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People Are Sharing The Fastest They Ever Quit A Job, And Some Didn’t Even Make It To Lunch
According to Gallup's report State of the Global Workplace 2025, half (50%) of employees around the world are watching for or actively seeking a new job. Some, however, don't plan. They act. And they're prepared to take the first step without knowing where it will lead them. A few days ago, Reddit user SpellBadGrammarGood asked everyone on that platform to describe their shortest employments. From ice cream shops to children's hospitals, the thousands of stories that came in reveal that toxic environments expose themselves fast, no matter the sector.
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#1
A telemarketing job. I lasted two hours before I had an anxiety attack from the script they made us read. I realized I was not cut out for being yelled at by strangers for minimum wage. Never went back after lunch.
RELATED:
#2
My wife started at a Mexican restaurant and after she cleared her first table, she went to dump the salsa from the bowl and the manager told her to put it in to the next tables salsa container. She quit after her first 45 minutes and then we turned in the restaurant to the health board. The were shutdown about a week afterwards to never reopen.
Edit: to those who think it's not real that they were shutdown just about some salsa, that was the least of the concerns that they were shutdown about. And my most up voted comment is of course this incident.
#3
IT job where I learned on day one I was the only IT guy in the building. Like 300 users. About 3 days in some department manager asked if the 100 new desktops were going to be ready by tomorrow, no idea what he was talking about. I reached out to corporate and their IT guy said something like "Oh yeah, there's like 100 boxed PCs in the warehouse you'll have to set up and image, forgot to mention that". I laughed, handed my badge to HR, and walked. On the way out HR told me the last 4 people in my position had quit in the first week.
Ace 5 hours ago (edited)
So they'd had 4 previous attempts to fill the role and not once had they actually explained the duties to any of the new starters? Yet there was someone "at corporate" who knew about these 100 new PCs sitting in a warehouse? Something not quite right about this. I mean, was there even a manager locally. Who did the hiring, the onboarding? Surely there must have been somebody there with at least half a clue of what the job was supposed to entail?
#4
Got hired to do QA at a chemical plant. Walked in, spent a full hour trying to find who was in charge and who I was supposed to report to. After more than 90 minutes, I just walked out, never having found out who my "boss" was supposed to be.
#5
McDonald’s, I worked there for like 3 days in which they just kinda put me to work, no training at all, , literally had to trial and error my way through those days, and when they said “you’re not learning fast enough so we may have to let you go” I stopped working there the next day lmao, I was 16 with decent savings and no expenses so I had nothing to lose and got a job at Walmart which was way better like a month later.
#6
Worked in a children's hospital for a week in an ICU. The combination of children crying, parents crying, and seeing kids with all sorts of tubes sticking out of them broke me pretty quick.
MontanaMariner 8 hours ago
A cancer ward of a childrens hospital will make you lose faith in a god real quick.
#7
A fashion studio. Walked in to “interview” for the job and they expected me to sit down and work for free for the exposure. I asked them point blank, “what the hell is going on?” And they said they didn’t like my attitude and asked me to leave. Weirdest 20 minutes.
#8
Was told it was customer service. It was actually cold calling so I walked out.
Probably there 30 minutes total.
StrangeOne 8 hours ago
Any call centre job that advertises "customer service", "customer service representative" is actually scammy telemarketing.
#9
Did lawn care, landscaping, and other household chores for an older lady down the street for a few weeks. She was a micromanager, condescending, holier-than-thou. I could put up with it cause it was really easy, right down the street, and was okay money for a 14-15 year old. Crossed the line when she backed her car into a phone pole and tried blaming me for it.
#10
Ice cream shop. The owner had a very Jekyll and Hyde personality and didn’t like putting things in legal writing in regards to pay.
Edit: I was in my early 20s, very naïve, and was grateful that someone had even bothered to consider hiring me for a real life job.
#11
Got hired on at a major ski as a member of their marketing team. First day was formal training where I was told to sit in on “Snowblower” training.
Long hours, middle of the night up a mountain in the freezing cold. Yeah, not my cup of tea. Maybe they were just doing cross training, I thought.
Next day, we are picking up equipment, I was expecting a walkie and my lift pass for being an employee. I was given sub zero gloves, heavy jacket, multi tool. Again, just thinking it was for safety.
Got my schedule for the 3rd day and was scheduled for an overnight shift… immediately went to HR. Their response “that position (the marketing role) never existed.” Quit on the spot.
#12
Worked McDonald’s grill for about 6 months months when I was 15. I asked for Mother’s Day off with 2 weeks advanced notice so I could take my mom out. The manager told me I was “too new” to ask for time off, so when my shift for Mother’s Day rolled around I walked in and handed her my uniform.
Mel in Georgia 8 hours ago
Mad respect for anyone who sticks it out working in fast food. I worked at McDonald's for a few months before I found something else while in college. Minimum wage is not enough for the level of work and bs they have to go through.
#14
I've quit two jobs on the first day. One was at a theater where I was hired to be a ticket seller (this was before it was all done online), the manager yelled at me because I had dark green pants on. I left to change and never went back.
The other was an oil change place. They sat me down in an unairconditioned box in August in south Texas and made me watch videos all day. No one talked to me. I didn't go back.
#15
Chipotle.
I was fresh out of high school and couldn't fold a burrito to save my life. The embarrassment was too much to handle for 19-year-old me... the way people looked at you heartbroken when you finished screwing up their burrito.
I worked a single shift and just never went back.
Mel in Georgia 8 hours ago
You couldn't ask for advice from someone working with you? This is a fail, and not as a burrito folder.
#16
Buffet. Spilled pan of chicken tenders on floor. Manager told to pick up, take in back and bring back out. Even my 23 year old not caring self knew that was wrong.
#17
Got hired as a CNA got assigned my first job and never showed up because the lady who’s relative I was going to be taking care of called me to give a brief intro and she goes “are you black, you sound black”.
#18
Three days at a mall pet store when I was 19. They threw me out there with no training and I didn't know anything about anything so had to check with another associate for every question. They were also awful to the animals. Didn't even go back to get the small paycheck.
#20
Got fired after almost 3 days. It was a telemarketing job on my lunch break during my 3rd day I got an email that was an acceptance letter to law school. This old dude that literally looked like Tom Smykowski from office space I’d met that morning asked why I looked excited and I showed him the email and he said “go, leave this place and don’t look back” he left the break room and about 10 minutes after my lunch I was brought into the conference room and the boss said I was not a good fit and will “fire me so I can file unemployment”. I said okay. 2 weeks later I was living 1,000 miles away from my home town in my first apartment alone about to start a new career. I really wonder how that dude I met on that lunch break is.
#21
I took a job in the produce section (closing shift) at a grocery store. My first shift was a day shift training where produce guy showed me what he expected everything to look like when he arrived in the morning. I received a call from the manager saying not to bother coming in for the closing shift the next night because they were already staffed, but to come in for the following morning shift. When I arrived for the morning shift, the day shift guy was screaming and going crazy about the mess that closing shift left. He assumed I was the reason and immediately screamed and started throwing produce at me (truly lost his mind). We had to be physically separated. They were going to fire him, but I hated the job, refused to give a statement, and quit on the spot.
#22
When I was 18, server. Quit after 30 mins on my first night. Give everyone props who can restrain themselves from either punching someone in the face or dumping a drink on them.
Mel in Georgia 8 hours ago
Nah, there are terrible customers, but I really liked that job for the most part. If you've got a decent personality you can make decent money.
#23
IT company. Employed me as a senior tech, they gave me two days of sitting in a box room cleaning filthy keyboards in a hospital. The manager at the hospital was surprised when I came back on day 2, telling me "the last guy didn't last this long".
#24
McDonalds, 20 min (I was 16 yrs old). After watching the video and them telling me I had to purchase a uniform.
#25
I ghosted a tech startup in six months after my coworker with government background check access discovered that our founder was pending trial for stealing $50,000 of diamonds. He was later found guilty and escaped from the country before sentencing using his identical twin brother's passport. News article
Edit: The news article claims that nobody knows for sure how he escaped, but he told me on Facebook Messenger he used his brother's passport after I found out about the arrest .
#26
Two days into a significant career path job change, my wife was diagnosed with a very serious cancer. I had to quit in order to be the primary caregiver, and then later to take care of our very young children. I didn’t work again for nearly five years.
Previous record was four days: insurance company cancelled my auto insurance when they heard I was delivering pizzas. Had to quit to get the insurance back. Same day, someone stole my wallet and took all my delivery tip money.
#27
I worked 4 days at an Amazon warehouse and quit on the start of the 5th day.
During my first day, they changed my hours to conflict with my college courses. They told me they'd fix it. I brought it up every day until the 5th day where I drew the line and quit.
They had some people coming in at 5 and some coming in at 6. They told me to come in at 5 at first, but on the first day they told me I'm 6 going forward. I told them to put me back on 5 and they said they couldn't.
#28
I took a position in a factory that makes the industrial shelving for grocery stores once. At the orientation the instructor asked me to take it easy the first day and equated to football practice. Show up on the line and see seven dudes ranging from 20-40 all built like amateur boxers. Turns out the job was to grab these big 40 pound shelves, two at a time minimum, lift them above your head onto a moving hook belt for 12 hours with only a 30 minute lunch break. My ride wasnt going to be able to pick me up until the end of the day. The next morning I was physically unable to move. I couldn't have gone back to that job if I wanted to.
#29
Dominos. I went through training, then argued with the manager about the type of khaki's required. He said "you'r not Domino's material" and I answered "you're right, I'm not made of polyester." Never worked a single day there, got paid $20 after taxes because it was paid training.
EDIT: I suppose I should add…I had khakis, but they weren’t the right “shade” or brand. I thought it was ridiculous to require an employee to buy a uniform from a specific store & manufacturer, and not get reimbursed either. Especially when I had very similar pants.
#30
It's not crazy quick. But I worked at a Convenience Store at the University of Kentucky student center back in the day and left in four months and that was my fastest. They had recently been bought out by Aramark and my manager was not amazing.
I ended up reorganizing the stock in the basement to make resupplying easier, and then I was told that she would put me on a trial period for a promotion to assistant manager if I started ordering the stock resupply and maintaining the stock system. Decent pay raise.
A month and a half later I found out that she didn't have the authority to promote me. I told her I would work the remainder of the semester (one month) but only because I needed the pay and time to find a new gig.
She was unrepentant, yelled at me after for telling my co-workers, and she ended up fired a few months after I left.
Quitting your job on the spot is a privilege that many don't have, although I have been close.
Fun side story - The Aramark CEO visited the student center while I was waiting to leave. He scolded me because some of the sodas were not "logo facing forward." I told him I wouldn't be doing that because it would take too much time and I was running the shop myself so a trip to inventory meant the store was unmanned. The CEO was pissed, and my manager was mortified, lol.
Ace 5 hours ago
No, "Quitting your job on the spot" is not a privilege, if it also means (as it does in most of the US) that your employee can fire you on the spot. Elsewhere you have a set notice period, which might only be a week, more usually at least 4 weeks in a proper job, you hand in your notice but are required to work the remaining time, if the employer wants you to.
#31
Delivering and stacking firewood. Lasted one delivery. We had to run the wood from the truck on the road, down 10 steps, through the front yard (size of a football field), down another set of 15 stairs, around the house and under the deck. 5 cords of wood. I made $80 and was too sore to do anything for 3 days.
#32
Wendy’s. I worked there for 3 hours in the drive through and didn’t come back from my break. It was awful. I thought I was going to throw up the whole time from the smell in that Wendy’s.
Needless to say- I don’t eat at Wendy’s.
#33
Two days at save a lot. I was in the meat department and they said for my third day id have to do all the meat cutting and everythin and i was gonna be the only one in the entire department......I was never showed how to use the meat cutter and i never showed up.
#34
Spent literally 8 hours at a Frito-Lay factory that I was offered to work at that morning and quit by the nighttime. I was 18 and it was not for me. Also…I technically didn’t quit…I just never showed up again lol.
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 2 hours ago
If you actively don't continue your employment, then you quit.
#35
Correctional officer. I made it to lunch when I found out that they’d lied about giving me days off I needed for important medical appointments.
#36
Call centre job for an internet provider. Day one out of training and they promised us they'd be there if we need them. 3 calls in, im getting screamed at. Policy was that we couldn't hang up no matter what. Found out from senior agents that if a customer asks for a manager to basically ask one of them because a manager will never come and its easier to lie to customers that you are one and that "eventually you'll be able to do it too"
The third and final call i took, i hung up on the screaming customer, logged out, and emailed HR asking how to send their equipment back. They never responded, but a week later, they emailed everyone in my training group, offering us all more training and a chance to "show they can do better and give it longer than 3 days." Found out that basically only one trainee made it to day 3 before quitting too. I never did send their stuff back (not without trying) they called me 4 years later to ask me if i still had it and were annoyed when I said I didn't because I moved and sent them one final email 3 years earlier giving them 6 months to arrange pick up before I moved. They told me I should have stored it somewhere.
ॐBoyGanesh 3 hours ago
Sure. If they want to pay for storage and a processing fee to store, remove & ship it.
#37
Worked at Walmart for one day once. The atmosphere in the store is completely different as an employee vs a customer, it was instantly oppressive and depressing feeling the second I walked through the door.
#38
Dishwasher at a small restaurant. I lasted one shift.
Asked the owner/chef when we got paid and he said next week. I told him I wasn’t going to be coming back after that night, asked for $40 cash and we’d call it even. He obliged and ended up giving me a bowl of risotto too. He was a cool guy.
Fun fact. About a year later a couple of my buddies got jobs as servers at the same restaurant and had nothing but good things to say about the owner.
#39
Abercrombie and Fitch. I watched the orientation video, used my discount to buy a winter jacket, then quit.
Everything went according to plan.
#40
Took a job umpiring indoor cricket because I was broke and needed the money. After my second shift I asked who I should give details to to get paid. Was told "Oh you're still training, you don't get paid"
I walked out.
#41
A hostess job, I walked in and walked out during the interview after they gave me a ridiculous one size dress to wear. Bye Felicia.
#42
I won't say the manufacturer, but it was a lip balm place. Think of Lucy and Ethel, and my job was to put the cap on. I got the job through a temp service. I lasted a day and a half. The supervisor came around on the second day, and told me that she was going to replace me if I didn't keep up. Then when she came around the second time, I asked her, Where's my replacement!? I left at lunch time. LOL.
#43
A yoga studio. Manager straight up told me they were looking for part timers to run the desk so that her and the owner could focus more on external marketing. She would take classes during her shift and then we would get in trouble if we would do that, she didn’t know how to train, and she gave us “gift bags” of coupons that we were supposed to hand out to schools and get email addresses as proof we actually went. I tried to give a 2 week notice and then said I can’t do this, this is not what you hired me for. Worked that night and then never again.
#44
I had one of those jobs in the mall where you try to find people to take surveys. The first 30 minutes was an orientation, then the manager took me out into the middle of the mall to try it out. I had to go up and get rejected by dozens of people continuously, but the worst part was I was exposed to a seedy underbelly of people in the mall that I never noticed before. There are basically super shady people that try to get you to pick them so they can take the survey and get the free stuff or a couple bucks. The manager knew all the offenders and she would literally shoo them away like cockroaches. I quit after about fifteen minutes of trying it out. To their credit, they sent a check in the mail for an hour of my time. Massive respect to anyone who can handle that much rejection.
Tropical Tarot 5 hours ago (edited)
I used to do that when I was broke.. $3 was a decent meal at Taco Bell back then.
#45
When I was a Junior in college I got a summer job at an executive dining hall for a major corporation. The job I appled for, interviewed for, and was hired for was cashier. When I got there they put me in the kitchen washing dishes. There is nothing wrong with that, I actually did it for two years in high school. But I had been lied to and I did not show up the next day.
#46
Maybe a month. My nth dishwashing gig. I was probably 19. Hours were bad. Boss was weird. Final straw: She asked me to grab something from the deep freezer, then cornered me in there with the door closed. Started ranting about how she knows my brother isn’t really my brother (we worked together, different shifts). I told her we’re 100% siblings, not sure how to prove it. She ranted a bit more and we just stood in silence. It was so awkward. Finally she said she didn’t care and let me out. My brother and I had a shift that matched up and I told him what happened. We walked out and while we were at the train she left a voicemail “ayyy, you’re fired!” Because my brother’s voicemail was “ayyyy!” Lol Side note: she won that cooking show where they have you gather your groceries from a fake grocery store in limited time.
#47
Bed bath and beyond….i doubt the job was actually bad. I had uncontrolled anxiety at the time, and decided to quit after 1 shift.
#48
Dunkin' Donuts. The hiring person told me I'd be on my own the following night, and it was very overwhelming the amount of dozens had to be made & ready by 6 a.m., and I knew I couldn't do it!!
#49
Applying textured ceilings when I was about 18. 8 hours straight of smacking a mop on the ceiling. Brutal work on your neck and back. Finished the day and told them I’d never be back.
#50
BoJangles fast food. After seeing how chicken was handled there and how staff were treated i walked right out.
#51
Subaru dealership parts department. One of my coworkers ( whole id be working with directly ), wouldt shut up about how women shouldn’t work on cars, and the boss laughed / agreed every time.
Lasted 1.5 days.
#52
Wendy's. I had interviewed in the lobby. When I came in for my first day, my boss handed me my hat at the register. I put on the hat, stepped behind the counter into the kitchen, then immediately stepped back into the lobby and removed the hat. Told her "I can't work here," and left.
It was SO MUCH LOUDER behind the counter. All the little beeping machines!
Anyway, turns out I have autism lol. .
What do you think ?
Liz Rutherford 7 hours ago
I took a job as a temp in a local medical office for what I was told was a sit-down job. Get there the first day, boss hands me a sh*t ton of files to put back on the shelves (all paper patient files). Quit after the first day, told the temp agency what happened and they got me a job a few days later that was actually sit-down.
Liz Rutherford 7 hours ago
I took a job as a temp in a local medical office for what I was told was a sit-down job. Get there the first day, boss hands me a sh*t ton of files to put back on the shelves (all paper patient files). Quit after the first day, told the temp agency what happened and they got me a job a few days later that was actually sit-down.
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