20+ Employees who were hired and quit on the same day: 'I won. 4 hours of work, for $12,646'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jun 17, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

It's no secret why some companies are constantly hiring. Or rather, they're constantly "hiring": they keep their applications up on job sites full time, since they can't seem to keep workers around for longer than a few weeks. Hmm… why would that be? 

Instead of finding the best and brightest, some companies prefer to cut corners and hire any warm body who walks through the door. Some workplaces know the work is unpalatable to many applicants, like at jobs where people have to work in high heat or in physically repetitive jobs. Other places have dubious ethics, and they know that their employees probably won't stick around long after they realize what they're actually being paid to do. One person mentioned that delivery drivers quit frequently: the job involves tight deadlines, moving heavy packages, and constantly walking and driving around, no matter the weather. 

At least these people got out of their jobs before they were too deep into the training process. It's quite inspirational! Maybe it'll inspire you to leave your own irritating job and seek out the profession of your dreams. 

Next, read about this new hire who showed up 15 minutes late on day one, insisting that he didn't like to follow orders: 'By 3 PM his keycard didn't work anymore." 

Advertisement
  • 01
    [deleted] As a teen, I applied for a standard teenage summer job picking berries on a farm. Thought id be with other people but turns out I was the only one hired and half of the first 12h day was also construction/helping the farm renovate their barn. Not worth it for minimum wage.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 02
    TheOneQueen A vacuum cleaner sales job. They explained that I'd have to go to people's houses and offer to clean one room for them with the vacuum and I'd get paid if during my vacuum demo, they bought a vacuum. Nah. I'm good. I liked the vacuum though.
    via u/TheOneQueen
  • 03
    BobbySurfer2019 When I was 16 I got a job at KFC, it was disgusting. The kitchen was dirty and people were r de af. They had me making the cole slaw. It came in separate bags i.e cabbage in single huge bag, carrots, mayo. I was mixing. it by hand and in a huge vat
    via u/BobbySurfer2019
  • 04
    thing. Found a cockroach in there. Told the manager and he replied that it was normal. I quit then and there. Noped outta that place.
    via u/BobbySurfer2019
  • 05
    mustbeshitinme Got a job at a sawmill right out of high school. It was probably opened in the 40's - dangerous as h I. First day One of the guys that worked there was bragging about how good the owner was to work for, held up his 2 fingered hand, touched the two nubs one at a time and said "I got $500 each when that happened!"
    via u/mustbesh*tinme
  • 06
    About an hour in I went to my car under the auspices of grabbing my thermos. Left and never went back.
    via u/mustbesh*tinme
  • 07
    sugar_bear65 Some helpdesk job. Recruiter lied his a off.
    via u/sugar_bear65
  • 08
    Brady Bunch12 I didn't but it was not uncommon at all to see new Amazon delivery drivers quit after 1-3 days. They picture it as driving and just sitting on their bt was my theory. Delivering 250 packages to 180 stops is hard work. Loading the van + walking some stupid a driveways/stairs with heavy packages + traffic can be overwhelming.
    via u/Brady Bunch12
  • 09
    FRAGILE FRAGILE 13
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 10
    Flahdagal Not me, but my coworkers. When I was 19 I had a summer job doing quality inspection of vias on ceramic substrates. What that meant was you got to work, put on a cleanroom suit, went through the air bath and into the clean tent. Clean tent was dark, not pitch black but not light enough to read much. Long table in the middle with two
    via u/Flahdagal
  • 11
    stations either side. Sit on stool, retrieve the first tray of substrates. These were about the size of an old photo slide, about 2"x2", but a little thicker. Place the first piece on the lighted microscope stand and inspect, scanning the entire piece as you're hunched over the microscope, side to
    via u/Flahdagal
  • 12
    side, about three minutes per piece. Note inspection on sheet, reach for next piece. Repeat by the hundreds. Repeat on Tuesday, then Wednesday, etc etc. There were two of us that made it through the whole summer. Most of the other hires lasted one day or less. More than one hire left during the training session.
    via u/Flahdagal
  • 13
    yakshack I was 23, out of college with a business degree, and I had just done a year teaching English in Eastern Europe and when I got back to the U.S. it was hard to find a job (2008). My hometown is really small and there weren't many opportunities so I was primarily applying in Nearest Big City. I was living. with my parents and full time job searching for about 4
    via u/yakshack
  • 14
    months when I got a job at a translating company. It was billed as a project manager as most of their work was remote with translators working all over the world. For my first week the company put me up in an Extended Stay with the idea that I'd find something permanent while I was there onboarding. Cool.
    via u/yakshack
  • 15
    My first day on the job it became very clear that this "global translating company" was actually about 5 people and my position as "project manager" was actually receptionist. Seriously, the most exciting part of the day was walking across the building to pick up the mail. I went to the hotel every night and cried on the phone to my mom, both about the
    via u/yakshack
  • 16
    job and also that I was so stressed about trying to find an apartment or room to rent in a week with a $26,000 salary. (A mid-size city in the Midwest during an economic downturn is a bleak place to be) My mom and dad told me that if it was truly that terrible and stressful that I should quit, move back with them and find something better.
    via u/yakshack
  • 17
    I did just that. I told my boss I'd finish out the week and, as no one had even asked or attempted to start the hiring paperwork while I was there, also a huge red flag to me, I told them not to pay me and just cover the hotel. It's the only time I've ever quit a job without notice.
    via u/yakshack
  • 18
    A few months later I found a much better job in that same city. It didn't pay that much more, but was with a big local nonprofit and the rest is history.
    via u/yakshack
  • 19
    SnowQuixote Wendy's. I worked a lot of fast food when I was a teenager, but being corrected on the way I said mayonnaise was too much apparently, Imao. We are weird when we're kids.
    via u/SnowQuixote
  • 20
    VanillaSketch A couple months ago I got a job working at this sales. company. I was told that it was going to be pretty straight forward and I would be going to stores and selling them some phone stuff. I think I quit an hour into my training when I was told that morals have no place in sales, and that I should say whatever I needed to in order to get our
    via u/VanillaSketch
  • 21
    customers to sign their contracts. I have no issues with sales in general, but I like to think that my integrity is worth more than a sales job.
    via u/VanillaSketch
  • 22
    Ch... it was a "brew house": code for independently owned applebee's with more beer options, usually local. the cooks smoked on the line, trash was thrown on the floor ankle-deep until the end of the night, the "confetti" in the ceiling light covers were bugs, the ceiling tiles were brown from having never been cleaned, the floor even with non-slip
    via u/ChefHannibal
  • 23
    shoes felt like I was walking on ice from the oil and whatever else, the chimney of the fryer caught on fire and I was told that happened every 2-3 days. I worked 4 hours, got my shift meal, told them I couldn't do it because I didn't want to be there the day they got a less lenient health inspector.
    via u/ChefHannibal
  • 24
    Cheezburger Image 10517936640
    via Mohamed hamdi on Unsplash+

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

  • 25
    homeric34 I was in a seconded job but was later offered another job by the CEO of the company I was seconded to. He tried to convince me to take the job without any contract or any assurance that the position was in any way secure once I assumed it and then later that day tried to withhold my salary after he heard rumors that I was resigning. I was
    via u/homeric34
  • 26
    thinking of resigning but I hadn't made my intentions. official yet so I pleaded my case until they finally released my salary. An hour after withdrawing my salary, I submitted my resignation.
    via u/homeric34
  • 27
    [de... In the 90s... When i was 18, the mall had a job, where you find people, and have them take a quick "5 min" survey, & give them $20. They paid us $13 an hour. PRETTY decent starting pay, for the time.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 28
    Legit, was BS, you ended up taking $3 out of the $20, call it a fee. The survey ACTUALLY took around 20 mins, and it was a REALLY far 4 min walk, into the back hallways (guts) of the mall. And you had to make a hourly quota.. WHICH WAS beyond dumb.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 29
    ... Survey takes 20 mins. You HAD to get 3 an hour. But 20 x 3 is 60 mins. So with the walking, and setup, you LITERALLY had to have LITERAL back-to-back Surveys.. Consistently.. If you didn't, it was a VERY harsh backroom talk from the boss. Called you lazy, nasty names, and "im about to fire your stupid a ill give you another chance.... MAYBE X3." .. But
    via u/[deleted]
  • 30
    My first and only (7 hour) shift... shift starts... 4 hours in. With 3 NASTY back Room Boss talks. That's all it took. "Screw this, i quit." "YOU CAN'T QUIT, I FIRED YOU!!!" "Whatever b this job is a joke."
    via u/[deleted]
  • 31
    From there, we Got in a VERY loud verbal fight, boss tried to physically remove me from the office, i pushed back, he slipped, fell, broke BOTH his elbows on a metal "box." Tried to sue me for medical bills. Said i leaped at him all the sudden, and in the SURPRISE attack, he jumped back and fell.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 32
    LUCKILY, the moron mentioned he had security cameras in his office. . And my "yelling" was all volume, and no motion. My Back to the camera. Meanwhile he was 2x my size, facing the camera, he was red, sweaty, and jumping all over the place, throwing his arms up and
    via u/[deleted]
  • 33
    pointing, spittle flying from his mouth.. It just looked like he was jumping around & screaming at me, all while i looked like i was silent, with my arms crossed. I (we) counter sued for 6 months of lost wages, IF i were to not be fired by such a volatile boss..
    via u/[deleted]
  • 34
    SOMEHOW... I won. 4 hours of work, for $12,646.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 35
    Telecetsch Wasn't the same day, took me about 2 weeks I think. I was a teenager working for Stewart's in NY. The manager there was nuts. Always treated me like garbage, called me r on a regular basis ("are you r ?"), refused to train me on the register because "we need a guy to do the stocking and women on the registers."
    via u/Telecetsch
  • 36
    I knew I wasn't going to last long when I went in the back cooler and it was a disaster. She told me to clean it up and organize it. So I did. She came to check on it and decided to knock over a whole stack of milk and eggs and told me to fix it and do it again. Last I heard she had gotten demoted and is no longer a manager but still an employee.
    via u/Telecetsch
  • 37
    Love4Lungs Decades ago I got work as an office assistant for a small garbage p/u company. The "office" was in the owners' kitchen, where the wife ran the admin stuff. I started taking calls, and many were complaints about recycling. The company charged extra for recycle. service, but they put it all in the trash. We were told to lie to them.
    via u/Love4Lungs
  • 38
    The wife-owner also ran a daycare out of her living room. I worked for them for two or three days, and never once saw anybody tend to those kids. She used a baby gate to separate the kitchen from the living room, and I still remember seeing those babies crying while they stood there in saggy diapers.
    via u/Love4Lungs
  • 39
    Co... Stood at stack of ~30 unfinished doors, lifted the top one 1 inch and slid it forward 3 inches so another guy could grab and feed it into a machine which trimmed the sides. When all doors were cleared, I rolled along another stack and started again. Repeat for about five hours in deafening noise. First day, last day.
    via u/ComposerNate
  • 40
    [de... Double glazing sales job. As soon as I got dropped off in my "patch", I knocked on two doors, felt an overwhelming sense of sadness, and then went home.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 41
    EhmHuts_2_0 I started working at a Greek restaurant first day got locked in the walk-in freezer by some coworkers, got food thrown in my face, the owner threw plates at me and my coworkers for making an order wrong and I had to work from 5 pm till 3 am without breaks. Even though I was 15 at the time
    via u/EhmHuts_2_0
  • 42
    bubbabrowned I wanted to quit, but I couldn't since it was my college internship. I was a computer science student back in 2004 and interned at this web development company back in the Philippines. First task they gave me was help my mentor with his job creating an online shopping experience for a client. My
    via u/bubbabrowned
  • 43
    job was to take an entire catalog and type it word-for- word into a text file so he could copy and paste it into the pages he was creating. To this day, the most mind- numbing experience I've had.
    via u/bubbabrowned

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

boss workplace-stories jobs job bosses Professional At Work work coworkers i quit quit satisfying quitting story quitting work workplace quitting story quitting
Scroll Down For The Next Article