‘What was the moment that made you realise you absolutely had to leave a job?’ – 19 people who just couldn’t take it anymore

11.

‘Working in advertising, big names/deals kinda place. Had a massive panic attack during work hours as a result of stressful work environment, got taken to a private hospital by my boss and was left there alone with a chunky bill to pay. No I didn’t sue them, just left and moved on.’
–ozisdoingsomething

12.

‘Working in a family-owned printers, on absolutely piss poor wages. The boss’s son waltzed in on the morning we were expecting our annual pay rise, but told us he couldn’t afford a rise that year because the managers (basically, the owning family) had all bought brand new BMWs.

Told him he could poke his job up his arse and walked out. Never looked back.’
–Choice-Demand-3884

13.

‘Working in IT for an investment bank. Incredibly stressful job which on its own I could handle. However things weren’t good at home at the time either and compounded they were making my life a misery.

‘Walking to work one day I vomited in the street at the thought of another day of work. Started looking for jobs that day. Turns out I probably should have left the marriage first but you love and learn.’
–Silver-Article9183

14.

‘When the boss shouted in another employee’s face and called him an idiot over and over. I was an anxious wreck during the couple of months it took me to find a new job (no idea what happened to said employee but he was still there when I left).’
–Platypus-x

15.

‘When she said ‘think of the businesses’ when I missed a few meetings that I had zero reason to be on and when I was given way too much to do with very little time.

‘When I handed my notice in a few weeks later she instantly called me and was highly sarcastic saying shit, like that’s a shame. Then removed me from all my meetings she was like, well you’re leaving so why bother. HR called next day and was like do you want to do an exit interview just now and we will just pay you your two weeks. Never said yes faster.’
–Plus_Pangolin_8924

16.

‘Handed in my notice the day my manager told me my probation was being extended for an extra three months. I had already worked in a betting shop company before, so I literally settled in straight away at the new one company. I was opening and closing the shop, doing bank runs, and covering sick at neighbouring shops.

‘I felt so blindsided by the probation extension, I quit with no notice. I later found out they didn’t pass my probation because they would’ve had to pay me an additional wage as I was opening and closing the shop which is an assistant manager duty and I was just a cashier.’
–uniquelyRelevant16

17.

‘Covid. When it became clear we were heading for an extended lockdown. Few people in my team had a decent home desk setup. So I suggested they be allowed to take home an office chair and monitor from the office. Company management refused, saying people couldn’t be trusted and we have to protect the company at all costs.

‘When I replied the best way to protect the company was to protect our people, I was told I had the wrong attitude. That’s the day I quit but didn’t resign.’
–ReviewEnvironmental2

18.

‘Back in 2015, working for a FTSE100 company and the leader of the IT Operations department said that cloud was ‘just a fad’ and only for small companies. Pretty sure she is unemployed now looking at Linkedin, unfortunately for her.’
–quarky_uk

19.

‘One horrible Monday, after 43 years of full time work, in constant stress as a ‘long in the tooth’ EA covering three roles, I took 20 mins out to finally read through my pension packs to see how many more years I had at the coal face … and discovered a hidden additional pension pot (hidden as the statement for the bigger pension was tucked behind a statement for a far smaller pension) I had forgotten I had started it in my 20’s and it meant I could retire five years early. OMG!!

‘My job had become next level stressful after a change in management as had all our jobs at that previously pleasant employer and I handed in my notice, almost in disbelief, three days later as soon as I had been able to verify the terms of my ‘surprise’ pension pot.

‘Felt so lucky and so blessed all through my notice period! My colleagues were gutted I was off as I was the team member who always went the extra mile helping everyone out. I have lost over 50lbs excess weight in my first year since leaving and am so much more laid back and nicer company to be around according to my partner!’
–Boring-Current-1512

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