If you were ever fired, what were the exact words used (or at least as close as you can remember)? I’m just wondering if bosses actually yell “YOU’RE FIRED!” like in movies.
I sort of got the idea from that show on NBC about Donald Trump firing people. I wonder if he actually says “You’re fired” when dismissing someone in real life, or if he uses words that are a little more comforting.
The first time, I was told to come in the next day and talk to the manager and they sat me down and told me that they no longer needed my services. At the second job, they left me a note telling me to see the manager at noon the next day and I got the same talk.
No “You’re Fired!” moments for me.
I was called into a room with the HR Director and my supervisor and here’s how the meeting went:
Supervisor: Overly, we have some concerns about your performance. We just don’t feel you’re happy here. In fact, we feel you’re too intelligent for this position, that it might be wrong for you.
Me: Too intelligent?
HR Director: Yes, we really need somebody who is excited about faxing and copying, and we just don’t get the feeling that you share that excitement.
Me: Um, well, I…I…Um, excited about faxing and copying? I’m sorry, but I’m not sure that I know of people who really get excited about that. Is there something wrong with my performance?
Supervisor: Well, not your performance per se, but we think you may just be a little too independent of a thinker to continue in this position.
And so on…
I had made the mistake a week earlier in admitting to my supervisor that I was going to night school to get my master’s. Not something to tell your supervisor when you’re an administrative assistant. Nope, not at all. This was considered the meeting where I got a warning, but at the end of the meeting I told them that perhaps we could come to an agreement - I would continue to work there while they would search for a replacement. (I really needed the money.) They found one about a month later and I got my second, final warning speech which turned out to be my firing speech. It was really weird - they insisted on following procedure the entire time even though they knew I wanted outta there. But I guess it reduces their liability. Which was important, since I had reported to my supervisor that many of the brokers in my division were committing fraud on their documents. That didn’t really stand in my favor, either.
Nope, just got called into the HR guy’s office at about 4:30 and was told that [BigBoss] didn’t think I should be at the company any more. We talked about the usual end-of-employment cleanup stuff until about 5:15, then I grabbed my things from my cube and left. No yelling or cursing – that would’ve been the day before, as much by me as [SmallBoss] – just the HR dude walking out of the building with me to make sure I didn’t crash the servers on my way out 
I didn’t get fired per se, but laid off because our startup division never got as profitable as it was supposed to be.
My boss and I both got laid off the same morning. Two big shots from corporate came down, and that was the give away right there. One asked me to step into a conference room, another asked my boss to step into a seperate conference room. My guy started stammering and talking quickly, and I was a bit numb at the time and was only half listening to him. He was definitely more nervous than I. It was much more of a “we’re so very sorry” sort of thing, rather than a “You’re Fired!” thing.
I was fired twice.
When I was a teenager, I worked at a movie theater and was a lifeguard at an indoor pool. Because of my lifeguarding job, my feet were always horribly dried and cracked. One night at the theater, I was sitting on the ticket box, as we ushers were wont to do. The regional manager came in, accompanied by his wife and pushing his mom in a wheel chair. He glanced at me and asked “Do your feet hurt.” I said “yes”, surprised that he was paying any attention to me. That pissed him off so much that he had the theater manager fire me at the end of the week. That poor guy was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing and low key. The next summer I tried to come back, but the regional manager saw my paycheck and said if I came in again, it was as a volunteer.
The other time was for actual incompetence. As a waiter. It was very humbling, knowing that no matter how good I was at physics and math, I couldn’t memorize an entire menu, including prices, and hustle food and drink around. (This was a pretty stressful environment. Only one waitress who was there when I was hired was still there when I was fired - and I was the only one for whom it was just a summer job!) No, “YOU"RE FIRED”, just a “You just aren’t cut out for this job”. My response? “Damn straight. Can I go now, or do I have to work this afternoon?”
I hardly got any speech at all. I had gotten into a big row with my “manager” snickers the day before because she would not leave me alone. She was always pulling me aside to have “talks” etc., and that day I finally told her that I just wanted her to LEAVE ME ALONE and let me get my work done. The next day I called in sick, being sick of work. She called a few minutes later and told me that they decided that I should just “not come in again.” Being kind of sleepy, I said OK and hung up. It actually took me a minute to realize that she had fired me!
Of course later I had to call back and talk about when I could get my stuff. They wanted to have an escort, but the person was really late so I ended up just walking in and getting all my stuff by myself. I heard later that when she heard I had done that, she hit the roof. HA-HA! I sort of regret not reformatting the hard drive or something…
I used to cook in a bar. I had a key to the kitchen door, as I was usually in before the bar staff to get my prep work done.
One weekend, I took a vacation. I let the boss know well in advance, and I had arranged for coverage and pre-ordered supplies.
When I came back from my 2 day vacation, I found that my key no longer worked. I went inside, and the bartender said I should call the boss. She knew what was going on, but didn’t feel she had the authority to tell me. I called the boss, and he told me that I was fired because I never cleared my vacation with him, and that he changed the lock.
Then he had the sack to tell me that my replacement couldn’t make it in that day, and could I stay and cover him?
Time healed all wounds, and I still occasionally pop into that bar for a few drinks now and then. He even got me a bottle of good champagne when my son was born.
I was working selling cut-rate women’s clothing, when I had a difference of opinion with the store manager. I was of the opinion that she was an idiot, and she disagreed. I was told that I was being “let go”. This was not until after I had worked the entire weekend with a new, untrained employee, though. I thought that was a pretty cute trick.
I had been considering how much I would have to cut back on the job when I went into grad school the following month anyway, so I didn’t suffer much.
I had been useless in my office for nearly six months before they fired me 
and it wasn’t a “You’re Fired”, more like “Please leave”. I was called into a cubicle, and told that my services (???) were no longer needed, and so I must resign. I had been expecting the sack for nearly three months, so it wasnt too hard.
At the construction company I used to work for, the firings went very differently depending on the reasons the employee was being fired. A couple of examples:
A young engineer in his first job out of college just couldn’t function without constant supervision. After two months, we sat down with him, discussed our concerns and what we expected from someone in his position, and told him we’d give him another month to evaluate him. At the end of that month, he still wasn’t up to the job, so we told him that we didn’t think he was right for the job. It wasn’t confrontational at all - he was pretty much resigned to it.
A foreman was caught selling materials off the job site and pocketing the cash. He was fired (in a profanity-laced tirade) as he was being handcuffed.
The field guys were usually only fired for not showing up. That came as a phone call from the dispatcher, and they were never home to talk to her directly. She’d always have to leave a message - “yeah, tell him he’s fired.” About half the time they’d show up the next day and claim they never got the message, and sometimes (if they were particularly good operators) they’d go back to work.
Occasionally, somebody would be fired for gross incompetence or insubordination on the site. In these cases, the superintendant would say simply, “You’re fired!” The company owner used to be pretty enthusiastic about firing guys for this, but he toned it down after someone chased him around the job site trying to brain him with a shovel.
Heh. They were extremely cowardly about it when I worked at Food Lion. Basically, my parents I insisted I get a crappy job before I went off to college, presumably as motivation. After two weeks of honest resumes and no luck, I lied about my grades (made them lower) and didn’t put my plans to attend college later on. My job interview consisted of “You’re 6’2’’, we need a stock boy. You’re hired. Now move these heavy things.” Two weeks later I asked for a Monday off because I would be attending college orientation that day. When I came back in Tuesday, my name wasn’t on the schedule for the next two weeks. I asked what was up, and was told that there was a minor mishap with my schedule, and that I’d be on next pay period’s schedule. I wasn’t, read between the lines, and didn’t bother checking back after that.
LOL too funny! I just recently had pretty much the same thing (I’m an administrative assistant). I got the “we don’t think you’re happy with your job” speech. I didn’t get fired, but all of a sudden they’re really pushing for me to write the procedure manual for my position (by the end of March) and I’m to keep a log of everything I do all day long and submit it weekly. This in conjunction with some other horrid policies (that apply only to me) that have me ticked off beyond belief. Coincidentially, this occurred 1 week after the semester started and they found out that I’m graduating in August. I’ve already cleared all my personal stuff from my desk (except for some pictures) & computer. I figure I’ll get canned about as quick as I get the procedure manual done. I won’t be too upset if that happens, everything that I liked about this job went into the tank after the “meeting”.
I worked at Fred Meyer doing monkey work (bagger, cashier, restocker) for about three years and I was called into the manager’s office one day (near the end of my shift, of course). I had no idea what would happen. She told me that I had been late for work repeatedly (true) and as an example to others she said “so I’m terminating you.”
I laughed and left.
I’ve been fired twice. Both times for “incompetence”. Fortunately for my ego, only one was where I could not do the job. The other was politics.
The first was at a warehouse loading semi’s. They had a very high accuracy/speed requirement, and I wasn’t cutting it. I knew it was coming, and they knew I knew.
They grabbed me at the end of the shift and told me that my speed/accuracy was not at the target, and that they’d “have to let me go”. It was a summer job and it was less than 2 weeks before I would have turned in my notice anyway. I just took the time as vacation, and considered it a lesson learned. I am not cut out for strenuous manual labor
The second time was more difficult, both for me and my boss. He and I were doing the same job when a promotion came along. I recognized the promotion as being a whipping boy for the BigBoss, and decided that I didn’t want it, even though I was the most qualified. So my co-worker took it.
He wound up being the whipping boy for EVERYTHING that went wrong. I sat next to him and listened to the verbal abuse that the BigBoss put him through every day. She then assigned him the “dumb” employees (Her words, not mine), and told him to get rid of us (I heard that part over the wall).
Dumb employees were defined as people that she didn’t like. Many of us had been there longer than she had (I was there 7 years), and better understood the process. We stood up to her when she did dumb things, and were not part of her social circle. We also complained to HR about the verbal abuse that we received.
When I was let go, the BigBoss and the WhippingBoy came to my desk as I got in that morning. She had a gleeful smile on her face as they asked me into the conference room. We went through the spiel (“It’s not working out… You’re not accomplishing as we hoped…We’re going to have to let you go”). She said the entire speech with a smile on her face, and WhippingBoy just looked miserable.
I later ran into WhippingBoy at a company party (oddly enough, I was still invited, even after being fired), and found out that he had developed such stress from my termination that he’d transferred to another non-management job. I, on the other hand, had found a better job at another company, making more money with less stress.
And BigBoss was fired less than 6 months after I was…
I was laid off last June, when my little fish company got swallowed by a big ugly fish. It wasn’t a suprise, at least. I’d like to think my scowl and looming size made the asshat who did it feel uncomfortable, but I doubt it. We were talking about how thick and long the shaft I was getting would be when someone ran past the office, crying. Ah, fun times.
Scarlet, that sucks. You know, the week I told my supervisor that I was getting my master’s another administrative assistant came over to my desk and said, “Never let them know how smart you are. Never!” I thought she was being a little paranoid, but it turns out she wasn’t.
When they advertise those jobs, they advertise for “critical thinkers,” but when they actually get one, they realize “Oh, shit. This person’s a critical thinker - they’re going to realize what a shitty job they’re in! Let’s get rid of 'em quick!”
Best of luck to you - work on that manual veerrry ssslowly (unless you’ve got something else going - then get your ass outta there ASAP).
I have been fired twice in my life (44 years)…by the same company…in the same year.
I also worked for Fred Meyer…for almost ten years. I was considered a rebel/troublemaker, mainly because I wouldn’t play the game (Good Ole Boy Company), wouldn’t keep my mouth shut, and had no problem going over a supervisors head…or a manager…or the store director. (I even testified for another employee, against the company in an arbitration brought about by the union…and ended up winning that employee a large settlement, and proving the Head of Corporate Resourses AND the Vice President of the Company to be big fat liarheads)
I transferred to another store closer to my home, and lo and behold, both the store director and my immediate manager of cashiers were two of the people whose toes I had tromped on five years prior.
Long story short, I was set up on a money order shortage, pulled into the directors office with the manager who also hated me, and fired…with great “smugness” from both, tho I showed them where the “missing” money order was (lost and found drawer), which was cashed in immediately by said manager (therefore, no loss to the company) I also asked to view video footage from the six cameras trained at the desk I worked at (what a coinkydink…it had “accidentally” been erased)
I fought for my job back thru the union, was forced to go back to work under extremely stressful conditions (managers hated me and belittled me, regular employees loved me because “the little guy” won) for six months, with no holiday pay or medical benifits, until the Company argued with the union over back pay and other issues.
I finally settled for less than I was due just to get the whole thing over with, and, less than one week after recieving my back pay and benifits back, they fired me again over some petty infraction…which I was expecting, and, unlike the first time (which devistated me…enuendos of theft, ect.) I was relieved…and THAT time, I got to tell those two exactly what I thought of them, the company, and their “good ole boy” viewpoints, and I walked out with a big smile on my face, and my head held high.
When I was fired from the only job I’ve ever been fired from, for gross fucking up, I got a “You’re fired!” Preceded by…, well, here’s the tale of woe.
My day job was driving a floral delivery truck, and I played drums in a bar band. We had a week long gig in Victoria, Texas, which is about 125 miles from Houston. I’d made it through a week of driving back to Houston after we quit playing about 1:30 in the morning, grabbing some quick winks, and making it to work at 8:00 AM.
But the last night we had to tear down and load equipment. We arrived back in Houston just in time for me to go directly to my delivery job. I loaded up my first run and left the shop. Since I was still wearing stage clothes, I decided to stop at my apartment and change.
I got there and sat down in a chair so I could lean over and pull off the knee-high boots I was wearing. They were high-heeled, of course, and leather and I sure didn’t want to spend a summer day in Houston, when I was already dog-tired, hobbled by them.
Suddenly, it was 3:00 PM. Yikes! I leapt up and ran to the truck, and hauled ass through my delivery run. Well, the flowers I was deliivering had spent the better part of a very hot day in a closed van. Not good.
When I got back to the shop, the designers were all a-twitter. A voice sang out,“Oh Ma-ack. He’s back!”
Mack, the owner, who was an extremely nellie gay man, stormed into the back and put his hands on his hips. The message was simple:
“You lousy, two-timing BITCH!”
“YOU’RE FIRED!”
And that was that. I was bummed, primarily for having screwed up. I later went back to work for Mack, so I suppose fences were mended.
I was fired from a job I hated on the very day that I went in planning to type out my resignation and give two week’s notice. The thing that was odd was that I was fired first thing in the morning (always unadvisable, from a corporate security standpoint) – shortly after I arrived, but before I could get to typing out that letter, I was called into the conference room and told “this is the last day you’ll be working here.” I’d been on the job less than six months and the job was crap, but it bothered me nevertheless.
I wasn’t given any reason why – I have my suspicions, to this day – even though I asked for specifics. I was upset over the weekend, I realized in retrospect that I wasn’t upset because of the loss of the job, I was upset because I felt cheated. I wanted to be the one to say “This piece of crap job is crushing my soul, you’re a bunch of jackasses and I’m out of here.” I hate it when options are taken away from me, and that’s what they did. (I’m a control freak, what can I say.)
I also felt quite angry that one of my co-workers (no one was really a boss, everyone in the office was nominally equivalent and we all reported to someone on the other side of the country) was absent for this little “sneak attack.” He was, coincidentally, the only one of my three co-workers with whom I’d formed any kind of alliance or friendship, and someone I’d also been doing some work with for outside clients, discussed (privately) in one of our offices when we were off the clock.
It turned out that my ally was kept entirely out of the loop; when he returned on Monday and found out that I was gone, he was livid. The receptionist there was still a friend and she called me to let me know that there was screaming and yelling. That made me smile. He and I are actually still friends to this day, and his brother ended up hiring for a much better job at nearly twice the pay within two weeks. 