In the professional world, leaving a job usually comes with a few formalities. You put in your notice, wrap up your work, and maybe say a few goodbyes on the way out. Not every job, however, deserves that kind of graceful exit. Sometimes, something happens that makes sticking around for another two weeks feel completely out of the question.
One Redditor asked people to share the quickest they’ve ever quit a job, and they delivered plenty of memorable stories. From someone lasting around 15 minutes to workers who simply got up and left after being disrespected, some of these jobs ended almost as soon as they began. Scroll down to read the best responses.
#1
I worked pro desk at Home Depot, my kid’s daycare called and said there was an accident. My boss told me I couldn’t leave. He was mistaken.
25points
#2
When I was 15, I got a job at the local Dairy Queen.
The manager asked me if I wanted to work the ice cream counter or the grill. I told him that I'd take the ice cream counter.
He pointed out that most guys (which I am) worked the grill, while girls worked ice cream. I told him that now I *really* wanted to work ice cream.
He started me at the grill.
About ten minutes, and one hamburger into my training shift, a friend's dad came in to use the can, and said, "if I knew you were looking for work, you could have come down and unladed trucks for me."
I asked if that was a job offer, and he said it was. I turned in my spatula and paper hat, and went to unload furniture trucks.
My Dad was pissed, and said I'd hate the warehouse job.
I worked at that company for the next 7 years.
The manager asked me if I wanted to work the ice cream counter or the grill. I told him that I'd take the ice cream counter.
He pointed out that most guys (which I am) worked the grill, while girls worked ice cream. I told him that now I *really* wanted to work ice cream.
He started me at the grill.
About ten minutes, and one hamburger into my training shift, a friend's dad came in to use the can, and said, "if I knew you were looking for work, you could have come down and unladed trucks for me."
I asked if that was a job offer, and he said it was. I turned in my spatula and paper hat, and went to unload furniture trucks.
My Dad was pissed, and said I'd hate the warehouse job.
I worked at that company for the next 7 years.
23points
#3
During summerbreak I was hired for a cleaning job. At the start of the first day they told me I couldn’t use the toilet during the day. Walked out 5 minutes after I started.
21points
#4
Walked into a group hiring promotion for a call centre. They wined and dined us and praised how amazing it is.. then they did the walk through of the work floor.
Everyone looked miserable and one guy working I walked by mouthed to me while shaking his head , “ run”.
I quit right there and got a job at Tim Hortons lol.
Everyone looked miserable and one guy working I walked by mouthed to me while shaking his head , “ run”.
I quit right there and got a job at Tim Hortons lol.
20points
#5
3.5 hours. I had been a cook for 10 years. I needed a second job because kitchen pay is a laughable joke. I was never great but I could hold my own and I generally knew how to read a room. Showed up for my first shift and the kitchen manager tossed me a 100 page recipe book. Said if I learned it “I would earn the right to work more.” He then left and didn’t come back for 2 hours.
When he came back at 4 pm, I was on a station learning the book and setting the station up for dinner service. He asked “what are you doing?” Told me I needed to find something to do. I told him I wasn’t a mind reader and if he needed help with something he could ask and I’d happily do it. Told me to go scrub the prep area in the back…that no one had used. So I did it. After another hour he came over and sent me home for the night. I said sure thing, tossed his recipe book in the trash can next to him, and left. Never went back. Pretty sure they closed their doors less than a year later. They didn’t pay me my 3.5 hours for several years. My state had to collect it and send it to me, but by god I got my money.
When he came back at 4 pm, I was on a station learning the book and setting the station up for dinner service. He asked “what are you doing?” Told me I needed to find something to do. I told him I wasn’t a mind reader and if he needed help with something he could ask and I’d happily do it. Told me to go scrub the prep area in the back…that no one had used. So I did it. After another hour he came over and sent me home for the night. I said sure thing, tossed his recipe book in the trash can next to him, and left. Never went back. Pretty sure they closed their doors less than a year later. They didn’t pay me my 3.5 hours for several years. My state had to collect it and send it to me, but by god I got my money.
17points
#6
The next day. I applied to many positions online with the restriction that I didn't want to work the weekend. My family does lots of things on the weekend, and I was content with waiting for a spot that could fit a Monday through Friday instead of giving up the minimal time I had to spend with family.
I got emailed by a FedEx warehouse, which I thought was odd. I verified with them my availability and was told it was fine. I come in to do the four hour orientation and get told "You have to work the weekend". I professionally sat through the rest of orientation and didn't go back. They called me and asked why, and I simply said "You lied to me about when I had to work, despite it clearly being listed on the application, so I will not be returning".
I got emailed by a FedEx warehouse, which I thought was odd. I verified with them my availability and was told it was fine. I come in to do the four hour orientation and get told "You have to work the weekend". I professionally sat through the rest of orientation and didn't go back. They called me and asked why, and I simply said "You lied to me about when I had to work, despite it clearly being listed on the application, so I will not be returning".
12points
#7
A bit of warehouse work in between engineering jobs
The Training >You move this heavy stuff to over there
Me: OK where's the trolley?
Trainer: No You carry
Me: I'm leaving
Trainer: no you can't
Me: Bye
About an Hour ish.
The Training >You move this heavy stuff to over there
Me: OK where's the trolley?
Trainer: No You carry
Me: I'm leaving
Trainer: no you can't
Me: Bye
About an Hour ish.
11points
#8
Got hired on as a forklift operator for a food packaging company. Told me 5 days a week and $12/hr, long time ago so wage wasn't bad. When I showed up on my first day they said a guy on the line quit so I'd be packing boxes instead and they could only pay me $8/hr and that line workers worked 7 days a week. I walked out.
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11points
#9
Worked security for a bar, hired just after Covid lockdown had been lifted locally. Every bar or restaurant was hiring service staff left and right. Was told I would be in a tipped-out position in addition to a flat hourly wage. I worked for three weeks until payday came around and I didn’t have a paycheck. Spoke with the GM, who acted like it was no big deal and would be corrected “in a few days”. It was a Friday of a holiday weekend and nothing could be done until the next week. I walked out on the spot. When I was finally able to pick up a paycheck over a week later, there were no tips included and they shorted my hours. Reported them to the state dept of labor and they closed before the end of the year. Evidently the financial mismanagement stretched much further than just my pay.
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11points
#10
After two days I ran out of clean black pants and thought my very dark jeans would pass for black. They called me out for it and told me to go home and change. It was a minimum wage job at a shoe store that lied about commission anyways so I just left and never went back.
11points
#11
Was hired by a company who had won the contract to create the fantasy football league on a national (UK) newspaper website in the very early 2000s. I was literally the sole developer they thought would produce their campaign for them.
First morning was sat at a table (yes TABLE not a desk) in a corridor with a PC that had a mouse that had to be used upside-down because the cable was so short. Was told that there was a coffee machine that I was welcome to use . . . . for £1 a time.
Went for lunch in the pub up the road and called their front desk. "Yeah hi, this is the guy that started there today. Just letting you know I won't be coming back".
First morning was sat at a table (yes TABLE not a desk) in a corridor with a PC that had a mouse that had to be used upside-down because the cable was so short. Was told that there was a coffee machine that I was welcome to use . . . . for £1 a time.
Went for lunch in the pub up the road and called their front desk. "Yeah hi, this is the guy that started there today. Just letting you know I won't be coming back".
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10points
#12
As a teenager I worked at subway for like a week.. my first day off training was customer appreciation day (bogo sandwichs) so the line was down the street, it was just me and this know it all wanna be manager snot nose little muskrat. She yelled at me and insulted me in the sandwich line in front of all the customers for not having enough tomatos, so I went to the back to "get tomatos". I walked right out the back door, waved at the line of customers as I walked by them and they literally cheered for me 😂 her name was Korryn and I wish many mild inconveniences upon her to this day.
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10points
#13
About two hours into training at a local sandwich shop.
The manager was walking me through food prep, pointed to a container of deli meat that had visible discoloration and slime along the edges, and told me to just rinse it in the sink, pat it dry with paper towels, and put it in the front line because they "didn't waste product here."
I took off the apron, laid it on the stainless steel counter, and walked right out the door. Called the county health inspector from my car before I even pulled out of the parking lot.
The manager was walking me through food prep, pointed to a container of deli meat that had visible discoloration and slime along the edges, and told me to just rinse it in the sink, pat it dry with paper towels, and put it in the front line because they "didn't waste product here."
I took off the apron, laid it on the stainless steel counter, and walked right out the door. Called the county health inspector from my car before I even pulled out of the parking lot.
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10points
#14
My first job was at Walmart I worked there for 7 years and then became an IT Admin for a local RV company, was there for a year but one day the owner came by and said "Hey I need you to find a reason to fire the front desk receptionist she's been here too long and makes too much for what she does"
Well not only did that rub me wrong the girl was pregnant! So I thought it over and said to hell. I pulled her aside one day and told her she needs to start looking for a new job and why.
I was fired the next day on the spot. Turns out that the owner was cheating on his wife and got that girl pregnant. She immediately ran to him and starting yelling at him told him who told her. He left his wife and now has married said front desk receptionist.
Anyway I was fired... So immediately Walmart reached out to me and offered me my old job back. I thought man great what a nice gesture! I went in to sign the paperwork and had to do a double take because the compensation said $6.75 an hour. I told them I was making over 12 an hour not 6 and they said they couldn't honor it because I had been gone over a year.... I stood up and walked out.
Well not only did that rub me wrong the girl was pregnant! So I thought it over and said to hell. I pulled her aside one day and told her she needs to start looking for a new job and why.
I was fired the next day on the spot. Turns out that the owner was cheating on his wife and got that girl pregnant. She immediately ran to him and starting yelling at him told him who told her. He left his wife and now has married said front desk receptionist.
Anyway I was fired... So immediately Walmart reached out to me and offered me my old job back. I thought man great what a nice gesture! I went in to sign the paperwork and had to do a double take because the compensation said $6.75 an hour. I told them I was making over 12 an hour not 6 and they said they couldn't honor it because I had been gone over a year.... I stood up and walked out.
9points
#15
I worked for a major internet house that rhymbes with Mo Maddy. The job was pitched as "technical support with the ability to sell and make a commission." About four weeks into the job, it was clear it was sales with support option. This became abundantly apparent when we were all called into a team meeting where our boss freaked out because we weren't hitting sales numbers. About 3 minutes into his expletive filled rant, I stood up, took off my badge, threw it at him and said "I do not tolerate being talked to like this by any one, much less some loser manager who thinks he's hot stuff." And I just... left. Went to my desk, grabbed my few things, and walked out.
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9points
#16
Did 3 months at Samsung before I decided it was insanity to keep working there.
I have never, and I mean never, seen such a messed up workplace culture as I did there. It was so incredibly *Korean*....as in, face is more important than truth, age=rank and to hell with you if you're young, they want 10, tell you they need 20, and call you a failure when you produce 15. You show up at 6am and leave at 8pm or you are a lazy piece of trash. If you're a woman...well, you're nothing. If you're white, they'll kick you out of the high level meetings and keep it to Koreans only, even if you are a senior director. I was yelled at for things that happened months before I worked there, and then called insubordinate when telling them I wasn't responsible for things that took place before I was an employee. That's what I mean by Korean. They were grateful to be miserable and competed with each other to seem more miserable than anyone else, because that meant "hard worker".
Plus my commute was 2 hours each way.
I didn't even keep it on my resume, despite it's global brand power.
I have never, and I mean never, seen such a messed up workplace culture as I did there. It was so incredibly *Korean*....as in, face is more important than truth, age=rank and to hell with you if you're young, they want 10, tell you they need 20, and call you a failure when you produce 15. You show up at 6am and leave at 8pm or you are a lazy piece of trash. If you're a woman...well, you're nothing. If you're white, they'll kick you out of the high level meetings and keep it to Koreans only, even if you are a senior director. I was yelled at for things that happened months before I worked there, and then called insubordinate when telling them I wasn't responsible for things that took place before I was an employee. That's what I mean by Korean. They were grateful to be miserable and competed with each other to seem more miserable than anyone else, because that meant "hard worker".
Plus my commute was 2 hours each way.
I didn't even keep it on my resume, despite it's global brand power.
9points
#17
As a 15 year old I signed up for cleanup duty on construction site. Instead they had me haul metal doors (with door frames) to the upper levels of the apartment building being built. Had to be carried by 4 dudes with belts cuz it was so heavy. I physically couldn't come back the next evening, my back hurt to just exist, let alone stand up straight.
8points
#18
“We don’t cold call here.”
They gave me a list and asked me to call people who had no association with the company.
After two calls, I got up and left.
The supervisor stopped me and told me they would withhold my paycheck if I didn’t work a full day.
I told him to feel free to keep that five bucks, I’m out.
They gave me a list and asked me to call people who had no association with the company.
After two calls, I got up and left.
The supervisor stopped me and told me they would withhold my paycheck if I didn’t work a full day.
I told him to feel free to keep that five bucks, I’m out.
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8points
#19
30 minutes into a new office job, I realized I absolutely reeked of cat pee. Took a bathroom break and just kept on walking.
We had just driven across the country for a new life and didn't realize the scared little guy used my fresh laundry as a toilet.
Somewhere out there, a few folks love to tell the story of the guy who showed up smelling like a litter box and then ghosted after half an hour. Well, that guy was me.
We had just driven across the country for a new life and didn't realize the scared little guy used my fresh laundry as a toilet.
Somewhere out there, a few folks love to tell the story of the guy who showed up smelling like a litter box and then ghosted after half an hour. Well, that guy was me.
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8points
#20
It was a door to door sales job vs what I applied for. I walked out during the orientation.
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7points