Employee automates 15 hours of weekly work, only to get fired by boss immediately after: ‘I literally worked myself out of a salary’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Sep 10, 2026 7:15 AM EDT

Sometimes, staying inside the box is much more beneficial.

When we start a new job, one of our main objectives is to prove our worth. We want our boss to see our work and feel happy that they hired us. We want to impress our colleagues and show everyone we are valuable employees with a lot to bring to the table.

In reality, that is much easier said than done, but not for the reasons you might think. You can be the best employee in the world, and bring in the most impressive results, and still not get the recognition you deserve. Even worse, some employees would tell you that putting in "better" work will actually lead to the opposite result, going as far as leaving you without a job.

How does that happen? The story below is the perfect cautionary tale.

This employee started a job as a coordinator and immediately noticed that the team was wasting 15 to 20 hours a week on tasks that could be easily automated. So, wanting to improve productivity, the employee built a few templates to help with these tasks and ended up freeing significant time in their work schedule. They imagined that by doing so, not only would they impress their boss, but they would be able to free themselves up for higher-level projects. However, the exact opposite ended up happening. 

Since they reduced the workload so much, their position basically became redundant. This led the boss to tell the employee that they were no longer needed and to fire them. All that hard work only resulted in the poor employee being out of a job.

Should this employee not have created the automation, or should they have kept it a secret so they could do less work but still keep their job? The full story is waiting down below.

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  • Worried employee looking at work on computer.
    via Curated Lifestyle

    Worried employee looking at work on a computer.

    Models pictured are not representative.

  • Management is cutting my job after I automated 15 hours of weekly work, do I have to document it for them?

    When I took this coordinator job, our team was losing fifteen to twenty hours every week just updating client logs and manually formatting spreadsheets.
    via Claptrap_5Z
  • I built a few simple macros and formula templates that cut all that data entry down to an hour. I thought saving twenty hours a week would free me up for higher-level projects.
    via Claptrap_5Z
  • instead, my manager called me into a meeting last Friday. She told me that because our administrative workload dropped, they are merging
    via Claptrap_5Z
  • my role with a part-time position and letting me go. To get my severance check, they want me to write step- by-step documentation for every macro I set up.
    via Claptrap_5Z
  • I literally worked myself out of a salary. I should of just kept doing the data entry by hand like the last person.
    via Claptrap_5Z
  • Do I ACTUALLY have to document processes | created that were not in my original job description?
    via Claptrap_5Z
  • Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
    via Campaign Creators

    Employee looking at data on laptop.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Fremen_07Ghost Write the worst documentation possible. Make it technically accurate but completely impossible to follow without you.
    via Fremen_07Ghost
  • PhosphorStatic This is why people stop trying to optimize company workflows. You saved them thousands of dollars in labor and they reward you
    via PhosphorStatic
  • with a pink slip and homework. Write just enough to get your severance signed and do not answer a single text after your last day.
    via PhosphorStatic
  • RobfromHB Who is going be left to judge if the macros and steps are correct and maintainable?
    via RobfromHB
  • Claptrap_5Z OP Good point, my manager definitely cant read code so I can keep the docs super high level without worrying about them checking the actual steps.
    via Claptrap_5Z
  • Man working on laptop.
    via Roberto Vincenzo Minasi

    Man working on laptop.

    Models for explanatory purposes only.  

  • Stark45_Armor Check your contract first. If you created those scripts during work hours on company hardware, they usually own it. But you can make the documentation as vague as possible to still get that check.
    via Stark45_Armor
  • Avitas 1027 Automating it was the right call. Telling your boss you automated it was the mistake. You should have taken those 15 hours per week for yourself.
    via Avitas1027

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Tags

getting fired boss employee manager automation workflow work data workplace
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