16 Stories About Coworkers Mass Quitting An Awful Job That I'm Getting Such Secondhand Satisfaction From
Earlier, we enjoyed a few stories from former employees about their jobs that were so terrible, they actually led to mass quitting. Here are just a few more stories, plus some from the BuzzFeed Community:
1."Five teachers resigned at the end of term two due to bullying victimization and LIES being spread by the principal who couldn't discipline students but blamed teachers."
2."I was interning in some retail place with three of my friends and we were being treated like slaves. The breaking point was when the big bad boss ordered two of my friends to clean up the floor that some customers had just pooped on. Not happening. We all went home and didn't come back."
3."I was working for a watch and bags store. We got a new store manager who happened to be friends with the district manager. He would display items without using a lockbox and then get mad at us for an increase in theft, tried to write me up for theft because I had a watch on that wasn't listed in my store purchase record but it was such an old model that no store in our country ever carried it. The mass exit occurred when he yelled at the sweetest colleague who was about 110 pounds, 4'9, for not challenging and chasing after a 250-pound man who was stealing (from the unlocked display he insisted on). Slamming down our keys in unison was the best feeling ever!"
4."A LONG time ago, I was an electronic inspector at a division of a LARGE corp. Over a period of a few months, most employees were made to write up exactly HOW they did their jobs, and create any equipment necessary for that (for me, jigs for testing things). We KNEW what was coming. One morning, we got notice to come to HR for a meeting, where they announced a bunch of layoffs. I had a new job lined up within 15 minutes after that (PLUS unused vacation and two weeks termination pay in my hand), many others not laid off quit, and that division was closed soon after, because the new hires (lower wages) could not do the work, even WITH all our written instructions."
5."Record profits were made. The CEO and managers got raises and then said, lunch breaks would now only be 10 minutes and there would no longer be free food. We did good but not good enough so no raises for us this time. 10+ people walk out to never return."
6."They hired a micromanaging architect to lead a bunch of engineers."
7."I worked at a jewelry store where the manager would watch the cameras all the time. This included when he was at home, off work. He would reprimand us for sitting there doing nothing. When it isn’t Christmas season or Valentine’s Day, a busy day sees about 10 people. We could only clean so much, there was literally nothing to do. All except one person had quit/ been fired in about a month of each other. The manager had to work multiple double shifts from lack of employees."
8."I worked at a center for disabled adults. The management was so horrible. They made the attendees start cleaning the toilets themselves. 10 people quit in one week."
9."Boss relied on the old 'You’ll never be able to get a job somewhere else, and certainly not a better one' tactic to keep us. One of us did find another, better job somewhere else. Everyone else was gone within six months."
10."The program director suffered an extremely sudden loss. When she came back from a month of grieving, she was suddenly putting everyone on performance plans for really shitty reasons. She was also suddenly pushing us to bill for 100% of the time we were on the clock (We’d literally get yelled at for asking our managers for advice because it wasn’t billable). People started to leave at a high rate, and their clients would be dumped on the rest of us. The managers all refused to help with clients at all, so it was wholly on us. Between April and July of that year, the program lost 20 of the 33 employees."
11."I worked for a lady who had just taken over a popular wedding hall. She changed it to a walk-in Jamaican kitchen on the top floor and hosted receptions in the regular space. We were all assigned to paint all the banisters and chairs white before a wedding that would be occurring in a week and a half. I was the manager and handled all the hiring and such, unless she vetoed my hire. The boiling point came on the day of the reception when everyone, including me, was expected to cater to the wedding guests."
"There were small hiccups but I was proud of my staff. I found out that the owner had pushed two of my 15-year-old waitresses and listened as she apologized to the bride and groom for her awful staff. I asked her for a little respect and an acknowledgment that we did a good job. She said that when we make a million dollars, we can get respect then. We all walked out before the dishes were even started. She had a wedding the next day. I don't feel even the slightest bit bad."
12."A coworker’s husband was a manager at a pharmaceutical company and needed to hire a slew of people for a WFH position that paid $10 more. We lost almost half our staff in a matter of weeks (and it takes almost a year to train new staff so we’re still struggling)."
13."We had a really really toxic manager who wasn’t fit to be manager, would talk trash on her employees, and got banned from working. One time, the store flooded and we were waiting to hear back from her as to when the store was repaired. She had terrible (hardly any) communication, so she didn’t tell half the staff. One full-time employee stopped by three days after reopening and asked why she wasn’t notified. The manager told her 'You’re a big girl, you should’ve figured it out yourself.' We all quit like beads falling off a broken necklace after that."
14."Management who came in at noonish, checked some shots then left at 3–4 p.m. announced that all artists would be required to work 12-hour days for the next few weeks because they took on too many contracts at once. A few people said 'fuck it' and quit, that cascaded into more and more people quitting since they realized they'd be expected to finish their shots too."
15."This actually just happened yesterday to me. It was a small family business where there are just three other employees other than the family. Things have been toxic at work for a while and the boss is in the process of trying to sell the business. One co-worker and I, without even contacting or talking about it handed in our resignation letters yesterday and quit. Once the third employee heard we were quitting they wrote their letter (sitting at their desk) and handed it in. The boss threw us all out that day and now is running the business completely alone"
