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36 Moments People Realized They No Longer Wanted To Work At Their Current Job And Quit
“We work jobs that we hate, to buy things we don't need, to impress people we don't like...” And every so often, one of us gets fed up and decides to quit on the spot. This isn't the polite type of resignation where you grin and bear it as you painstakingly work out your notice period. We're talking about dramatic exits, spontaneous decisions and many times, bridges burned without a care in the world.
Rage quitting has become all the rage in recent years, as hot-headed employees throw in the towel after biting their tongue one too many times. Someone (who is possibly considering showing their boss the middle finger?) asked people who quit their job dramatically, what the final straw was, and many of the responses might be worthy of their own Netflix office drama series.
Bored Panda has put together a list of the best, for you to scroll through while you give your boss the side-eye and contemplate quitting (not so quietly). Don't forget to upvote the ones that inspire you the most!
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#1
"Do you think you can take over their responsibilities while we look for a replacement?"
Third job I've basically taken over as they do not, in fact, look for a replacement.
"I'm sorry to say that you're going to have to find someone to take care of all three positions now. Goodbye.".
More than 65% of employees who quit during what's become known as the "Great Resignation" blamed their toxic work environment. That's according to a survey conducted by FlexJobs.
In case you're unfamiliar, the Great Resignation happened in 2021, as the world was emerging from the trauma that was the Covid lockdown. Also known as the Big Quit or Great Reshuffle, it saw hordes of Americans voluntarily resigning from their jobs. CBS News reported in January 2022 that around 20 million employees in the US labor force had called it quits during the final six months of 2021.
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#2
No one thing. Culminating situation.
7-on, 7-off Midnights. Worked it for 2.5 years, but body never got used to it. It was literally Thanksgiving and I told my wife that I didn’t think I could step foot in that door again. She said “well, don’t”. So I didn’t.
I called them and quit. They first tried telling I was obliged to finish out the week. I laughed and said they wouldn’t let ME do that if they fired me. Then they politely threatened me with blacklisting and “you’ll never work here again” and I simply replied with “don’t threaten me with a good time”. Then that was it.
Best Thanksgiving ever. Happiest i’d ever been.
#3
My boss forgot about the raise he promised me and then played dumb like he never said it. I boxed up my personal stuff from my desk and left.
The following year, between February 23 and March 7, 2022, FlexJobs polled 2,202 people to find out the reasons why people wanted to quit their jobs, how they had done so, or how they planned to do it.
"Overall, 30% of respondents said they are currently considering quitting, while 25% quit their job in the last six months," revealed the FlexJobs survey. "Of those who had recently quit, 68% did so without having another job lined up. Many of these people are using side jobs and dipping into emergency savings to make ends meet until they find another job."
#4
My boss told me that if I left he would have me replaced within a week, and we all don’t realise how replaceable we are. And it would take longer to replace him.
I think we all know how replaceable we are at work, HOWEVER it’s just not something you say to your staff is it, it definitely doesn’t boost morale. So I left.
#5
I had a one armed man for a boss. He was angry all the time, constantly comparing himself to other men. Calling people names. It was a toxic environment.
One day he came in and was on a particularly bad rampage. He kept yelling and swearing I decided I was going to quit, but was going to do it properly AND THEN he proceeded to call me names and tell me my husband was a loser. For no reason, that was just him.
I told him my husband would kick his butt if he heard the thing's he was saying and that he wasn't an 1/8th of the man my husband was. He said " Name one thing your husband can do that i cant" and I looked him right in the face and said I don't know maybe try clapping" and then walked out and quit on the spot.
#6
Bosses wife called me a liar. Even though it was simple to prove I was right he wouldn't do anything that would have put her in a bad light he refused. I told him he was a jerk and coward and went home.
Unsurprisingly, the number one reason people quit their job was a toxic company culture, with 62% of quitters citing this motive. A close second was money, or lack thereof. 59% said they were unhappy with their salary, while 56% blamed poor management, and 49% said they were fed up with not having a healthy work-life balance.
“Toxic company culture drives people to leave their jobs more than any other single factor,” said Sara Sutton, Founder and CEO of FlexJobs. “Especially with many companies now transitioning to permanent hybrid workplaces, it’s critical that leaders emphasize building healthy cultures that are inclusive of all their workers’ needs and locations, whether they’re on-site or remote.”
#7
The founder/ CEO was a super jerk in many ways, but especially relevant to this story is that he drove a custom gold-plated G wagon, had traveled internationally multiple times that year to compete in Ironmen and bought himself a ~25k bike. Anyways, *that guy*, led a whole company meeting on end of year performance, where he blamed the entire staff for his kids not being able to have a nice christmas that year and told us that we should be willing to sacrifice a portion of our salaries and bonuses in the new year to support “the company” if we were “truly committed to the vision”
I had a meeting with him the next morning which he cancelled as it was about to start so I literally just grabbed my stuff and walked out and never came back lol.
#8
Working at heights in man-baskets, lifts, using cranes to make lifts on some structures my crew was removing. I made the executive decision, as the foreman, that we weren’t doing it, it was very unsafe as the wind was steady 35MPH and gusting in the 50s.
So the crew and I came down. The superintendent walked up to me, yelled at me, said he’d go do it himself and we could all watch from the ground (real wannabe tough guy type superintendent). He got up about 180 feet in the air, realized I wasn’t full of it, came down, told the cranes to shut down for the day, yelled at me again for some reason, then sent us all home for the day.
I came back the next morning to get my tools. Walked in his office and he said, “What have you done-done now?” I replied, “I haven’t done-done anything, but I’m done-done here.” Drove away feeling great and found a much better company to work for that paid me more money.
#9
My close friend was ended in a bar fight. I let my boss know I wouldn’t be attending our sales meeting, as the funeral would be the same day. He asked me to leave the funeral early so I could show I’m “part of the team”. I hung up and never showed up again.
Some of the other reasons people walked away from their job included no remote work options, burnout, not being allowed flexible schedules, limited advancement opportunities or career progression, lack of or poor benefits (i.e., not offering health insurance or 401(k) benefits) and limited PTO or sick time.
Poor mental health support was also cited by some quitters, as was a concern about long-term job stability, the amount of travel required and not enough diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in place.
#10
Spent years working for a beautiful boutique hotel that was locally owned then they sold to a chain. Chain came in and changed everything up. I was in college at the time and worked the evening shift. Before I was able to study in my down time, but they said I couldn’t do that anymore. Ok no problem, I can understand why that would be an issue. I figured I’d just study during my break, then I stopped getting a break, that didn’t even seem legal. Especially because I was working full 8 hour shifts.
Then they started purposefully overselling us every night to ensure we were at capacity daily, which really sucked for me because I did check ins. So every night I worked I was getting screamed at by angry guests who were driving from all over to stay at our gorgeous a*s resort specifically. They didn’t wanna be told at 8 PM after driving for 7 hours that their room was given away BUT we could move them 10 blocks away to our 20 year old, half as nice sister property. After a few weeks of that bull, I demanded a short break after dealing with a particularly disgruntled guest (who was rightfully angry but super nasty) because I said I was about to lose it, got in my car, drove home and never went back. I blocked the hotels number after their 2nd call and just focused on school. Even picked up an internship.
I even went back and stayed there years later because I had moved out of town but came back to visit. Nobody I worked with was still there and it was nowhere near as nice which was such a shame because it really was so beautiful once upon a time.
#11
I worked in a college kitchen. I was ordering food, creating menus, and checking payroll for $9/hr (2003, I was 19). I told them I wanted a $3 dollar raise. They said they would look into it.
A couple weeks go by and I got a couple of the managers together and told them the same thing pulling what I was covering. "We will see if we can fit it into the budget".
They hired a prep at $14. I told them I wanted the $14 as well. "We can't do that".
Ordering day came, I didn't come in.... Or back ever. The chef, sous chef, kitchen manager all blowing up my phone. Regional director called, I answered because I didn't recognize the number. He offered me the kitchen manager's job. I told him it wasn't worth it in a company that didn't reward people's abilities. I didn't want to stay in a place that I wouldn't get a raise at unless I tried to quit.
They lost the contract. Frick you Aramark.
#12
Asking me to do a 3-month long project in 2 weeks. I was the only person who had ever done that project in the past and knew how much work it took. I quit on the spot and was much happier for it since they were an jerk organization.
The FlexJobs survey also revealed that while 15% of respondents have felt very tempted to rage-quit, only 4% actually did. 14% said they know someone else who has rage-quit a job, and a 10% admitted to rage-quitting a job in the past (in 2020 or earlier).
Many who resigned, or were planning to, seemed to have had enough of their chosen career. "Of those hoping to find a new job in the next three to six months, more than half (57%) are looking for work in a different career field," notes the FlexJobs site. "Interestingly, over three-quarters of respondents (79%) said they are currently trying to change careers or already successfully changed careers."
#13
I was trying hard to get out of the restaurant industry to find a full time job with benefits. Scored a leasing manager role at an apartment complex 10 mins from my house. Score no more driving in downtown traffic.
Red flags right away.
The property manager training me talked how she was so glad to have someone because she was going on vacation in three weeks.
The owners didn't like computer technology. So lots of paperwork and faxing.
She barely trained me and then lost it when I made my first mistake.
How she talked about renters was incredibly rude and made their practices look very shady.
I can't remember if I lasted 2 or 3 days. I do remember sitting in a lounge space by myself eating lunch and crying.
Mind you she keeps talking about her vacation and how I will be in charge...even though she is barely training me on their systems.
The next morning I walked straight to her desk and slid over my employee id badge. I looked at her and said I don't think we will get along. I'm done.
I still had restaurant shifts left. I went back to my manager and asked for my shifts back. They were so happy I returned. I stayed for quite a while. I haven't worked there in over ten years but I still go back to see my friends still working there.
I did not give a darn that I ruined that person's vacation.
#14
My Xmas bonus was 85% less than previous 2 years. Rest of my peers got same or better.
Had a scheduled day off, and he asked if I could make arrangements to still come in. I said sure, only if you can explain my bonus, he said, I thought it was generous. Ok, bye.
Mind you this was the straw that broke the camels back.
#15
They kept doubling my class size above the federal limits for daycare ratios, I walked out when they were trying to make me the cook and the 18m old teacher at the same time.
A separate survey found that many quitters aren't without regrets. More than 50% of participants who took part in the Lever survey said they'd consider going back to a job they'd left in the past year.
"Employees are willing to rejoin or return to previous employers based on shifting priorities around compensation and benefits," notes the Lever site. "For instance, as our report shows, more than half (52%) of employees would consider returning to a former employer, with most returning for better benefits (29%), more room for growth opportunities (22%), and more opportunities for upskilling/reskilling (16%)."
#16
A cash job that said they couldn’t pay me until the seasonal good times. The seasonal good times came, and they still didn’t pay me.
#17
Not me but I once worked for a company in the UK that handles cleaning contracts (among other things). A guy that worked in the same division as I did was being forced to work more hours than was legal and when he told management that he wasn't willing to work more hours they basically said do it or you can find another job. This was a common occurrence at this particularly bad company and also the same reason I quit myself shortly thereafter. They have a very high staff turnover for this reason.
This particular branch of the company was based in Leeds in West Yorkshire and he was down near London with a company van carrying out a cleaning contract at a bank. After having this discussion with them he told them on the phone that they can shove their job then, and he was quitting on the spot. He then told them that as he's no longer an employee effective immediately, he won't be driving their van back to base and they can send someone on the 5 hour drive to London to pick up their van and drive it for another 5 hours back to base because he will be taking the train home.
I quit the following month, though I did return their van to them. I was on my way to a contract when they told me I would be working late yet again, despite already being over my agreed upon working hours for the week, so I turned the van around and drove back to base, parked it, went into the office, dropped the keys with the receptionist and told them that they would need to find someone else to cover the rest of my days contracts because I quit.
#18
I missed two days of work because I was a single mom and my toddler was in the hospital. They had someone that knew how to do my job, they weren't stranded in the dark without me.
When I came back they called me into the directors office. I was scolded like a child for missing even a single day. They then slid me a peice of paper they wanted me to sign saying I would never miss a day again.
I already was beaten down in that job. They were HORRIBLE to us. So I very loudly told them to go frick themselves, threw the paper away and left.
#19
My first "career" job. I worked in web as an independent contractor and everything was normal for a long time--I would build the requested page, send it to QA, then QA would check for mistakes and send it back. Super normal process.
Suddenly my manager started complaining that I had mistakes on my pages that QA was catching. I was like, huh? That's what QA is for. They find your mistakes and you fix them--I was in web QA prior to this,, this is normal. I used to write exhaustive lists of mistakes for page builders and they would fix them.
I have ADHD btw and me and the QA guy got along really well because he understood I have ADHD, so I appreciate him. My mistakes were usually pretty minor like forgetting a URL on a button.
He told me that a page sent to QA shouldn't have any mistakes at all; having mistakes caught by QA was unacceptable. He also told me to watch myself and that I was easily replaceable.
Sooo... I was like, oh really? Okay. So replace me. Lol.
BTW I found out **immediately** that I was being severely underpaid. They took advantage of me being fresh out of college when I first joined the company and I was making about $16,000 a year after taxes with no insurance. My current job is also building web pages but the work is easier because they have a better page creator that's less manual and requires less custom coding, they treat me better, I have full benefits, unlimited PTO and I make $80,000 a year.
Ace 1 hour ago
TBF the boss was right - QA is not supposed to find bugs, that's what testing is for. At least that's how it should work, but a lot of software these days is still full of bugs when released, so I guess my way, where you test the product, then get it QA'd, then release to the customer once you've made sure it works and that it does the job properly, would just be called old-fashioned.
#20
I worked at a paint store part time, all I had to do was stock stuff in the back. it's was great, I could turn my brain off and vibe for 4-5 hours twice a week and get paid. we got a new GM in our store and she changed the dress code one day that I wasn't there. I learned about the change when I got in that day. the new dress code was all black shoes were required(keep in mind this is a paint shop). I had all black shoes but in my time there I had gotten a small splash of paint on the toe of one of my shoes. I wore those shoes for months with the old GM. well on this day I roll in unaware of the dress code change and start stocking stuff in the back. the new GM rolls thru probably 2 hours after I got there and immediately comments on my shoes. like ok yeah I just learned about the dress code change, I'll make sure to change em for tomorrow. that wasn't good enough and she sent me home to change my shoes right then and there. I left and started driving home but as i was sitting there in traffic that whole interaction kept repeating and I was absolutely pissed. I turned around and drove back, went to the stocking area and grabbed my speaker, phone charger, and then wiped my name off the schedule. the only thing I said to her was "bye J, it was a pleasure working for you". as I started driving off the assistant manager ran out like where are you going. I told here my hand has been forced and I hoped her the best. two days later the gm called me asking where I was an I told her to frick off and never call me again.
this was in 2018ish, I just got my final paycheck from them like last year when I checked for unclaimed property.
#21
Worked overnight security at a level II trauma hospital. Was tough dealing with some of the stuff that came in, especially psych patients dropped off at PD. I worked unscheduled overtime, they stole pay, and made empty promises. I finally had enough and put in a three week notice since they were already short. All my shift leads were sad to see me decide to leave. But apparently my site director and assistant director didn't like the reasons I included in my notice and proceeded to talk a load of bad stuff about me to a lead, who then brought it up to me. I finished the first week of my notice, and then as the assistant walked in on my Friday, I handed them a bag full of my uniforms and said since you can't respect me then I can't respect you and walked off. The director called me a couple hours later and I hung up on them. Frick Allied Universal.
#22
Bullying in nursing is real. We had low census in the ED. I was preparing for my grandmother's celebration of life that was 2 days from then. I was overnights. I'd asked to be first in line to be cut early. She looked at me like a grew a third eye. at 2 am, I saw another nurse walk about because he was cut early. I gave notice immediately.
#23
I was hired as a temp because I had no experience. The job required 1 year of experience. The department head repeatedly told me that I was doing outstanding work and as soon as I got my year, I would be given the spot they were holding open for me.
I got my year. They gave the spot to the department head's son in law who walked in off the street. He had told several of us that he had just been fired from his last job for stealing. I immediately typed up a resignation, walked it and my ID badge to her desk and walked out.
On the drive home I called a former job that I had left to work this one. Boss was so happy to have me back he matched what I was making.
#24
Nearly fell. Maybe not to my death, maybe just to being impaled on sharp metal.
But I was a teenager working for a temp agency dismantling a Child World (used to be a huge toy store back in the day). They had me on a 20 foot tall scaffold cutting down the suspended ceiling. So metal slats with disgustingly dirty foam tiles between. The debris would fall in a pile around the scaffold until I could reach no more, and then I'd climb down and we'd move the scaffold.
Except the boss (really, the boss' son) was tooting around on a 'bobcat' motorized plow/loader thingy and scooping up all the debris. He didn't give a darn and would slam it into the scaffold while I'm leaning over the edge 20 feet up. After the second time I yelled at him to be careful. He laughed at me and did it again a bit later so I threw my bolt cutters at him. Sadly, they bounced off the roof of the bobcat.
#25
We had a DB guy who was a bit of an arrogant jerk at the job (nice guy outside of it weirdly enough!) and I told him off for something he was demanding another team do. I had already told my boss I was leaving but for some reason I thought I should give lengthy notice of a month (mostly bc I was going on vacation before starting a new job).
My boss pulled me into a conf room and said he didn't disagree with me but he couldn't have me doing that, so they were just going to pay me out that month. 😂 I was so happy to leave, and I got a bit of overlap pay as a result.
#26
A coworker was watching my screen and reporting what I was doing to the higher ups. Not sure if she went to the boss first or the boss asked her to do it. I was looking for a new job anyway but the fact that the person hired at the same time in the same position as me was being a weasel made me quit on the spot when the boss called me into her office to talk about my performance. It was also insulting because the weasel barely knew how to use a computer so I had to teach her everything. I was fast at my work and finished my tasks early, but I was supposed to find something productive to do with my remaining time.
So glad I quit.
#27
Put up with training someone who was hired to be the department manager. Realized I was already doing every single responsibility she was hired to come do for months, I was expected to essentially continue to share those responsibilities, and that she was getting $7 more a hour than me.
Wrote a letter explaining my frustrations and politely (but firmly) demanded I either get paid the amount she is, or adjust the responsibilities I had to reflect my pay level. District manager and general manager told me no can do, and that I should be thankful because they've treated me so good in the past.
Walked out right then. Left them with an untrained department manager (with no one else that knew how to do the job) and heard things went real bad after lol.
#28
Engineer where I worked previously walked out of a meeting with the public works director. Raised voices but no screaming. Grabbed his keys and said he was going to lunch. Never came back.
Having had my own meetings with the same director, can't say I blame him. I gave two week notice when I left, though.
#29
It was a beautiful day. By 11:55, I had zero tables. I asked the manager to cut me loose since I was going to make about $20 and I had a ragtop just itching to take me on a ride. She said if I wasn’t seated by noon, I could go. I got seated at 11:58ish and asked another server to take it. They were happy to. The manager was not and dug in. I said, loudly, I quit and walked out, lobbing my apron high in the air. F you Karen (she was Karen before Karens existed).
#30
Worked for a gutter cleaning contractor. They employed a Mexican couple that were their most reliable and hardest workers. For a couple days, they didn’t show up and didn’t call, didn’t communicate. Boss said some racist stuff about them when it happened, and then her mother who visited the office on a weekly basis (it was a VERY small family business) backed it up.
Understandable to be upset about no call/no show, absolutely not an excuse to be racist or otherwise hateful. There was a lot more that happened before that that had made me lose any respect I had for my boss, but that was the final nail in the coffin. Packed my stuff and walked out.
#31
Refused to honor my schedule request for that week of finals. Then put me on “probation” and said I was losing my team leader position for griping about it.
Turned in my uniform the next day.
#32
I once got in trouble at work for being "disrespectful" during a staff meeting. My boss said that she had a file folder full of resumes of people wanting to work here. That's when I knew it was time to go. It was one thing to write me up its another when you threaten me.
When I quit after finding something else 2 months later, she panicked and lamented about having to hire someone now.
I asked, "well, what happened to your file folder full of people?"
Probably the smoothest thing Ive ever said in my life and I will hold on to that tiny victory forever.
#33
I work in a labor union, and have been a union officer for almost 15 years. I've lost count of the number of times I've quit or been let go
it basically goes like this, if you don't treat me as a human of equal value, I walk. I'm very good at what I do, and people love working with me. those are both beside the point.
#34
Being lied to about something significant that affected me directly. In both cases it wasn't the last straw; it was the first and only.
#35
I explained to my boss on multiple occasions that i was not a water bender. i can not move water with my mind. That i use a pressure washer for my job, so if it (water) bounces around and gets on the floor, then I'm sorry, but that is NOT my fault! Once it leaves the hose, it is outside of my control.
And then after an unrelated heated debate (He took my job away from me and was doing a worse job at it. I basically said "Let me do my job, or let me go home") he tried to use "You always get water on the floor!" as some kind of "Gatcha" thing to say why he needed to prevent me from doing my own job.
My last words to him were "I. CAN. NOT. MOVE. WATER. WITH. MY. MIND! I AM A HUMAN BEING! I'M SORRY!" before storming out.
Walked in the next morning with a letter for the management explaining the situation in my own words. Basically saying "Stop taking my job away from me. Let me do my job, or i quit."
They chose to let me go.
#36
I didn't quit completely, but still relevant story.
Small company, one warehouse guy. He got fired, and I volunteered to keep the warehouse running while we looked for a replacement. Started coming in 2 hours early every day to do the warehouse stuff, then bounced over to my normal job, while still popping into the warehouse to handle deliveries, pickups, etc. After 2 weeks, boss calls me in, says I can't come in early anymore bc the OT is too much. I said, cool, I'm not doing it then, and didn't step foot in the warehouse for 2 days. Things quickly fell apart, and on day 3, I got the overtime back until we hired someone with no more complaints from management.
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