Boss tests employee with one week to prove himself, employee follows up with resignation: 'You were lucky to have me'

There is something especially wrong about the song-and-dance that happens just before layoffs in a corporate environment. 

Of course, we are sympathetic to the fact that middle management often has to enforce rules from above in order to keep their own jobs and fulfill their own responsibilities. That being said, pressuring a team to perform at a higher-than-expected level with the lingering threat of layoffs feels like the premise of a reality show rather than a well-run organization. Furthermore, pressuring employees to go above and beyond just so they can stay in the same positions at the same salary is also a major red flag. 

Keep scrolling below for this story about how an employee refused to play this game!

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10468439296
    via Unsplash+ (Curated Lifestyle)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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  • This dude's manager was clearly on a power trip when he questioned his employee's use of his fully earned lunch hour. This was the kind of employer who clearly had no life outside of work and threw shade at anyone who didn't stay late during the work week. 

    It got to a point where the manager told his employee that he needed to prove himself throughout the next week in order to keep his job (even though he was fully meeting expectations and completing tasks on time).

  • 02
    My manager just before my 2 year review called me unexpectedly into a side room (as we have a shared office) and started to talk to me about how they needed someone in the team who was more "obsessive" and "takes the time and care to obsessive over the little things and details". (A slIMO)
    via Ethnax
  • 03
    And "not to take it the wrong way, but you have a life" Because my work hours are 9-6 and I get in before him at 8:50am, take my 1 hour lunch break AWAY from the office for up to an hour (which I do cut short if workload needed it) and
    via Ethnax
  • 04
    leave at 6:30pm sometimes 7pm while he stays on till 8pm most nights. He eats his lunch at his and takes 10 mins to go out desk to get it.
    via Ethnax
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  • 05
    He then talked about how "we have budgets and schedules to stick to". I asked him for any examples of projects I had missed deadlines on or impacted budget and he couldn't give me any answer "off the top of his head" (because there wasn't any)
    via Ethnax
  • 06
    He then said I have 1 WEEK to "proove to him" I have what it takes for this position. I asked him what project he'll give me to demonstrate what it is he's looking for and work towards and said "to keep working on my current projects and we'll see by the end of the week". I asked see
    via Ethnax
  • 07
    what? And he said "regretfully seeing in letting you go". That was all I needed to hear. This meeting was 1 month on the dot before my 2 year mark at the company. Any longer than that
    via Ethnax
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  • 08
    the company legally needed to pay me redundancy if they let me go. (in the UK) I knew what he was gearing up for and that 1 week wasn't going to change anything. I took the weekend to think about what to do as I saw myself with 2 options. Work my
    via Ethnax
  • 09
    20 a off the next week for him to "let me go" and then demand to drag it out as per my contract with the proper disciplinary procedure to pass the 2 year mark to force them to pay me redundancy OR hand in my notice and not burn bridges.
    via Ethnax
  • 10
    The next morning I walked into work with my notice in hand and the one thing I kept thinking in my head was "Fk you, you were lucky to have me". My manager was surprised when I handed him my notice and said "off the record, this is probably the best outcome for a awful situation"
    via Ethnax
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  • 11
    which solidified my thinking in that they were looking for cheap ways to save money as the company was starting to struggle.
    via Ethnax
  • 12
    Oh an the best part? They hired me back less than a week later as a freelancer on my FULL freelancer rate lol. Not long after I left my colleague also left and now they hired someone to cover BOTH our positions. Poor sod.
    via Ethnax
  • 13
    TL;DR: old boss had no life other than work and expected me to be his minion but as I "have a life" he wanted to push me out the company. He gave me 1 week to "proove to him I have what it takes". When I walked in the next
    via Ethnax
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  • 14
    morning with my resignation in hand all I could think about was "Fk you, you were lucky to have me".
    via Ethnax
  • 15
    Cheezburger Image 10468439552
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • We have to hand it to this guy for seeing the red flag and refusing to ignore it. Instead, he confronted his boss head-on with his resignation, and judging by his boss's unprofessional reaction, it's quite clear that he would have been let go anyway. Why go through a torturous week only to be inevitably fired?

  • 16
    SkysEevee • 11h ago My family said something along those lines when I lost my job a week ago "F them, they were lucky to have you!" A buddy of mine worked another department but she texted me recently that things have only gotten more chaotic.
    via Ethnax
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  • 17
    TheEPGFiles • 7h ago Employers need to realize that the workers are the business, the entire business, they're just the parasites leeching all the profit. They paid for the building and that's the extent of their usefulness.
    via Ethnax
  • 18
    This is, of course, embarrassing, so they engage in gaslighting, propaganda and petty tactics to make it look like their "labor" is just as valuable as actual labor, which actually produces things.
    via Ethnax
  • 19
    But if you fire the employer, nothing happens, if you fire the employee, you don't have business anymore.
    via Ethnax
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  • 20
    Affectionate-Tip-... . 9h ago at work Are your freelancer rates at least triple your previous salary? Otherwise screw them. They do need you more than they want to believe.
    via Ethnax
  • 21
    gravedilute 7h ago Had a similar situation and I thought the same thing "You do realise things will absolutely go to s*"t with this decision?"
    via Ethnax
  • 22
    They gave me a package and asked me to hand in my PC...ok 90 mins later my account was torched and all files and emails gone My coworkers are like...WTO?
    via Ethnax
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