I worked for a pharmaceutical advertising agency for nearly 2 years. My boss was an imbecile who was not qualified for the position he held. Every person he managed (about 5 of us) were more experienced and intelligent about the business that he was, and he knew it. He therefore would react negatively to all of us whenever we did something that got us praise or positive attention for senior management or our clients. Several of us went to complain about him, but nothing happened. The clients even complained about this guy being unfit for his position, but still nothing happened to him.

I finally got switched to a new team (and boss), but the new team’s funding ran out when a client’s product didn’t pass FDA approvals when they thought it would. I came into work every single day for weeks on end, with nothing to do, day after day. I began to get really worried about my job security in this economy, so I went to the head of my department and told him about my concerns (particularly in light of the fact that my wife was several months along in her pregnancy). He smiled and assured me I was a great employee and that I had nothing to worry about. He said “You’re safe, lay-offs just aren’t in our agency culture. We don’t do that to our people here.” I left his office feeling confident that I had nothing more to worry about and that work would get busy again and I’d be back at it. My wife went into labor a few months later and I took a few days off to be with her and the baby.

When I returned to the office, I was called into HR where they told me I was being laid-off. I was escorted to my desk and told to pack whatever I could. They gave me 3 weeks of severance and said “See ya!” I’ve now been unemployed for nearly 2 months and have not been able to find anything. I am a full-time stay-at-home house dad and watching my savings deteriorate by the day. Unemployment is a complete joke. Going from making over $100K/year to just over $22K/year is laughable. Your bills don’t change, but your income certainly does. I guess the lesson I took from this is that even if the top dog at your firm looks you in the eye and tells you that you have nothing to worry about in terms of job security, don’t take that as gospel…it’s not.

This post was submitted by Adam.

I was hired onto Medco through an open house, where many others were hired through a temporary agency. I was doing a great job, showing up early and a few weeks later, long term employees started to complain that too many were hired, they had to sign early out sheets early in the week, instead of just Friday and Saturday. I began to go into work after 50 days and there was no work at the beginning of my shift. I would stay until early out was mandatory. I worked overtime one weekend and then next thing I know, I was making mistakes and I was fired before my 90 days. I lived close, had benefits. I did nothing to contribute to this company decision.Believe you me. But I faxed the corporate in New Jersey, he phoned Florida and they let me get unemployment. However, I did nothing wrong, and they could care less about the truth, or the little people in the company.

So just remember when it comes to loyalty, there isn’t any anymore. They are so far away, they don’t know a thing. I know the truth. I have a college degree and some certificates. I don’t care about that company and I think it stinks anyway. Boycott. For all I care.

It was a miserable place to work, glad I don’t go there anymore.

This post was submitted by Brenda.

Today is my last day at work. And so I sit and type while my students work through their project. I work for a private, post-secondary school (for the next couple of hours at least) and have been here for nearly nine years. I teach and am the network administrator, but have worn many hats during my time here.

Three years ago my boss, the owner and founder of the school, was approached by some sleazy con-artist who talked him into establishing an online school teaching medical billing. To my boss it seemed like a match made in heaven since we already taught medical billing in our brick and mortar school. Everyone in the school from staff to faculty took an immediate dislike to this person – he gave off such an unsavory vibe.

But the proposal for an online school sounded good to the boss and in the spring of 2007 we started the online school. I was responsible for the tech support and trouble shooting for the instructors and students and for setting up the virtual lecture halls for our teachers to hold live lectures for the students who were scattered all over the country.

Then the guy who sold this bill of goods to our boss brought in one of his cronies to manage the school as the “president” of the school. He was woefully unqualified and had no managerial skills. I will admit, however, that the man could bullshit like nobody’s business and would have been right at home on a used car lot.

To make it short, we were enrolling students hand over fist and making money like we were printing it in house. The sleazy con-artist ran off with a butt load of money leaving the school holding the bag. The living joke we called the “president” of the school mismanaged the place so badly we went bankrupt.

My boss, the best guy ever, lost everything after twenty years. That truly breaks my heart. His only option was to sell the school. The Department of Education gave him permission to sell, but a condition of that sale was that no one who had a substantial administrative role in the online school would stay employed with the organization that purchased the school. Yes indeed, that includes me.

Because of the ass-hat that ran the school into the ground the Department of Education painted the rest of us with a black brush. We have been found unclean and not fit to work here.

So in another hour and twenty minutes I bid good-bye to nine years of my life and one of the best groups of people I ever worked with.

This post was submitted by John Pickens.

I was hired after a long job search as a manager for a not-for-profit agency. My boss was one difficult person with vicious personality. Everyone in the organization told me that the previous supervisor left because of him. At first I didn’t want to believe all the bad I heard about this person. This person was locking himself into an office and was operating with top secrecy at all times. He was only available at his discretion. Working late nights, long hours, criticism were the norm. Needless to say, he decided to eliminate my position. Reason stated: budget cuts. The real reason – I was an adult who didn’t want to take his abuse.

This company is very tough on their employees and they sell EAP and mental health services. The job was a huge waste of time! Not for profits are organizations where a few individuals make huge profits at expense of some well-minded hard-working individuals. I will never give money to not-for-profits again.

This post was submitted by Not to bosses liking.

I’m not sure if this is the typical story here, but I want to get this out. Ok, so I just finished my freshman year at college and applied to several places to get a summer job. After waiting a week I got a call from a local restaurant asking for an interview. I got a job as a food runner. It was a rough start, the pace was much faster than what I was used to. There was little training given, I was expected to figure most things out for myself. Perfection was essentially an unwritten rule. Needless to say, I dropped a tray of food or two, and forgot to bring a few dishes up; I was told this happens to everyone. Today I got fired after forgetting one too many orders. It was pretty rough, the chef/my boss yelled at me in front of pretty much everyone. It seems like the restaurant’s modus operandi is to hire more people than they need and keep the best and lay off the others; which, for my money, isn’t the nicest way of doing things. Even though I know the job wasn’t a good fit for me, and it’s not the end of the world, it still feels bad when someone tells you you’re best isn’t good enough.

This post was submitted by The Duke.