'I had someone quit because they couldn't find parking': 20+ Managers share the silliest reasons their employees have quit on the spot

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Oct 17, 2023 1:00 PM EDT

Work can be stressful. There are a million reasons that we don't want to go to work, but most people put on their adulting shoes and go clock in anyways. Why? Because we like being able to pay our bills. However, when your work life starts to become a little too much to bear, some employees consider pulling the parachute and bailing on the workplace. There are a multitude of ways to quit and there's also a bit of 'quitters etiquette' that applies when a worker wants to keep a good rapport with their old managers. Usually, you leave a two week notice and perhaps you can even offer to train your replacement; naturally, this almost never goes as planned for quitters who are at their breaking point. Employees that are on the brink of survival every time they clock in are more likely to text their manager that they quit, (or worse) ghost their coworkers for the rest of eternity. At least when you quit on the spot, have the decency to think of some outrageous excuse or scapegoat story to blame. Like the quitters in this next collection of hilarious stories from the depth of Reddit.

So if you're thinking of quitting or ever quit a job before, you can probably relate to some of these managerial tales of the silliest resignation notices they ever encountered. After this, read on about an exemplary employee that got fired by his nepo-baby boss, plotting pungent revenge in the break room on his way out. 

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  • 01
    Font - r/r/managers. Posted by u/Juiceboxie0 Silliest resignations? I had an employee quit because they wanted more hours, gave them more hours, and then said they're quitting because they're working too many hours. What's your weirdest ones?
    via u/Juiceboxie0
  • 02
    Font - Fun-Yellow-6576 - 2 days ago Had an employee quit because they had a new bf and he told her she didn't need to work. Two days later she was back, bf dumped her for quitting.
    via u/Fun-Yellow-6576
  • 03
    Font - zack397241 23 hr. ago I had someone quit because I couldn't give them 20 hours of work with their availability. Their availability: Monday and Wednesday 9am-noon. They apparently found another employer who could???
    via u/zack397241
  • 04
    Font - DeadlyViking 2 days ago We hired someone for a lead position in the upper midwest. Less than a week after she started, she said she had to bring a mattress to her mom in Florida, so she had to quit and walked out on the spot.
    via u/DeadlyViking
  • 05
    Font - itsmellslikebacon 1 day ago . I had an employee quit at a restaurant because we changed the brand of bread we used (We were very open about it and even changed the menus) and he said we weren't sticking to the integrity of the original bread and he wouldn't stand by it.
    via u/itsmellslikebacon
  • 06
    Font - permexhaustedpanda 2 days ago Had an employee quit 2 weeks in because she wasn't allowed to wear sweatpants to work. Dress code was 1) business casual, 2) discussed at orientation, 3) publicly available prior to employment.
    via u/permexhaustedpanda
  • 07
    Font - gillsthatkills 2 days ago I just had a person quit because no taxes were being taken out of her paycheck. I tried to help her figure it out, we discovered she accidentally selected "exempt" instead of "non-exempt" on her state form, but even after we fixed it, there were no state or federal taxes being taken out.
    via u/gillsthatkills
  • 08
    Font - Katpants 1 day ago Had a girl after hire tell me she just got released from a psychiatric hospital. Let's call her Jan. She did really well, and then one day handed me an "I'm sorry for your loss" card. She wrote her two weeks notice on it. She told me everyone hated her and she was quitting right then.
    via u/Katpants
  • 09
    Font - crimsontide5654 1 day ago A receptionist at a company I worked for sent a 2 word email to the entire office. It read, I QUIET.
    via u/crimsontide5654
  • 10
    Font - QueenofPR 1 day ago Heard about someone who quit by slowly pouring a full glass of water out while the manager was criticizing his performance. Emptied the glass, tossed it, walked out the door. 24 Reply Share Chris Martins001 - 19 hr. ago Mic drop
    via u/QueenofPR
  • 11
    Font - Horror_Inevitable813 1 day ago Had an employee quit because he spilled duck pheromone everywhere. It was his first day at our local retail shop for animal goods (feed and pet supply). I had him shadowing me, as I left for lunch, I showed him to an area where he could put some
    via u/Horror_Inevitable813
  • 12
    Font - bottles back on the shelf and asked him to read the labels to familiarize himself with some of the products. I told him I didn't expect him to remember much but just get in the habit since that's how we all learned the product. I came back to him
    via u/Horror_Inevitable813
  • 13
    Font - having a visual meltdown wiping the liquid duck pheromone up off the cement floor with paper towels. I remember I was surprised at the smell, he said he was feeling sick and that he'll be right back but then just walked out.
    via u/Horror_Inevitable813
  • 14
    Font - newtekie1 1 day ago I gave them a $2k bonus at the end of the year. They came in the first day of the year and told me I s'ed them with the bonus. It put them in the next tax bracket, so now they are paying more in taxes than the $2k bonus. Claimed I knew what I was doing and scved him on purpose and quit on the spot. He didn't understand how tax brackets work.
    via u/newtekie1
  • 15
    Rectangle - TrueBigfoot 1 day ago I don't know how many times I've heard,"I'm going to have cigarette break be back in 5" and then they never came back. It was hard working in the restaurant industry
    via u/TrueBigfoot
  • 16
    Font - xxTurd 15 hr. ago I worked in a factory when I was younger and a new woman started. Apparently she didn't ask how much she'd be paid per hour during interviews. She asked us, we told her. She said "f I was making more on unemployment". About an hour later it was time for our 15 minute break. She didn't come back in.
    via u/xxTurd
  • 17
    Font - 1jarretts 1 day ago This question is for me: 1. We hired a dishwasher, two weeks in they quit because they are allergic to soap.
    via u/1jarretts
  • 18
    Font - 2. An adult woman who worked 2ish weeks and then quit because she couldn't have 2 hours off in the middle of the day every day to go home and have lunch with her boyfriend. (Schedule discussed in interview.)
    via u/1jarretts
  • 19
    Font - 3. An INTERN who quit without notice because she didn't like other people telling her how to do things. Everyone else on the staff was experienced with several years working in the industry. The school has you do an internship to learn.
    via u/1jarretts
  • 20
    Font - 4. One went no contact after her dog ded. She worked three days. Just never showed up again. 5. My personal favorite: a high school girl who quit to APPLY to college. Not go to college. 6. So many "one day wonders." I've lost count.
    via u/1jarretts
  • 21
    Facial expression - yaboijay666 1 day ago Had someone quit cause they couldn't find parking in front of the business and was worried about their car.
    via u/yaboijay666
  • 22
    Font - AMad Tea Party. 1 day ago I had en employee quit because her parents made her. She was 30, owned her own home, and we just offered her a promotion to run public programs.
    via u/AMadTeaParty
  • 23
    Font - John Fx 1 day ago My wife told me this one. Worked in a tall building on a high floor with a glass elevator. Person walked up to reception trembling from a fear of heights and told the receptionist "I can't do this" quit and left.
    via u/John_Fx
  • 24
    Font - HRKatinhell 1 day ago Wanted a promotion did all the work to get it. Then one month later said "I did not think it would be this much work" and resigned but what? he truly thought managers worked less
    via u/HRKatinhell
  • 25
    Font - ryjohn429 20 hr. ago I had a new employee quit the day after I hired him because he didn't want to wear the shirt. The shirt is literally just a polo with the company name on the breast. But it was polyester, and he wanted cotton.
    via u/ryjohn429
  • 26
    Font - Immediate Jacket463 1 day ago And...another employee quit because parking garage was across the street. It was too far. She parked and interviewed ... twice.
    via u/ImmediateJacket463
  • 27
    Computer - t ↑ Ctrl < AV > Fn Z X Alt QUIT!
    via u/canva

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manager stories boss hilarious worker quiet-quitting employee work stories manager work coworkers out of pocket i quit working quit employees supervisor workplace reddit thread Reddit coworker quitting
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