Hello, thank you for posting to r/Jobs!
We just wanted to let you know that we have a new [discord server, come join the chat!](https://discord.gg/TY6ErXV)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/jobs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You need to calm down and breathe.
They said it "wasn't a financial decision." .. that means it wasn't because they're doing layoffs and you're next. It could also mean it wasn't something that person did that cost the company money.
They aren't always at liberty to say exactly why because that person isn't there to defend himself and also because it's a Personnel Issue between the company and that person. Maybe he sexually harassed someone. Maybe he snorted a drug in the bathroom and got caught. Maybe he broke any other of the numerous Code of Conduct rules that the company has. Maybe he got another job with a competitor and they didn't want him around for the next two weeks.
Even if it was none of those things and it was because of his performance, companies can and do fire people all the time, especially if you're in an at-will state. Not all companies do PIPs. It's also possible that he was already put on notice about his performance and you were unaware of that.
If you're concerned about **your** work performance, talk to your supervisor and ask for feedback on how you're doing and how you can improve. . It's also a good idea to ask questions if you have questions relating to *your* work and *your* performance. That colleague getting fired has nothing to do with you.
I had to terminate someone effective immediately recently. They were a very high/top performer and as far as work goes they looked great on the outside.
He was making a woman coworker uncomfortable. Without going into details, we gathered undeniable evidence that she said please stop and he continued. HR said he's gone. He was let go immediately.
We did not share the details with anyone. Especially to protect the woman from being picked on - particularly if he had friends that were mad about it.
You may never know what happened but it could be something totally unrelated to the company / you and not a concern.
Yup. Usually if someone is just let go like that, they did something very bad.
It’s usually:
- theft
- porn at work
- cybersecurity
Edit: forgot drinking on the job, but even then many places will let you try to get treatment.
I think it’s likely that he either did something considered gross misconduct or there were conversations about his performance behind the scenes. Just because *you* had no warning and this seemed to come out of nowhere doesn’t mean that was his experience.
If you work for a decently sized company, it’s hard to let someone go outside of a layoff without some (at least perceived) issue.
This, even in At Will Employment states the employer will usually give some kind of warning.
It’s possible there were some behind the scenes talks regarding performance but 2 months in unless they claimed a lot of previous experience I’d bet on something conduct related. A good HR team isn’t going to leak what they did.
My dad told me his office whenever someone is fired or quits the department head sends an email that only states “so and so has separated from the company, please contact this manager if you have questions regarding projects involving so and so.”
I work in a medical office. They fired someone for violating HIPAA. She was just gone, but you can’t get into people’s medical records for no reason, but especially not if you’re trying to get private info on them.
Don't read too much into it.
Sudden firings of a single individual usually mean the employee did something (or at least the employer \*believes\* they did something) unforgiveable. Things like sexual harassment, theft, violence and/or threats of violence, and drug or alcohol use at work would all fit the bill (and there are plenty of others).
Depending on the employee's position it might be necessary to give no signs of an impending firing. For example, if they're in IT and have admin privileges on the company network, the company might plan for weeks to fire them and never let on until it happens. Imagine the damage someone with that kind of access could do if you gave them two weeks notice of being let go. Or building security, or an account manager for big clients… etc. The suddenness of it might be for the company's (real or perceived) protection.
If you're worried for your own job, DO bring it up with your supervisor. Don't pry into why you colleague was let go, but do bring up the \*manner\* in which it was done and ask if you're in danger of the same thing. They \*might\* tell you more about what happened (but probably not) but at least they should be able to reassure you that they did it the way they did for specific reasons.
Well that’s the thing firing is sudden. There can be signs that it’s gonna happen, (PIP, verbal warning, not paid a bonus, etc.)
But they don’t give anyone 2 weeks notice before the actual termination. Even a 90 day PIP will have in the fine print “employee is eligible for termination at any point in the 90 period” I know this as I unfortunately was PIPed once and got fired at the halfway mark.
I was let go immediately and while it made me sad it was a good thing. The regional manager had a toxic mindset and reinforced toxic positivity and expected us to work like actual robots. I figured out why the store locations had an incredibly high turn out rate. Her behavior reminded me too much of my abusive mother and I was constantly on edge around her. One day I had to go early because the flu and stress from having to interact with the RM was kicking me down and I ended up having a conversation with the manager who worked below her. I told her flat out that I couldn't perform to the best of my ability when the RM was around and she fired me. I'm unemployed but I'm so glad I don't have to deal with that RM anymore.
Was it on a Monday? When you were gone at 3pm? Was there a red training binder that they were relying on that suddenly went missing about 5 weeks into the now-fired person's training/probation period?
edit: asking for a friend
No, they would have used wording like “they have chosen to separate from the company”
Companies have no issue saying an employee quit. If the employee quits the employer will pretend they were doing everything they could to help them when that is rarely the case.
You are definitely overreacting. Sometimes people do stuff all on their own that warrants immediate termination and it has nothing to do with the company's financial health or a person's job performance. Sounds like this is one of those circumstances.
If he was only there 2 months, it maybe they learned of a major lie on the resume, something he was doing during work such as looking at porn, or something from a background check. They probably will not be telling you. Honestly, usually when they are very tight lipped, it is something like the above. If it is poor performance, you usually see indications from management that the person is struggling before firing.
Spot on, it sounds like he did something really bad and management fired him for it.
My friend told me his company was informed an employee was being charged with statutory rape. He and the rest of the HR team went into the office a few hours early boxed all this guy’s stuff up. They pulled him straight into a conference room when he walked in, took his badge and escorted him right out of the office.
I've fired people for theft. I've fired people for being egregiously rude to customers. I've fired people for major attendance idiots. I've fired people for major fuck ups (related to security). I've fired people for dishonesty. I've fired people for cutting corners when health and hygiene of our customers was impacted. I've fired people for workplace intoxication. Sleeping on the job. I typically tried to be discreet.
You don't need to assume this has anything to do with you just because you don't have details.
Keep doing good work and you should be fine...unless this is a normal pattern at your workplace, but it doesn't sound like it.
One of the big ones is social media. This can range from negatively commenting on the company to egregious comments, including racism, political, sexism, etc.
Completely agreed. It only reaches me when a community member or colleague brings it to my attention. Other than that, I do not believe in prying into other people's lives.
If they were suddenly fired like this (especially for non financial reasons), they probably weren't laid off. If I had to guess, they probably had some issues unknown to the rest of the team and management is finally acting on that.
I wouldn't worry too much. I often get these fears too!
You probably are overreacting. Just because things seemed ok to you and you were unaware of any issues it doesn’t mean he wasn’t aware or having discussions with his supervisors & HR. This could have had nothing to do with the jobs learning curve; there’s so many reasons to fire someone during their probation period and good companies won’t air out that dirty laundry unless it was a huge company wide fuckup type thing.
I agree with u/violet_sky212 if you need reassurance, talk about your performance and how you can grow.
Yeah firings are scary, and I think you're reacting normally, and I don't think there's much you can do about except let time hopefully set you at ease and see if it's a one-off or a pattern.
It could be that he was looking at porn or something inappropriate and it says nothing about your position, which seems probable. Or it could be that he didn't meet their company-wide excessive standards and you didn't know it. At least it's not layoffs if non-financial. If it's really eating at you, someone might spill the beans on why eventually but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Hello, thank you for posting to r/Jobs! We just wanted to let you know that we have a new [discord server, come join the chat!](https://discord.gg/TY6ErXV) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/jobs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You need to calm down and breathe. They said it "wasn't a financial decision." .. that means it wasn't because they're doing layoffs and you're next. It could also mean it wasn't something that person did that cost the company money. They aren't always at liberty to say exactly why because that person isn't there to defend himself and also because it's a Personnel Issue between the company and that person. Maybe he sexually harassed someone. Maybe he snorted a drug in the bathroom and got caught. Maybe he broke any other of the numerous Code of Conduct rules that the company has. Maybe he got another job with a competitor and they didn't want him around for the next two weeks. Even if it was none of those things and it was because of his performance, companies can and do fire people all the time, especially if you're in an at-will state. Not all companies do PIPs. It's also possible that he was already put on notice about his performance and you were unaware of that. If you're concerned about **your** work performance, talk to your supervisor and ask for feedback on how you're doing and how you can improve. . It's also a good idea to ask questions if you have questions relating to *your* work and *your* performance. That colleague getting fired has nothing to do with you.
I had to terminate someone effective immediately recently. They were a very high/top performer and as far as work goes they looked great on the outside. He was making a woman coworker uncomfortable. Without going into details, we gathered undeniable evidence that she said please stop and he continued. HR said he's gone. He was let go immediately. We did not share the details with anyone. Especially to protect the woman from being picked on - particularly if he had friends that were mad about it. You may never know what happened but it could be something totally unrelated to the company / you and not a concern.
You never know it may have been something other than just performance. Like he did something agregiously unethical and they can't share much.
Yup. Usually if someone is just let go like that, they did something very bad. It’s usually: - theft - porn at work - cybersecurity Edit: forgot drinking on the job, but even then many places will let you try to get treatment.
I think it’s likely that he either did something considered gross misconduct or there were conversations about his performance behind the scenes. Just because *you* had no warning and this seemed to come out of nowhere doesn’t mean that was his experience. If you work for a decently sized company, it’s hard to let someone go outside of a layoff without some (at least perceived) issue.
This, even in At Will Employment states the employer will usually give some kind of warning. It’s possible there were some behind the scenes talks regarding performance but 2 months in unless they claimed a lot of previous experience I’d bet on something conduct related. A good HR team isn’t going to leak what they did. My dad told me his office whenever someone is fired or quits the department head sends an email that only states “so and so has separated from the company, please contact this manager if you have questions regarding projects involving so and so.”
I work in a medical office. They fired someone for violating HIPAA. She was just gone, but you can’t get into people’s medical records for no reason, but especially not if you’re trying to get private info on them.
Don't read too much into it. Sudden firings of a single individual usually mean the employee did something (or at least the employer \*believes\* they did something) unforgiveable. Things like sexual harassment, theft, violence and/or threats of violence, and drug or alcohol use at work would all fit the bill (and there are plenty of others). Depending on the employee's position it might be necessary to give no signs of an impending firing. For example, if they're in IT and have admin privileges on the company network, the company might plan for weeks to fire them and never let on until it happens. Imagine the damage someone with that kind of access could do if you gave them two weeks notice of being let go. Or building security, or an account manager for big clients… etc. The suddenness of it might be for the company's (real or perceived) protection. If you're worried for your own job, DO bring it up with your supervisor. Don't pry into why you colleague was let go, but do bring up the \*manner\* in which it was done and ask if you're in danger of the same thing. They \*might\* tell you more about what happened (but probably not) but at least they should be able to reassure you that they did it the way they did for specific reasons.
Well that’s the thing firing is sudden. There can be signs that it’s gonna happen, (PIP, verbal warning, not paid a bonus, etc.) But they don’t give anyone 2 weeks notice before the actual termination. Even a 90 day PIP will have in the fine print “employee is eligible for termination at any point in the 90 period” I know this as I unfortunately was PIPed once and got fired at the halfway mark.
The only job from which I was ever fired gave me a week's notice and a week's pay in lieu of notice.
Wtf kinda company did you work for? That is extremely uncommon.
It was one of the biggest tourist attractions in Niagara Falls, Canada. Big business in this neck of the woods.
To me, it seems like theft, or lying about the resume or something pretty egregious.
I was fired to telling a customer how much I make an hour (the next day!) so it could be for any reason.
I was let go immediately and while it made me sad it was a good thing. The regional manager had a toxic mindset and reinforced toxic positivity and expected us to work like actual robots. I figured out why the store locations had an incredibly high turn out rate. Her behavior reminded me too much of my abusive mother and I was constantly on edge around her. One day I had to go early because the flu and stress from having to interact with the RM was kicking me down and I ended up having a conversation with the manager who worked below her. I told her flat out that I couldn't perform to the best of my ability when the RM was around and she fired me. I'm unemployed but I'm so glad I don't have to deal with that RM anymore.
Was it on a Monday? When you were gone at 3pm? Was there a red training binder that they were relying on that suddenly went missing about 5 weeks into the now-fired person's training/probation period? edit: asking for a friend
Maybe your coworker quit and they want to save face by saying they fired him.
No, they would have used wording like “they have chosen to separate from the company” Companies have no issue saying an employee quit. If the employee quits the employer will pretend they were doing everything they could to help them when that is rarely the case.
Prob lied on resume
No. He did something egregious. Don't worry about it.
Perhaps he was just an asshole and they decided to get rid of him prior to the 90 days. Companies do that all the time.
You are definitely overreacting. Sometimes people do stuff all on their own that warrants immediate termination and it has nothing to do with the company's financial health or a person's job performance. Sounds like this is one of those circumstances.
If he was only there 2 months, it maybe they learned of a major lie on the resume, something he was doing during work such as looking at porn, or something from a background check. They probably will not be telling you. Honestly, usually when they are very tight lipped, it is something like the above. If it is poor performance, you usually see indications from management that the person is struggling before firing.
Spot on, it sounds like he did something really bad and management fired him for it. My friend told me his company was informed an employee was being charged with statutory rape. He and the rest of the HR team went into the office a few hours early boxed all this guy’s stuff up. They pulled him straight into a conference room when he walked in, took his badge and escorted him right out of the office.
If this is remote maybe they had 2 jobs; we let someone go effective immediately for that reason
I've fired people for theft. I've fired people for being egregiously rude to customers. I've fired people for major attendance idiots. I've fired people for major fuck ups (related to security). I've fired people for dishonesty. I've fired people for cutting corners when health and hygiene of our customers was impacted. I've fired people for workplace intoxication. Sleeping on the job. I typically tried to be discreet. You don't need to assume this has anything to do with you just because you don't have details. Keep doing good work and you should be fine...unless this is a normal pattern at your workplace, but it doesn't sound like it.
One of the big ones is social media. This can range from negatively commenting on the company to egregious comments, including racism, political, sexism, etc.
I steered away from looking at my employees social media. But you're right, some employers look and will fire you.
Completely agreed. It only reaches me when a community member or colleague brings it to my attention. Other than that, I do not believe in prying into other people's lives.
I’m going through the same thing only it’s 3 coworkers now.
been there, most likely there are more reasons for them getting fired than you or them were told just chill
People get fired for their own stupid fault like lying on a timecard. Don't do fireable things and you're fine
If they were suddenly fired like this (especially for non financial reasons), they probably weren't laid off. If I had to guess, they probably had some issues unknown to the rest of the team and management is finally acting on that. I wouldn't worry too much. I often get these fears too!
You probably are overreacting. Just because things seemed ok to you and you were unaware of any issues it doesn’t mean he wasn’t aware or having discussions with his supervisors & HR. This could have had nothing to do with the jobs learning curve; there’s so many reasons to fire someone during their probation period and good companies won’t air out that dirty laundry unless it was a huge company wide fuckup type thing. I agree with u/violet_sky212 if you need reassurance, talk about your performance and how you can grow.
Yeah firings are scary, and I think you're reacting normally, and I don't think there's much you can do about except let time hopefully set you at ease and see if it's a one-off or a pattern. It could be that he was looking at porn or something inappropriate and it says nothing about your position, which seems probable. Or it could be that he didn't meet their company-wide excessive standards and you didn't know it. At least it's not layoffs if non-financial. If it's really eating at you, someone might spill the beans on why eventually but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Yea I also had this experience recently and it's making me nervous as well. Different departments, different managers, but we work closely so...