Do you like pizza?" Blah Blah Blah. $20 to buy this coupon book. In it contains 20 free pizzas. Buy one pizza get one free.
It still doesn't click. Why is our team leader trying to sell a Mountain Mike's coupon book to this barber shop owner? We continue to the next shop. Again, he repeats his pitch. The 4 of us new guys follow along until he finishes the entire strip. He sold one coupon.
We go back to his car where he pops the trunk and hands us 5 coupons each. He brings out a map of the city and tells us which blocks we are going to go through and to knock on doors and try to sell these coupons.
It finally hit me. We're door to door salesmen and these coupons are our product. Zero pay. Commission only. We get to keep $7 per coupon sold. We're 40 miles away from my car so I can't leave. I might as well try my luck and knocked on doors for 10 hrs. I'm exhausted and managed to sell one coupon, earning $7 for the day.
No call no show for me. I was gone the next day and didn't answer their calls.
Report
84points
#8
I worked ONE shift at an appliance delivery company. Talks about beating and killing "Ladyboys" and wishing that "sand***s should go back to their country". I told the manager at the end of my shift what I had heard and was told "if you can't handle it here, there's the door" said "sounds good to me" and left.
Report
79points
#9
I quit a job at The City - Circuit City's failed attempt to remain relevant and, y'know, *in business* - the day I received my first weekly schedule.
I was in college at the time. I had been very specific in the interview that my education would be my priority at all times. I had provided my availability, complete with leeway necessary to make the drive between work and school should the need arise.
The first schedule had me set to work during class - outside my availability - twice in the first week. I called the manager to get this addressed, and was told that they would fix it for the next week but that I should go ahead and show up for these shifts or else I would give the appearance that this job was not my priority.
I reminded them it *wasn't* my priority, and quit.
Report
76points
Money.com, reporting on a more recent Flexjobs poll, pointed out that poor work-life balance and unfair pay were among the top reasons for employees to quit. Other reasons for making people update their CVs and send out job applications include having to deal with toxic workplace culture, feeling undervalued, and facing limited advancement opportunities.
On top of that, many employees felt pushed to quit due to the amount of stress they faced, a lack of remote work options, inflexibility on the company’s part, as well as having a bad boss. Another point of friction is if the employees’ and management’s values are misaligned.
#10
I took a job at one of The Grotto locations in Houston. I was a bartender. EVERY glass behind the bar - even having come straight out of the washing machine, was filthy. The bartender training me was just like, 'ya that's just the way it is.' I went into the kitchen and saw that they were using bread that had been out to tables already to just rebuild bread baskets for new customers. Didn't matter that the bread had been touched and picked through. A guy dropped some of the bread on the floor and picked it back up to go into a basket. I said something about it and he was like, 'ya we don't waste anything here.' I noped the f**k out of that place right then. Didn't say a word to anyone. Just walked out. Don't think I had been there more than an hour.
Report
73points
#11
I worked as a cashier for three weeks when I was 18. That was over 20 years ago and it scarred me so much, I will never work retail again. I saw a side of humanity I never knew existed.
Report
70points
#12
HR intern. They were devastated that I left for an actual paying job
Report
69points
#13
Graveyard shift at a 7-11 in a seedy neighborhood. Lasted one night. It was a store full of nope, especially at 3 am.
Report
68points
#15
I was a line cook for a long time and the beauty of that is you're not married to any one restaurant. At the time I was single, not getting benefits, the pay is about the same and everybody was hiring so your b******t tolerance was allowed to be quite low. I worked at one place where the head chef was just a d**k. I had worked 10 days in a row because of a callouts and finally had a Saturday off. Phone rang early in the morning and I picked it up...that was my mistake. Back before cell phones were the norm you can just say "You tried calling? Oh, I was out all day. Sorry." and nobody would doubt you. Anyway, i answer. Somebody's grandmother died for the 4th time so he needed me. I was livid, but money is money and went in. No "thanks for helping me out". Just like it was expected and he started barking orders at me while he sat out in the dining room drinking coffee with the servers. No. If you're claiming to be shorthanded you don't get to do that stuff. I didn't come in to make your day easier. Took off my apron, said see you later and that was that. Got a job at another restaurant a couple days later.
65points
#16
Not me, but a buddy of mine got a job blowing insulation into attics of commercial buildings. It was mid-july in the Midwest, so the attics were like 105 degrees.
Buddy shows up and is told he'd be getting paid $14 an hour instead of the $19 that was agreed upon.
He didn't come back after lunch on day 1.
Report
63points
#17
Cold calling senior citizens to sell them overpriced insurance who had already been cold called previously.
Report
60points
#18
I worked at a movie theater for about 4 hours. I quit when someone threw a drink at me because it wasn't "carbonated enough"
57points
#19
A temp job at Wells Fargo, the worst company in the world.
I was 3rd string Quality Assurance for their mortgage branch. So what that means is I call people, and ask them to verify their personal information for the THIRD time in order to confirm the first two people got it right.
My day involved a lot of people yelling at me for my job being a pointless waste of time. I agreed. When my manager informed me he'd been doing it for 2 years and did the same thing as me despite being the manager, I noped out of there real fast. Went back to being a teacher's aide at a special needs school.
Report
52points
#20
This is probably slower than most people, but at one point I was working four part time jobs and one of them was a large men's clothing store. I was technically a keyholder but they didn't hire anyone beneath me so I was basically a glorified cashier/clerk. Alright whatever.
The assistant manager though. Holy smokes she was awful in the worst way. Said she'd dated an NFL player and had his kids but didn't know the team he played for when pressed for info. Would ruin my work I did after I closed and she opened just to criticize me. Lied to the manager that I told her I wanted to do things with her. Denied she ever said that to me. Would take my sales so she could get any bonuses.
It took me two months before I snapped. On a day I was supposed to work, I drove up in my street clothes, put my keys on the desk, looked her in the eyes and said "Have fun" before leaving and never returning.
52points