Employee leaves job of 4 years for new role, the position gets eliminated 3 days before his start date: 'Now I'm unemployed with rent due in 3 weeks'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Aug 8, 2026 1:00 PM EDT

Should a company be able to fire someone who hasn't even started to work there?

It is a risky job market out there, and it puts a lot of employees in a position where they don't want to leave a role unless they have something better lined up (or they really, really have to). If the workday is bearable and the salary makes ends meet, there is little tempting about searching for work in a landscape of increasing AI automation, hiring freezes, and ghost job postings.

Still, most would agree that there are times when it is appropriate to give notice, namely when you have signed a contract for a new position that offers you more money. Sometimes career progression can only happen when somebody has the confidence to job hop, and it is fairly normal practice for people to do that while they are still employed elsewhere.

This can be a vulnerable time, as leaving what you know and going on to something different always is. In a part of life that is as fickle as work, it can be even more nerve-wracking, because your livelihood depends on it. You want it to be a step up and not an unfortunate learning experience.

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  • A frustrated employee takes a call on a cell phone while sitting at a desk with colleagues behind him
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A frustrated employee takes a call on a cell phone while sitting at a desk with colleagues behind him

  • An employee was tempted into putting in notice at their current job by a recruiter, securing a role with a different company that paid $25k more after several rounds of interviews. Having signed the job offer, he put all his affairs in order to be ready to move on to something new.

    This new start was abruptly cut short when the company he was supposed to start at told him that they were eliminating his position only a few days before he was supposed to start. He wasn't sure if he would be able to take his old job back, and was left in a professional limbo that nobody would envy.

  • Corporate Absurdity @ConsoomerLs That's brutal.
    via ConsoomerLs

  • Accepted a job, put in my two weeks, and they rescinded the offer 3 days before my start date

    I was at my old company for 4 years. Got recruited for a role paying about 25k more. Did 3 rounds of interviews over 5 weeks. Got the offer in writing, signed it, put in my two weeks. My old job was cool about it. Manager wished me well, the team did a little goodbye lunch for me. I worked out my notice, handed everything off, finished clean. Tuesday I get an email from the new company's HR saying the position has been "eliminated due to a restructuring" and they're rescinding the offer. Three d
    via ConsoomerLs
  • Q17 ChosenQ @Chosen Q17 Never resign until you're clocked in day one. Signed offer, quit a 4-year job for +$25k... then they yank it 3 days out for “restructuring.” At-will only protects them. Brutal...
    via ChosenQ17
  • А iSaidlt @butwhysayit You should always resign only after you start ur new job and there is no law that requires you to give notice period
    via butwhysayit
  • Justin @SauceTray If you relied on your offer letter in good faith and suffered damages from it being rescinded, there are legal avenues to recoup the damages.
    via SauceTray
  • Rave Baby Rebecca Esq.... @RaveBabyBecca It's so cool that in America, a job offer can have literally every part of what makes a contract a contract but the law has decided it's different for some reason and employers can renege with O consequences.
    via RaveBabyBecca
  • IIB Blind @JoinBlind Rescinding offers should come with severance.
    via JoinBlind
  • AstralWingz @Zhane Star there's gotta be some kind of backup option to avoid this, right?
    via Zhane_Star
  • Reaper Capital @ReaperCapital If a company did this to me I would spend every waking money of my unemployed life ruining their business
    via ReaperCapital
  • J. Rolf Haltza ❤ @RolfHaltza Employers have no ethics or morals, only legal limits.
    via RolfHaltza
  • Alex Nunez❤ @AlexNoonan6 I got my offer rescinded during 2020 right when I graduated college I'm totally normal about it now just don't look me in the eye or mention commercial landlords in my presence
    via AlexNoonan6
  • Katerina Dimitratos ❤ @KDimitratos If you are hiring, this is the grimiest thing to do to people. If you find yourself as the employee in this situation, you qualify for unemployment with proof of the rescinded offer. If they postpone your start date, you qualify for unemployment until you start.
    via KDimitratos
  • Combat @combat1921 This sort of sh should entitle you to three months pay at whatever they offered you.
    via combat1921
  • Poi is looking for work in... @poiThePoi We no longer tell our old employers that we are leaving.
    via poiThePoi
  • Certified Supervillain @CrtfdSprvlln If you have a signed offer letter (you kept a copy didn't you?) you have a pretty cut & dry case of "breach of contract" in most states. Fraud is also on the table, as restructures can not come as a surprise.
    via CrtfdSprvlln

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