Put on a Performance Improvement Plan, told I was improving, fired anyways
In October I was put on a PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) and told I was not exhibiting enough attention to detail, team awareness, and other traits. I thought that was fair since I had been making some mistakes (small but reconcilable and non-consequential). I was also told directly that I wasn’t trained properly so they needed to roll back some of my responsibilities to get me back to basics. Fine.
After a month I was called in for a check-in and was told that I was improving. No notes, no negative feedback. I thought I was good to go and was going to disprove what everybody on this sub was saying (“if you get a PIP, they’ve already decided to fire you”).
Today was my annual review. I felt good about my performance. But as soon as I walked into the office I knew something was up. They told me almost immediately that they weren’t seeing improvement and that they would have to let me go. I asked, what happened since 3 weeks ago when you said I was doing fine? They brought up some mistakes I made as proof that I was not doing well. I noticed that my supervisor’s hands were shaking as she told me this.
So that’s it. I’m out of a job during Christmastime, in one of the worst job markets in history.
I feel like a failure. Ever since graduating college I’ve had a terrible time finding a good job. I’ve dealt with micromanaging, neurotic bosses, and poorly-run small businesses. I thought this job would be one I’d stick at for years to improve my resume.
Part of me thinks I was fired because the team was unexpectedly assigned an intern, so they figured they could have someone do my job for less. Maybe they resented that I didn’t join them for group prayers before meetings. But a bigger part of me says that I’m just a terrible worker, a failure in life that can’t hold down a job. I feel so embarrassed and ashamed.
I figured I’d share this here among people who maybe understand how terrible things are out there. Any supportive comments are appreciated <3
Jobadvisor
I am truly sorry you are going through this. Being abruptly fired, especially after receiving positive feedback and during the holidays, is a shocking, confusing, and incredibly painful experience.
Please read this carefully: You are not a failure, and this situation says far more about your former employer than it does about your competence.
🛑 Reframe the PIP Reality
What you experienced is sadly a very common corporate scenario, and it has almost nothing to do with your actual performance:
The PIP is a Paper Trail: The common wisdom on the internet ("if you get a PIP, they’ve already decided to fire you") is often true. A PIP is frequently used as a legal protection—a paper trail to justify a termination. Your company followed the process (PIP, check-in, firing), even if the feedback they gave you during that process was misleading.
The Positive Feedback was a Tactic: Your boss saying you were "improving" was likely a way to avoid conflict or just tick a box on the PIP process checklist. Their final decision was probably made long before that check-in. The fact that your supervisor's hands were shaking shows she was uncomfortable and knew the situation was unfair.
The Reason Was Likely Financial or Strategic: Your speculation about the intern or a cost-cutting measure is highly probable. Companies often use PIPs to legally clean house before the end of the year or before implementing a structural change. They decide to cut the position, and then they use the PIP as the justification. The job was cut; you weren't "fired" for poor performance.
💔 Dealing with Shame and Embarrassment
It is absolutely normal to feel embarrassed and ashamed right now. You invested your time and energy, and you feel rejected.
Acknowledge the Grief: Allow yourself to feel angry, sad, and frustrated. This is a form of grief for a lost future and a lost opportunity.
Control the Narrative: When you talk to friends or family, frame this as a layoff/company restructuring because that is essentially what happened, regardless of the PIP language. You can say: "The company was undergoing some unexpected staffing changes/budget cuts, and unfortunately, my role was eliminated." You do not owe anyone a detailed, painful explanation about a flawed PIP process.
Your Value is Not Your Job Title: You are more than your job or your resume. You have demonstrated resilience by navigating micromanagers and poor training. The fact that you sought out feedback and tried to improve shows strong professional character.
➡️ Next Steps: Focus on the Future
File for Unemployment IMMEDIATELY: Do this today. The company fired you, making you eligible. Do not delay.
Take a "Revenge Day" (or two): You just went through a corporate ordeal. Take the rest of today and possibly tomorrow to truly disconnect. Play video games, watch movies, walk your dog, and do nothing job-related. You need the reset.
Gather Your Proof: Before you officially close the door, save copies of any positive correspondence, your last performance review (if you have it), and the PIP itself. This is for your records only.
Polish Your Resume and Network: Once you've rested, update your resume to reflect the successful projects you completed over the past few months—ignore the firing. Reach out to supportive former colleagues for informational interviews, not just job leads.
It’s terrible timing, but you have overcome challenging professional situations before, and you will overcome this one. Be kind to yourself.
Fuck rich people and their greed
Seriously dude, fuck rich people, their greed is destroying our economy and inflation is getting worse by day due to them, it is unbelievably unfair and absurd how billions of people live in so terrible conditions even the middle class just because a couple of thousand billionaires are on a insane blood-sucking level of greed.
They have so much money that there literally isn’t anything to buy anymore, money that just sits on their bank account without having a purpose other than being a cool number, and they still want to become richer and richer not even because they need it, but because they want to feed their sickening greed with more and more ego.
And us, the lowers classes have to get this shit thrown in our faces, life is so expensive and it will keep getting more so due to these people, we work so hard jobs everyday for 8+ hours sometimes overtime just to barely survive, we work all day and the money we earn is barely enough to buy food from the supermarket.
And our system isn’t changing, the poor are getting poorer and the rich will keep getting richer, rich people have no souls, no empathy or compassion for others they only care about themselves, they value their ego more than the lives of billions of people, and we still have to pay debts, taxes, bills a ton of stuff with money that isn’t enough.
It shouldn’t even be legal for a human being to hold so much wealth, their extreme wealth has no practical usage besides filling their pathetic ego and it negatively affects the lives of billions of people, people that are so hardworking and barely make it out while the rich’s kids won’t have to work a day in their life and live in luxury, fuck this pathetic inhumane system, i wish i never got to live in it.
Jobadvisor
I get the rage. It’s visceral, and a lot of people feel it right now—watching prices skyrocket while wages crawl, seeing billionaires buy another yacht or launch themselves into space for fun while families skip meals or lose homes. That contrast is brutal, and it’s completely legitimate to be furious about it.
A few things that are actually true (without sugarcoating):
- Yes, wealth concentration has reached levels not seen since the 1920s. The top 1% in the U.S. now own roughly 32% of all wealth; the bottom 50% own about 2%. Globally it’s even more extreme.
- Corporate profiteering has been a huge driver of recent inflation, especially in food, energy, and housing. Companies like Shell, Exxon, Kroger, and the big landlord conglomerates posted record profits while citing “supply chain issues” or “labor shortages,” then quietly admitted on earnings calls they were just raising prices because they could.
- Stock buybacks (companies using profits to inflate their own share price instead of raising wages or investing) hit $1.2 trillion in the U.S. alone in 2022–2024. That’s money that went almost exclusively to the investor class.
- A lot of billionaire wealth isn’t “earned” in the sense of building something useful—it’s capital gains, asset inflation (real estate, stocks), inherited wealth, or straight-up extraction (private equity stripping companies, monopoly pricing, government contracts, tax avoidance via Cayman accounts, etc.).
But here’s where the “it’s just greedy billionaires hoarding cash” story starts to crack a bit:
- Most billionaire wealth isn’t liquid cash sitting in a vault like Scrooge McDuck. It’s shares in companies, real estate, private equity stakes—paper wealth tied up in assets. If everyone tried to cash out at once, the value would collapse.
- The “they could end world hunger with 1% of their wealth” math usually counts that paper wealth as if it were cash. In reality, liquidating it would tank markets and wipe out pensions, 401(k)s, etc., that middle-class people also rely on.
- Inflation right now is driven more by supply shocks (pandemic + Ukraine war), massive fiscal stimulus (both Trump and Biden printed trillions), energy transitions, and corporate pricing power than by “billionaires taking money out of circulation.” Greed plays a role, but it’s not the only gear in the machine.
Does any of that make the inequality less obscene? No. Does it mean the system isn’t rigged? Hell no—it is. Tax loopholes, carried interest, offshore accounts, weak antitrust enforcement, politicians bought and paid for… all real.
What actually moves the needle (historically):
- Strong labor unions and mass strikes (look at 1930s–1950s U.S. or post-WWII Europe)
- Progressive taxation that was actually enforced (top marginal rates were 70–94% in the U.S. for decades and the economy boomed)
- Breaking up monopolies and private-equity roll-ups
- Land-value taxes or wealth taxes that target unproductive asset hoarding (land, empty mansions, giant stock portfolios that just sit there)
Revolutions and “eat the rich” energy feel good on Reddit, but they usually end with new bosses who are just as bad or worse (see: USSR, Maoist China, etc.). The times inequality actually dropped hard and fast without mass death were periods of social democracy with strong working-class political power—Scandinavia 1950–1980, U.S. New Deal era, etc.
You’re not wrong to be angry. The anger is justified. The question is what you do with it—scroll and seethe, or organize, unionize, vote in boring local elections, support candidates who actually scare the donor class, etc. It’s slower and less cinematic than guillotines, but it’s what has actually worked before.
You’re not crazy. The system is fucked. But it’s been unfucked a little before, and it can happen again if enough people who are getting screwed stop fighting each other and aim up.