'They were expecting about 125 people to relocate with them; they got 3': 20+ Workplaces whose employees quit together all at once

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 4, 2024 11:00 AM EST

It's rare, but it does happen: sometimes an entire workplace quits at once. When this does happen, it's often a glorious exodus, leaving workers happy with their fresh jobs and higher salaries, while managers scramble to find new hires. 

It's true what they say: people will run from bad bosses as fast as they can. Having a low salary is irritating, but if you love your job, it isn't always so bad. And if you love the people you work with, those 8-hour days may fly by, making your workweek a breeze. When management is bad, though, it really ruins morale. Instead of working together to reach a common goal, employees don't feel confident in their employer. They resort to whispering amongst themselves, talking about leaving, or becoming petty in order to get back at these bad bosses. 

It's rare that multiple people quit at once. But sometimes supervisors act so egregiously that it's not even a choice. Standing up for a coworker, and leaving for a new job and a fresh start at the same time, can feel so worth it. 

Next, read about this boss who was completely stunned when his employee suddenly quit "without thinking twice" in order to double their salary. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10436400640
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    What happened at work that made everyone quit at once?
    via u/BoysenberryTasty7016
  • 03
    Earhorn Jones I led an IT team that supported a new version of a proprietary application. The team was a mix of corporate employees and contractors. Most of the customers who used out app were located in the Western hemisphere, so while we provided 24x7 support, the vast majority of customer issues were during
    via u/Earhorn Jones
  • 04
    the typical North American work day. We had a couple of contractors who liked working overnights, so they covered the evenings, and did a handoff every AM. This worked very well. So well, in fact, that our corporate overlords decided that the app should be expanded globally. We noted that the current team
    via u/Earhorn Jones
  • 05
    couldn't handle the additional support load without more team members. Instead of doing that, management decided that we should just move a bunch of people from the day shift to the night shift. Since no one liked this idea, management implemented a mandatory "rolling" schedule, in which you might work 9-5 one week,
    via u/Earhorn Jones
  • 06
    and 3-11 the next. There was no predictability, and personal preferences/needs were not taken into account at all. I pointed out to management that this would make our well-seasoned support team unhappy, and would technically violate the contract that the contractors were working under (which specified work hours).
    via u/Earhorn Jones
  • 07
    Nobody in management thought that this was a problem. I immediately wrote letters. of recommendation for everyone on my team, and started applying for other jobs. In about two weeks, I had a better job lined out, and gave my notice. Within about a month, all of the contractors had been moved to other contracts
    via u/Earhorn Jones
  • 08
    (with different companies) when they reported the contract breach to their handlers, and about a half dozen of the long-serving corporate folks had found other jobs, like I did. Support for the app got moved to India, and my understanding is that the dealers (the people who used the app) staged something of a revolt, and the app had to be shut down
    via u/Earhorn Jones
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    and reverted to a previous version that cost the company a lot more money to maintain.
    via u/Earhorn Jones
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    amileinmyshoez They hired a manager who was vicious. Then did not stop her behavior. And long term employees just quit one by one. I held on longer than most. At my exit interview, they asked why I was leaving and I just said her name. Finally two years later they let her go but by that time they had an entire turnover of staff.
    via u/amileinmyshoez
  • 11
    TheSiege82 Management laid me off. The manager. In 6 years I had 1 turnover. After they laid me off all 6 of the guys reporting to me had their two weeks notice in. It's a long story but basically the new management had no clue what they were doing. and it showed when they "eliminated my position"
    via u/TheSiege82
  • 12
    apocalypticradish Landscaping company. We were already stretched to the breaking point because the owner would never hire enough help. Then he decided it was a perfect time to take a new project...over two hours. away from where anyone lived. Multiple people quit after this announcement. I stayed for another few days and then quit.
    via u/apocalypticradish
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    A few weeks later, he was calling everyone and begging us to come back because the property owners were furious with him over the work not even being started. I told him I'd already gotten a new job. He swore at me and hung up lol
    via u/apocalypticradish
  • 14
    Inner_Art482 Oh fun one. Our salon lost our manager to having a new baby and becoming a SAHM. It was sad to see her go. So our DM comes in and says he's hiring from within the salon. He's been looking at our sales, client retention and what not to pick. Meanwhile for a month or so we had no manager. So Becky took the role on and
    via u/Inner_Art482
  • 15
    did great. (We still had paperwork and orders that needed done) She set up a cleaning schedule. She fixed a lot of simple issues that our old manager just didn't see issues with. Our schedule was written out for the entire month. Basically she stepped up and put in a lot of work she didn't get paid to do. Becky also had a really bad back. Was 45 and did hair for 27 years. If anyone needed to manager
    via u/Inner_Art482
  • 16
    it was her. Her client list had gone down a bit, but she was still very busy. Tara had worked their six months at this point. And Tara was not a team player. She would put your sales. commission on her account accidentally. She would say things like she's paid to do hair not clean. Not to mention, she weight shamed everyone. Skinny fat in between. She found hurtful
    via u/Inner_Art482
  • 17
    things to say about everyone. But she would be loud and laugh and be goofy. So we kinda just rolled out eyes and moved on. She was 23 and had a decent client list and remained "busy". But here's the thing. She wasn't busy. Her friends would come in, hang out and whatever. Sure, she would do a wash and blowdry. But that's $20. No cutting no
    via u/Inner_Art482
  • 18
    coloring. When her actual clients came in, she would do their hair and after they left, her and her friends would laugh about them. Our old manager had to tell her if her friends aren't there to get their hair done they don't need to hangout. So DM comes in and sees all these clients/friends waiting on Tara. His dumbass thinks that Becky over stepped her role and
    via u/Inner_Art482
  • 19
    Tara should be managing. The best part. We all looked at each other and started packing our bags. 6 people walked out. Tara crying that this isn't fair she earned this and we are just jealous . We went as a group and rented spots at a different salon. The old one shut down a month later.
    via u/Inner_Art482
  • 20
    Because we take our clients with us. And washing your friends hair doesn't keep the salon a float.
    via u/Inner_Art482
  • 21
    The_Rural_Ban... CEO announced to the company, amid concerns of being overworked, that other people have it worse and 'if you don't like it you can leave! So everyone left.
    via u/The_Rural_Ban
  • 22
    y... Private company (1924- 1988) single owner dies of old age. Family sells Connecticut based company to French corporation. French company says we are moving you guys 500 miles north to New Hampshire. You can move yourself at your own expense, and have equivalent pay for 1 year
    via u/youngmindoldbody
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    after which it may be readjusted. They were expecting about 125 people to relocate with them; they got 3. They got desperate, but in the end all they could get was people promising to stay until the Connecticut site closed, for an additional 6-month bonus at the end. (I took this, I was the last one, signing papers with HR on
    via u/youngmindoldbody
  • 24
    the loading dock and driving away with a few nice checks.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Burndy EDIT 1: for those interested I met and spoke with old Bern himself in '87 while he was touring our test lab. His comment was (more or less) these guys need new equipment, which was spot on.
    via u/youngmindoldbody
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    EDIT 2: No part of Connecticut is 500 miles from New Hampshire. More like 250 miles, if that. Many thanks to diligent reddit proofreaders.
    via u/youngmindoldbody
  • 26
    butterflies112233 I worked as desk clerk for my dorm building freshman year of college and came back during my sophomore year knowing we got a new housing director. Notably in our contract it stated we were allowed to do homework or watch tv/listen to music during shifts (one earbud only) as long as you were still checking cameras, sorting packages, helping
    via u/butterflies112233
  • 27
    students as they came to the desk, and checking people in of you worked a night shift. These tasks usually took around an hour of your shift (excluding shifts between 10pm-2am on weekends when students would constantly be coming. back from parties and having to check in). The new housing director for the building I worked in decided that even though we all signed contracts saying
    via u/butterflies112233
  • 28
    these things were allowed it didn't mean we should be doing them. After about a week she started giving out warnings. for doing anything besides homework during shifts. Then a few weeks later she decided that not even homework was going to be tolerated. Me and the other girl who I shared night shifts with and who worked after me during day shifts had
    via u/butterflies112233
  • 29
    both started looking for other jobs after the first rule change because not doing anything but the desk duties for 4 hours was a huge waste of time and was also the only job in the city still paying minimum wage. We both agreed that if we weren't going to be allowed to do nonwork related things we may as well find better paying jobs that at least have tasks for us to do during our shifts. Once we
    via u/butterflies112233
  • 30
    got accepted for a new jobs her at a hardware store and me at a grocery store we immediately put in our 2 weeks and left. A few weeks later I ran into a guy who I had worked with the semester before and he asked if I still worked for the dorm building. I told him I had quit a few weeks ago and he told me that he had also just found a new job and that about half of the
    via u/butterflies112233
  • 31
    staff for that building and the other one the new director was in charge of had quit within the past month. So basically going back on the rules we agreed on in our contracts resulted in the loss of half the desk clerks for the buildings.
    via u/butterflies112233
  • 32
    fourfingersdry I had a boss that colluded with some new hires and family members to vote out the union. We lost our pension, benefits, and guaranteed rates overnight. They only needed 40% to pass. Everyone who voted to keep the union quit within a month.
    via u/fourfingersdry
  • 33
    augustwest30 They hired a micromanaging architect to lead a bunch of engineers.
    via u/augustwest30
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    GitchSF I got promoted to a role that does not open very often and a bunch of people with more tenure than me slowly left over the next 2 months. None of them made comments about me getting the job over them but I have a feeling they just saw it as a slap to the face and bounced.
    via u/GitchSF
  • 35
    MeltsYourMinds Volkswagen told us (subcontractor) that there's no work in at least 6 months. That was right before Covid spread to Europe. They were our only customer for 20 years. Boss just expanded and had used up his reserves. He treated us with honesty and acted in a way to minimise the loss for everybody equally.
    via u/MeltsYourMinds
  • 36
    cooldart61 Our boss. Multiple issues: trying to make us work while on vacation, under paying us for car mileages, refusing to help with training, lying about being at the office when she was at home, ect What made us all leave was when she denied leave for our coworker who's dad had
    via u/cooldart61
  • 37
    di d unexpectedly. She asked for even just one day for the funeral and my boss refused. We covered for our coworker for the week but then all put in our notice. The higher ups finally figured out something was wrong for us ALL to resign and they fired her.
    via u/cooldart61
  • 38
    They begged us to come back, but if they're that blind to what's happening, it's not worth it.
    via u/cooldart61
  • 39
    Crystalsghosts Boss binge watched us on the security cameras and came back to us with the findings
    via u/Crystalsghosts
  • 40
    TrickBoom414 The boss let his son take over.
    via u/TrickBoom414
  • 41
    jippyzippylippy They called in a consultant. This guy's "brilliant" idea. was to totally switch business models and go from selling one type of product (which we had tons of clients willing to buy and were making great money) to selling a completely different product and turning all of our production staff into salespeople. After the announcement:
    via u/jippyzippylippy
  • 42
    Day 1: three people left Day 2: four more left Day 3: it was down to me and the two owners, I lasted another week and then left. Company went under in about 3 months.
    via u/jippyzippylippy
  • 43
    SuzuranRose They pulled us into a group meeting to let us know our contract with company A had not been renewed so we would be moved to company B contract at the end of the month. We were told we would be going from 8-5 mon thru Fri shift to 2-11 with Wed Thursday off. 15 of the 22 of us put in our two weeks and left at the end of the contract with A. The rest
    via u/SuzuranRose
  • 44
    tried it out and I heard 3 of them logged out and walked away without notice after the first week. Never did hear about the others though. I applied directly to company A and got hired on in the same job with higher pay since I wouldn't need training and already had experience. They didn't renew their contract because they were building
    via u/SuzuranRose
  • 45
    their own team to handle it so having someone with experience was a benefit to them and to me.
    via u/SuzuranRose
  • 46
    Sumpm Not quit, but threaten to sue, and one employee actually got a lawyer and went after them. PTO was earned the year in advance. So, you spend all of 2007 racking up your several weeks of PTO for 2008. Well, 2008 gets here, and they change the policy. to you earning your PTO as you go throughout the year of 2008. That way, if you
    via u/Sumpm
  • 47
    quit for whatever reason, they don't owe you pay for unused PTO, should you have any. Okay, nobody has a problem with this, except... we already earned our PTO for 2008 last year. If they'd given us all 4/5/6 week's worth of pay for the PTO we'd already earned last year, we could wipe the slate clean, and start with this new policy. Except... they
    via u/Sumpm
  • 48
    didn't think ahead about that part. "WE'VE ALREADY EARNED IT, YOU CAN'T TAKE IT AWAY, PAY US, etc..." Man, that was a severe company meeting. I don't know how HR and upper management got out alive, and I mean that literally. I'm in the Midwest, where people carry rifles in their trucks, and you don't f them over.
    via u/Sumpm
  • 49
    They "went back to the drawing board" and discussed it (probably with their corporate lawyers) for a few weeks, and reneged on the new policy. The one employee who hired her own lawyer proceeded with a lawsuit anyway. I doubt she got anywhere with it, but whatever.
    via u/Sumpm
  • 50
    sarahsuebob Boss relied on the old "you'll never be able to get a job somewhere else, and certainly not a better one" gaslighting tactic to keep us. One of us did find another, better job somewhere else. Everyone else was gone within 6 months.
    via u/sarahsuebob
  • 51
    S... We have awful leadership. I took my job ~2 months ago and quickly learned that everyone besides management is brand new. I now have second highest seniority. The guy who has been there longer than me has me beat by about 2 weeks. I'm actually quitting. tomorrow. I'm just done with the bulls.
    via u/slappy_mcslapenstein
  • 52
    Lunaciteee Management who came in at noonish, checked some shots then left at 3-4pm 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
    via u/Lunaciteee
  • 53
    "f " and quit, that cascaded into more and more people quitting since they realized they'd be expected to finish their shots too.
    via u/Lunaciteee

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