firing

How to fire someone, being let go, preparing to lose your job — all your questions about workplace firings are answered here.

why won’t my company fire my notoriously terrible manager?

A reader writes: I was part of a mass exodus from my former employer, and most of us left because we didn’t want to continue working with our director, “Ken.” I can spare you the details, but Ken is completely awful. I saw wonderful coworkers who were otherwise completely pleasant and professional be reduced to […]

Read the full article →

my coworkers were fired … am I next?

A reader writes: For the last three months, I’ve worked at a small company doing a job I love. But there’s been some weirdness lately that makes me worry about my job. Here’s what’s going on: multiple people have been fired in a three-month period. They were all “not good fits” for various reasons that […]

Read the full article →

I was fired for taking initiative (and undermining my manager)

I’m on vacation today. This was originally published in 2016. A reader writes: Last summer, I decided to re-enter the workforce after five years of raising my kids. I applied to a bunch of jobs that I thought I could do, and got an interview at this one very small  company (~20 employees). The people I interviewed with […]

Read the full article →

I had to fire someone and I feel like a failure

A reader writes: I’m in a position that I’ve never been in before. In 2018, I took on a really exciting role with a new company building a team from the ground up. I hired a handful of people, and got to work setting up the new team and really helping to grow a new […]

Read the full article →