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Employees dramatically quitting their jobs is something we cover often here at Bored Panda, as there are many different ways that situation can go down and the internet certainly has no shortage of fascinating tales. The police might be calledaggressive text messages might be sent, and the company might even miss out on millions of dollars. But sometimes, one particularly traumatic incident can lead to a herd of employees all jumping ship at once.

Earlier this month, Reddit user RealSlicy reached out asking fellow workers of the world what happened at their former places of employment that caused everyone to quit at once, and boy, did people come through with some crazy stories. We’ve compiled some of the most shocking and disturbing incidents that caused people to decide that their mental health, safety, and morals were much more important than a job.

Below, you'll also find interviews we were lucky enough to receive from Penelope Trunk, career counselor and blogger, Craig Ancel, career coach and host of the Career Growth Made Easy podcast, and the person who started this conversation in the first place, RealSlicy on Reddit. Be sure to upvote the stories that get you riled up, and then let us know in the comments if you have ever quit a job under similar circumstances. We would love to hear your personal stories, and then if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article featuring accounts from people who are glad they quit on the spot, check out this story next.

#1

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Long, long time ago at a coffee shop. Me and a co-worker were effectively teamed up as openers and had a regular schedule. One day a very annoying manager was there, who had a history of being a real d**k to female employees.

He made a sexist *and* racist remark to my co-worker in front of the massive line of customers we saw every morning and knew by name. I could see her begin welling up. The people in the front heard, for sure, and I saw them react in surprise. My partner took off her apron and left.

The manager turned to me, looking for some f****d up white bro solidarity, and made another racist remark about finding good help. I went from stunned to walking immediately.

My last act there was to hold the door for the huge crowd of customers who walked out when we did.

patricksaurus , Juan Pablo Serrano Arenas Report

Deciding whether or not to quit a job can be a long and arduous process. We usually have to weigh the pros and cons before making the final jump, and we must ensure that we’ll be able to pay rent and buy groceries if we lose our income suddenly. We want to be sure that we can find another job in a short amount of time, and we might even try to find a new position that won’t make us want to rip our hair out before leaving our old job. But starting a new job is risky because it can be difficult to predict if the devil we know is worse than the devil we don’t know.

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On the other hand, however, sometimes one incident is enough to push us right over the edge. No contemplation, no time to consult our therapist, and no two-week’s notice. I’m quitting today. As much as I hope you pandas have never been in a situation where you and your fellow employees all decided to walk away together, these experiences sure do make for great stories. So enjoy reading through this shocking list, and keep these stories in mind if anything traumatic ever happens to you at work. Remember that you can always walk away at any moment. 

#2

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories My mum worked at a primary school where there was a tree planted on the field for a student who had died about a decade ago. The headmaster (who people had many problems with already) decided the tree was "in the way" of the massive field and had it demolished without the family's permission. A lot of staff were already considering quitting for other reasons, but that was the final straw for a lot of them. Seven teachers and nine other members of staff quit that year.

molwalk , Pieter Benjamin Nijs Report

We reached out to RealSlicy on Reddit to hear what inspired him to start this conversation in the first place. "I’ve heard several stories related to this topic, and I got curious and posted the question," he told Bored Panda. "Never expected it to blow up like this." We also asked if he thinks it's common for there to be incidents at work causing large numbers of people to quit. "I’d say whatever causes this to happen would be unlikely. The post proved me wrong though, so I guess so," he said.

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We also asked what he thinks the best way is for a company to respond to a dramatic or traumatic situation that causes many employees to quit. "They would have to provide more for their employees and maybe replace the manager of wherever it took place if they were what caused it," he says. "If they lie about it, it would only screw them up even more."

#3

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories For the Xmas holidays about a decade ago after a very successful year coming out of the recession the boss showed up in a new 400k motorhome to show everyone his new toy. It had the hydraulic slide outs for the living room; all the bells and whistles.

Everyone got envelopes for bonuses. We were stoked. $5 Walmart gift cards. People just started walking out.

CherryManhattan , Hanson Lu Report

To get some insight on why employees often hit a breaking point and decide to quit all at once, we also reached out to career counselor and blogger Penelope Trunk. "There are a few quitting trends that pop up in the media -- the Great Resignation, quiet quitting, and quitting in teams. The Great Resignation turns out to be not anything great at all, but rather just a continuation of the 30-year trend of college-educated women participating in the workforce at lower and lower rates," Penelope told Bored Panda. "Similarly, quiet quitting and quitting in teams are tactics people have used in the workplace for a long time, so I think what we are seeing, really, is a trend in personal transparency." 

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"In 2008, I was talking about  how twenty-something millennials were quitting in teams because they did everything in teams - they went to prom in teams, they did class projects in teams," Penelope explained. "This was shocking to gen x'ers since we did everything alone when we were in our twenties - the natural result of living as latchkey kids. But I wasn't the first to notice how people quit in teams. Danny Sarch was a top finance recruiter known for being able to place a whole team at a new job. in the past he had to keep his specialty under peoples' radar, but now I think it's out in the open."

#4

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories I worked at a petrol station when I was 16. One time we were robbed and a colleague was forced to empty the cash register at gunpoint.
They took bout 3000€ cash and about 5000€ worth in cigarettes and tobacco.
Our boss expected the heavily traumatized colleague to pay back the whole value that was stolen, because "he could have just refused to give them anything". He obviously couldn't do that and refused to work for free for 4 months, so he was fired. He was a single dad with 6 months old twins.
All of us 7 colleagues quit our jobs there immediately.

Limp-Sundae5177 , sergio souza Report

"The reason quitting in teams is not new is that quitting is rarely about the money," Penelope says. "It's usually about a combination of lack of appreciation, lack of commitment to coworkers or shared vision. The extreme version of these feelings is moral outrage, which is collective. So it makes sense that extremely bad behavior in the workplace is met with groups of people that quit together."

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"For example, it's clear that the story on reddit about the company ignoring that a guy's arm got cut off is moral outrage," Penelope said in reference to one of the stories featured on this list. "Everyone quit that moment because one wants to be in the room with someone who is telling them to ignore blood pooled on the floor. We also set standards for an obligation to quit. We don't blame people when they are not whistleblowers because we assume they can't see what the whistleblower sees. But when a huge group of people can see moral turpitude, like in Nazi Germany, and they do nothing, we prosecute them for being an accessory, even if it was their job to follow orders."

#5

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Back around 2000 SQL server was a hot skill to have, and "big data" was a license to write your own salary. Despite this a new CEO came in to the company I was at and decided to show that he was boss by immediately firing the server team manager. The manager had a new job with our main competitor the same day and immediately got the entire server team positions and a significant pay rise. The entire team handed in their resignation the very next day.

Fenrir101 , Caspar Camille Rubin Report

"Death of a Salesman is famous because it reminds us what happens if we put aside our communal morality when we go to work," Penelope told Bored Panda. "Arthur Miller wrote it at a time when men were trained in the military and then went to the workforce, so it was natural to follow orders no matter what. My son couldn't believe how pathetic the salesmen were. He said, 'If I want to read a classic about people who are insane from war, I think Slaughterhouse 5 is better.' It's refreshing to me that my son can't imagine a world where the 1950s workplace exists because it was definitely still there when I graduated from college in 1990."

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"As people depend less and less on their jobs for their identity, people are more willing to speak publicly and truthfully about quitting their jobs," Penelope explained. "For the general population this means we can make more realistic decisions about how we can make a living and what is possible. This trend in transparency will also mean the normalizing of the life that people who read Bored Panda probably already know: that our identity has to come from what engages and excites us and most of us will do what excites us for free. Most people in the Bored Panda community can quit their jobs and see little shift in their personal identity. Now they can feel like other people understand that."

If you'd like to hear more words of wisdom from Penelope, be sure to check out her blog right here.

#6

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Worked at a chain pizza place. The manager didn't approve of how well we cleaned and prepped for the next day. So we all came in to a note saying something to the effect of "you are all replaceable" so we all said ok, took off the uniform and left. We didn't even lock up or close up shop. Just walked off. Phones were ringing for orders, there were people coming in to the dining area but nobody was there working. Once she realized nobody was there she was calling everyone going nuts telling us to come to work or we're fired. One person went back and tried to save it. I just reminded her that I was replaceable, and so was the person who signed my check, then hung up. They had to close for about a week or two to replace the staff. The location completely closed and filed bankruptcy less than a year later at least partly due to her leadership. The location is a Verizon store now.

Titan_Uranus_69 , Louis Hansel Report

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BlackestDawn
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Only a complete idiot or a greedy f****r complains that their staff are too efficient.

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We also reached out to career coach and host of the Career Growth Made Easy podcast, Craig Ancel, to hear his thoughts on the topic. Craig is an accelerated career growth coach and podcast host. He also speaks professionally and provides customized content according to business’ coaching needs. He has spoken at public and private schools and churches, and recently, he has supported the Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranch and spoken at the Foster Youth of America Annual Elevation Conference.

“In today's dynamic job world, companies need to be responsive when it comes to their customers' needs,” Craig told Bored Panda. “However, at the same time, we’re asking our employees to do more with less. That means less money, less time, and fewer resources. The message seems to be, ‘Get more done and get it done faster.’”

#7

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Exposure to crystalline silica, the company I worked for was supplied materials labelled as non hazardous, when we found out they actually contained silica dust (well over the safe levels) we all had to get tested for silicosis and lung scarring, a few of us got nice payouts at the expense of about 40 years of life span. Everyone at my company was told lies and had information withheld from us, for about 3 months we continued to use that material when the directors knew the dangers but hadn’t told us, when everyone found out there were only 2 people left at that company; the directors.

refinedflour , Kier In Sight Report

“Coupled with ongoing supply chain disruptions from Covid and recently the Ukraine war, work time stress can be at an all-time high,” Craig explained. “This stress is only amplified with sudden changes in workplace policies. Enough time has settled that employees have become comfortable with policies such as AWL & WFH or Alternate Work Locations and Work From Home. Today, many employers are shifting back to face-to-face meetings and requesting employees to return to the office. Some companies cite reasons for returning to the office such as better collaboration and improved customer support. Regardless, if employees are asked to make the trek back to the office building only part or full time, many are choosing to not honor the request.”

“One career growth coaching student told me: ‘We’ve become comfortable with working remotely. I for one, know I kept up my productivity. This is easily proven by the fact I am logged in and online during the time I’d normally be in bumper-to-bumper traffic going to and from work.’ My student went on to say, 'I routinely cut my breaks short and sometimes miss lunches as I power through my day, strongly performing.’ Some companies try to listen to their employees’ voices and honor their requests to improve the work environment. However, this debate on effective work from remote locations is still a hot topic.”

#8

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories One of my first jobs was as a dishwasher at a local steakhouse which was always really busy as it overlooked the waterfalls of the the local river. My 3rd or 4th day working the whole kitchen staff just didn't show up. Except for me. Boss grabbed me and taught me how to cook as we went. Not only had I never cooked before, this was a Friday night and I was missing a concert, so I was kind of angry about that. Probably not the culinary experience some of the customers expected that night, but I tried my best. Then, after we closed I had to stick around for another 4 hours to wash dishes. Turns out everybody went to the concert. This was almost 40 years ago. Still mad.

MadonnaBinLaden , Boris Dunand Report

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When it comes to the stories featured on this list, Craig says, “I am sure that some groups of workers that left companies ‘all at once’ were dialed into office politics. If companies don’t have a finger on the pulse of their employees and their work environments, they can unknowingly make changes that negatively affect their teams. The results, as seen, can be the mass exodus of numerous employees – triggered by an ‘I’m fed up!’ attitude.” 

“Counter to that point, yet still being disconnected from your employees' feelings and aspirations can yield identical results. As the old saying goes, ‘It’s the last straw that broke the camel’s back.’ Sometimes team leads, supervisors, or group managers are oblivious to the simple fact that there is more to business than the end paying customer.”

“It’s true, as businesses, we need to keep the end customer satisfied,” Craig says. “I coach on delighting our customers. Yet, I take it a step further, such as in my Career Growth Made Easy podcast episode #021: Level Up Your Customer Service. Every business and those employees that want to excel in their roles, regardless of position, could benefit from recognizing we all have upstream and downstream customers. Only when you begin to treat everyone on your team as a customer you will truly win.”

#9

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories I worked at a KFC in the 80s. We had a really cool manager. I was assistant manager along with another, and lots of other great young people worked there. Our manager was hired to turn around the store and he was given a budget to buy new equipment. He also saved money on paper products and got the store really clean with our help. At the end of the year, he was fired by the upper management for "spending too much". They then brought in a new manager who immediately set about giving us all a hard time. Everyone walked. The store had to shut down for several days and the new guy brought in his family to help run it.

They store shut down permanently a few years later. The district manager offered me a job in management but I just didn't trust them at that point.

EurassesDragon , Jonathan Leppan Report

“Being sympathetic to employee needs comes first,” Craig told Bored Panda. “I’m going to state the obvious here, without employees, businesses will cease to exist. However, business owners may struggle to retain employees long-term. The economic and performance impact on business can be huge when it comes to short-term employee turnover. This is validated by a recent post on LinkedIn where a company’s sign read, ‘Now hiring anyone that shows up.’” 

“I suggest, as a fellow business owner, fostering an environment of growth, both personally and professionally. Genuinely doing so will likely help businesses retain top talent,” Craig explains. “As business owners, we shouldn’t wait for our employees to come to us with needs or requests. Communication should be open and a two-way street. When genuine conversations can be held in a trusting, supportive environment you’re more likely to retain employees. That conversation should result in actions that develop and grow the individual.  As we all know, actions speak louder than words.”

If you’d like to get in contact with Craig to book a coaching session or gain additional insight, be sure to check out his website right here

#10

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Company did a survey of employee happiness. It had super limited answers. We filled it out and tried to explain that, internally, our team was doing well and we were happy but just about everyone had problems with two other employees outside the team who were bullies in important positions.

The company asked us instead what -we- could do better so the bullies don't bully...
Over half the team quit within a month which is unheard of at that company and our team was/is a corner stone of the entire buisness.

Butterbubblebutt , Annie Spratt Report

While it seems like there is no shortage of toxic employers out there, one good thing that has come from fed-up employees sharing their stories online is the empowerment that comes along with it. The more workers open up about how they deserve better treatment and unions, the more people are willing to walk away from their unhealthy work environments. This shared experience of demanding better working conditions has led to the Great Resignation of 2022, that is currently still taking place. 

The term ‘The Great Resignation’ was coined in May 2021 due to the record numbers of employees leaving their jobs since the onset of the pandemic. According to one survey, one fifth of the world’s workers planned or are still planning to quit their jobs before the end of 2022. And while there are a variety of reasons motivating these employees to seek new positions, 71% of the people planning to quit cited finding higher wages as one of their top priorities. Companies cannot pretend to be surprised by this though, as inflation has increased rapidly over the past year, and housing costs are skyrocketing around the globe. It was only a matter of time until The Great Resignation began.

#11

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories I was working as a chef in a mall in Espoo, Finland back in 2009, when there was a shootout with six casualties and the owner of the restaurant told everyone to continue working in spite of this. Eventually we were forced outside by security. I was literally doing mise en place when security stormed in and told us to get the f**k out. Yeah, I quit that job.

Current-Ad-2698 , Magda Ehlers Report

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Madeleine
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All the workers were more afraid of the owner than of being injured in the shooting? That is pretty extreme.

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Money is far from the only concern employees have though. As I’m sure many of the people featured on this list will tell you, satisfaction is a very important factor at work as well. If you feel unsafe, disrespected or unappreciated at your place of work, there is no reason to stay, even if you are compensated well. After receiving fair wages, finding a job fulfilling falls close behind as the second most important factor to the majority of workers. And the third most important factor, also very closely behind, is that employees feel like they can truly be themselves at work.

We are human beings who deserve to be treated that way 100% of the time. We are not robots who are capable of shutting off our emotions or pausing our personalities just because we’re on the clock. While ignorant employers might assume that productivity and profits are the only things workers should be concerned about, that’s simply not the reality. Workers want to feel valued and cared for at work, and when they don’t, they will find somewhere else where they do.   

#12

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Covid hit the fedex supply chain. Broke the entire system and exposed bad management. The pressure fell on top of the drivers. We quit one after another.

RandomBloke2021 , Bannon Morrissy Report

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Leoninus Fate
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i know this first hand, it hit all the workers hard, the boxers where hit hard, my bro was almost working 23/7 for 3 months

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Although many of the stories on this list took place long before the pandemic began, the shift in the world’s focus since the first few months of 2020 has been drastic. Many of us have been forced to reevaluate our priorities and decide what is truly important to us. While we were required to isolate ourselves in our homes and adjust to a new quality of life, many workers realized that working remotely is actually the best possible option for them. And while it’s been proven that it can be done without sacrificing productivity or profits, many employees have decided that they no longer want to put up with long commutes, uncomfortable offices and the drama that can come along with seeing colleagues every day. 

Unfortunately, about half of the workforce cannot be employed remotely. And according to the World Economic Forum, these individuals are “far less likely than others to say they find their job fulfilling, believe that their team cares about their well-being, think that they’re fairly rewarded financially, or feel they can be creative in their work”. So if a worker has to be on the job in-person, they certainly deserve to find a place they enjoy going to and agree with ethically.

#13

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories There was a staff of 10. At the beginning of last year it was agreed if more than 50% were out sick with covid we close the place down for 1 week and then reasses. 9 of us were out with covid at the same time including the boss. He threatened to fire the last person if they didn't go in and cover for 9 people including the boss! We all quit within the next month like hell did any of us want to be in that position especially when the 'plan' we co-constructed wasn't honoured. F**k profits over people.

ohno_spaghetti_o , energepic.com Report

There has also been a major shift in perspective for many workers in recent years that might be inspiring them to say goodbye to jobs they previously thought they needed. Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global, told Harvard Business Review, “People aren’t just quitting their jobs, they’re rejecting the idea that burnout is the price they have to pay for success.” Keith Ferrazzi and Mike Clementi, writers for Harvard Business Review, explain that rather than viewing the recent change in the workforce as a “Great Resignation”, perhaps we should be considering it a “Great Exploration” instead. People are not just walking away from their jobs; they are calling for changes in the whole system. They want to address the root causes of why employees are unhappy.

#14

I worked at a bread manufacturing plant. This happened in the bagging area. A worker tripped and somehow the way he landed his hand slipped underneath the machine guard and into a chain. Cut off his arm just below the elbow. The supervisor insisted we just wipe off the machine with a towel and continue running the rest of the already baked product. Twelve out of sixteen including myself quit. I found out later the manager fired that supervisor that day.

Bignona Report

#15

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories The management declined to raise waiges and canceled remote right when second covid wave hit. Our whole department started looking for a new job when that happened.

h7hh77 , Nick Morrison Report

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Felice Coles
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The karmic dream would be to hope that the management had to do the jobs by themselves to see what REAL WORK is like.

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Ferrazzi recommends that while workers take some time to reevaluate their situations or search for new employment, they should also start asking themselves some questions. “Why do I do what I do? What am I good at? How can I thrive?” He explains that employees who feel they have discovered their purpose are 49% more likely to experience intrinsic motivation, 33% more likely to report higher job satisfaction, and 25% more likely to go above and beyond at work. “The irony is that if you ask most CHROs what the number-one reason people are leaving is, the answer won’t be purpose — because we don’t ask,” says Marlon Sullivan, Johnson Controls’ CHRO, who explains that exit surveys usually cover the topics of management, culture, wages, and other factors. “But…is purpose a key factor? Absolutely.”

#16

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Worked with a small team that had two managers. One of the managers was great, loved by all, amazing at her job. The other manager stole, showed up late, and verbally abused an employee that identified as trans.

Our good manager contacted the store owner about all the issues. She told the manager along with us staff that we had to do this “by the book” if we wanted her to be able to fire him. We all wrote reports, documented EVERYTHING, found video proof of the thefts. We turn it all over to the owner and what does she do? Fire the food manager for not focusing on her work.

The entire staff walked out and the store was closed for over a month. Place is a joke now and I’m expecting to see them shut down by the end of the year.

majestyyy_ , Craig Adderley Report

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Pumpkin Spice
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hope that 1. The trans employee is OK. 2. The bad manager falls into a cacti pit and then needs to swim out through a pool of hand sanitizer.

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#17

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Smallish company with a very necessary programming team of 5 people.

CEO spent several hundred thousand dollars repainting and refurbishing the building, deciding he didn't like the colour, and got it redone in the same month.

Then lockdown hit and the company was suddenly struggling for money, CEO decided to retrench two of our team members, at first we thought that he picked those two because they were less familiar with the systems.

But then the other 3 of us were told by the CEO that those two were in the most rough positions financially, and one was expecting another kid in a few weeks. And that this meant that they could hire them back as contractors for cheap because they'd be desperate.

In the next week the three of us chatted among ourselves, all resigned, and they had to keep the other two devs on with their standard paycheck for longer, all while looking for new places to work

1112212111122112 , Malte Luk Report

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Felice Coles
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

CEO thought he could exploit the desperation of the team. Found out that team members had more compassion than he did.

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#18

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Not everyone, but a big chunk of the good people including managers.

This was McDonald's, after COVID hit. We were already slammed on the daily with ridiculous demands from our franchise owner and his cronies, but when COVID hit they used that as an opportunity to add on more and more stuff to make even more money. They wanted more jobs done when we were already understaffed, wearing masks AND face shields that THEY got (we weren't allowed to use our own even if they were more effective and clean).

The list of additional demands from our owner and his cronies were:

Upsell EVERYTHING from pies to cookies to bagels to donuts on every order and if you didn't you'd get written up.

Talk in a specific way without any changes in the script (I'm not joking, they wrote out scripts for us) and if even one word was wrong, written up.

If you interrupt the automatic greeter (which customers thought was a real person cause the ones in that area were a really special kind of stupid) even by accident, written up.

If you didn't get payment done at the window fast enough, even if it's the customer being slow, it's your fault.

If you don't constantly sound happy and/or cheery, clearly that's your fault and not the fact that you're going through 8 hours almost every day of mental abuse while also physically pushing yourself to do the jobs of 3 people cause they don't want to schedule the right amount of people for shifts.

All while we're living in a pandemic barely making ends meet on 40 hours a week.

Not to mention all the abuse from the incompetent managers who wouldn't give us our breaks, and later on breaking health services regulations because surprise surprise, some workers got COVID and came into work cause calling in sick was still frowned upon...

This caused a whole bunch of people to leave, not even giving notice most of the times because the work environment was and still is extremely toxic. And because it was most of the good managers and workers who left, that made things even worse. And yet the owner and his cronies still had the gall to ask "wHy'D eVeRyOnE lEaVe?"

Howler452 , Carlos Macías Report

#19

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories We had a tiny team, just three people, and really didn't need a manager. Still, a manager was hired. She was a micromanager, nothing was too small for her to notice. Forgot to put a double space at the start of a sentence? She would literally sit next to you for half an hour, prompting you to double space. The boss was impressed because she always seemed very busy - and she was, but only because she spent so much time supervising us and not enough time on her own work. She never listened to explanations of why things were done a certain way (to conform to government requirements on medical records...) and would just start talking over the top of whoever was speaking to remind us that we just didn't know how to do things and we needed to follow her instructions.

Things started going especially badly when she took a major dislike to one of the team because she believed this person wasn't working efficiently (ie, the way the manager wanted). She started piling work on top of this person, taking it away from the other two of us, until all I was doing was sitting at my desk waiting for the day to end. When our overwhelmed coworker asked for help from us, we happily agreed. We all got a dressing-down and official warnings because our coworker was supposed to do everything by herself.

Then the manager went on maternity leave. The person acting in her position had been there forever, knew we were perfectly capable of doing our jobs without oversight, and left us to it. For a year we all had meaningful work to do, we cooperated and relaxed, we could laugh and talk to each other, and we started getting compliments on how fast and well we had completed tasks.

Then our manager called to say she would be coming back. We went to her boss, pleading for help, as we had done countless times before. Boss said sorry not sorry, she's a great manager, we should be looking forward to her return.

Within the next 24 hours two of us had quit; the third one stuck it out until the manager actually returned and then quit. At that point, the manager's role was changed so she didn't have any underlings to manage. So at least she can't drive anyone else out, I guess.

thirdonebetween , Andrea Piacquadio Report

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James016
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If the direct reports of a manager are pleading not to bring them back. LISTEN!!

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#20

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Last year there was a public hospital in Portugal, in the city of Setúbal, where 87 doctors, all the chiefs of staff of their respective departments, quit at once because of poor working conditions related to lack of medical staff.

guilhugas , Erkan Utu Report

#21

Not my story but my cousin's. They found out that their boss is a child predator who tries to catfish children from roblox during work often. He was reported to the authorities on the same day they quit.

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Felice Coles
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Please, please, say that the end of the is that the company is bankrupt and the boss is in jail!

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#22

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories We worked at a startup with amazing co-founders. Our CEO and COO were the coolest people I've met. Our company was doing well, we were some 6-8 months away from break-even and cash burn was so low, we hadn't needed funding in almost 5 years.

The startup was funded by foreign VCs who had no understanding of local market. They wanted insane growth when the industry we were in just didn't have that kind of growth potential. So the VCs got the co-founders fired.

5 of 8 departmental heads and at least 15% of total employees of the company quit within the next 3 months.

magestooge , Marten Bjork Report

#23

Worked at a board game cafe, poor management amongst other things was pushing all the staff to quit but we didn't because we liked working together.

Next to the coffee machine we had a couple of sticky notes with doodles we had all drawn, they were very cute and gave a personal touch that made us feel part of the business.

The final straw was when out of the blue our bosses tore these down and chucked them in the bin.

In the next following days every single staff member quit including ones like myself who had been with the business since inception.

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Riani Kivela
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm sure the bosses felt that they had bossed very bossily, as bossy bosses would.

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#24

I worked at a restaurant for a few years. The manager was cruel, hot tempered, and did nothing but stand in the small isles between rows of tables with his hands on his waist and elbows out so that effectively couldn’t walk past home carrying food (and had to weave around). It was normal and expected that we work double shifts on the weekend, starting at 6am we’d set up the patio, do dishes, set tables, and deal with whatever the chef “locally foraged” like picking berries off the stems. We’d work 6-3pm, get an hour off, come back from 4pm-11pm.

One day, I was completely slammed and was trying to bus and set up a table that had left. I missed a bit of ketchup that the customer had left on the outside of the bottle when they poured it. He grabbed my arm and said, “what is this f*****g mess? You are a despicable human being.”

Fast forward several months, and they hire a new server who ends up sexually assaulting me. I then hear from his ex that he tried to kill her and he has a felony on his record for this. I approach management and ask that they check his background (because they wouldn’t have hired someone with a felony) and at least for the time being don’t schedule us together. They promptly ignore my request and schedule us to work a wedding together. I left that day.

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#25

worked at a fast food place. poorly managed on a good day, black mold growing on the walls, manager was a pedophile that made me take my break in his office every shift, was only working there because my family was poor & i needed the job. one shift one of my coworkers came in showing us videos of a rap concert she had attended the night before, and my manager called the rapper a series of racial slurs. his whole closing staff walked out right after that, leaving him to close by himself.

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Destiny Thornton
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

...and until the end of his life he thought everyone else was the problem and took no accountability for his own actions. The end.

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#26

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories The guy everyone hated became the manager because the lousy CEO played favorites.

V4Vendota , Hunters Race Report

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Stephanie Did It
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My former boss in the IT support team had a wife in upper management. Lo and behold, he was nepotised into my department. As a manager he knew nothing about IT or end user support. As a team lead, I ended up fielding all the executive-level complaints and technical questions. The position he was promoted from? Parking lot security guard.

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#27

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Business largely worked because the owner trusted his employees to do a good job. So the employees did a good job. The business was doing really well and the owner assumed it was all because of him so he started micromanaging everyone's job. People started dropping off like flies because the working conditions became intolerable. The company didn't last very long after that

polywha , Scott Graham Report

#28

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Three of us, the engineers, quit the same week and without any discussion between ourselves. Man in charge was an insufferable, insulting twat. This led to the head office losing faith and the whole subsidiary being sold off.

PicardTangoAlpha , ThisisEngineering RAEng Report

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FakeOptimist
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Sold off".... At a price reflecting the performance befóre everything went to s**t I bet.

#29

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories They issued phone lockers. All the lube techs quit except for one but he got high at lunch the next day and got fired. Mind you this was one day after the boss just got back from his dads funeral.

jond200 , Autumn_ schroe Report

#30

People Share What Happened At Their Jobs That Caused Everyone To Quit At Once, Here Are 30 Of Their Wildest Stories Manager kept pitching a way to us on breaks and then cut hours of those that didn't sign up under him. We worked in retail at the mall.

rayrayrayray , Andrea Piacquadio Report

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