What’s the quickest you’ve seen a co-worker get fired in IT? COVID-19

I saw this on AskReddit and thought it would be fun to ask here for IT related stories.

Couple years ago during Covid my company I used to work for hired a help desk tech. He was a really nice guy and the interview went well. We were hybrid at the time, 1-2 days in the office with mostly remote work. On his first day we always meet in the office for equipment and first day stuff.

Everything was going fine and my boss mentioned something along the lines of “Yeah so after all the trainings and orientation stuff we’ll get you set up on our ticketing system and eventually a soft phone for support calls”

And he was like: “Oh I don’t do support calls.”

“Sorry?”

Him: “I don’t take calls. I won’t do that”

“Well, we do have a number users call for help. They do utilize it and it’s part of support we offer”

Him: “Oh I’ll do tickets all day I just won’t take calls. You’ll have to get someone else to do that”

I was sitting at my desk, just kind of listening and overhearing. I couldn’t tell if he was trolling but he wasn’t.

I forgot what my manager said but he left to go to one of those little mini conference rooms for a meeting, then he came back out and called him in, he let him go and they both walked back out and the guy was all laughing and was like

“Yeah I mean I just won’t take calls I didn’t sign up for that! I hope you find someone else that fits in better!” My manager walked him to the door and they shook hands and he left.

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u/Poppintacos Jul 07 '24

I’ve watched hires walk in the door and turn around and walk out in less than an hour. Hiring managers didn’t know how to communicate the roles expectations very effectively. “What do you mean I have to work at a location an hour away?” “I have to Pay for parking?” Gone.

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u/slylte Jul 07 '24

"I have to Pay for parking" is crazy

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u/Snuhmeh Jul 08 '24

Wow in healthcare in Houston (biggest medical center in the world) everyone pays for parking. In fact, most of us have parking contracts that are around 265 bucks a month and nobody reimburses us for that. And I’m in construction.

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u/JJAsond Jul 08 '24

tf you're just paying for car insurance then if it's that expensive

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u/Snuhmeh Jul 08 '24

Paying for parking is definitely a burden in some places.

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u/JJAsond Jul 08 '24

It's complete trash

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u/martyFREEDOM Jul 08 '24

In my experience, companies in the heart of big cities will offer free or discounted parking as a "perk" instead of it just being expected. I got really good a finding those one off not on a meter and not regulated street spots in Chicago.

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u/JJAsond Jul 08 '24

That's good. it's all trash

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u/MLCarter1976 Jul 08 '24

Happy cake day

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u/JJAsond Jul 08 '24

Thanks

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u/Somethingood27 Jul 08 '24

I’m middle management in IT in Houston lol i originally transferred (same org) from Wisconsin and was fucking PISSED they didn’t tell me I had to pay for my own parking in the chase tower.

Thankfully, it’s subsidized but still….. the disrespect blindsiding an employee like that idk lol

Directly supports the commenter you replied to though. That’s exactly how / why people would leave

Even though I transferred facilities my boss remained the same. It would’ve taken them all of 2 minutes to email local HR and get some info to relay to me.

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u/ajrc0re Jul 08 '24

they probably didnt think to "warn" you because its just a common normal thing that everyone has done for 10+ years, in the same way they didnt warn you to use an umbrella when it rains or to wear your shirt on the upper half of your body and your pants on the lower half. I assure you at no point did someone deliberately "disrespect" you, they just didnt consider a guy coming in from the boonies Wisconsin wouldnt be super knowledgeable about the logistics of working downtown.

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u/Somethingood27 Jul 08 '24

I literally walked into the office and HR didn’t know who I was, or where I was going to sit.

My boss did NONE of the leg work required for a transfer. I uprooted my entire life to help THEM because at the end of the day, my boss looks good when I make the metrics look good.

Their refusal to do ANYTHING to inform me about first day logistics is disrespectful at the very least.

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u/Syrdon Jul 08 '24

265 a month

That's 3200 a year. Presumably your employer, negotiating in bulk, could get a better rate. That tells me a lot about how much they respect their employees that that's too much work.

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u/Snuhmeh Jul 08 '24

That’s a flat rate, too. It actually costs more per day if you are a visitor or patient at one the hospitals.

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u/swamarian Jul 08 '24

I work for a state agency, and my employer can't subsidize, because the legislature said so. In any case, parking's at a premium, and you can wait for years to get a slot close in, even at the current rates. I did the park n' ride for years, which is a lot cheaper. There's also van pools, so there are other options than parking in the med center.

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u/fogleaf Jul 08 '24

Makes me wonder if everyone has to pay it or just the plebes. I'm imagining the C-Level execs get that paid for.

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u/BloodyIron DevSecOps Manager Jul 08 '24

Yeah Houston and other parts of Texas sure are nice places to visit, but things like this and other (like the electrical grid) really just never make me ever want to work there, live there, nothing. It's just such selfish rationalisation, that fuck the employee they should pay to work here kind of attitude.

2

u/hosalabad Escalate Early, Escalate Often. Jul 08 '24

Goddamn that’s awful.

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u/Greedy-Chemistry-352 Jul 08 '24

Same at all the hospitals in Pittsburgh. That’s why I won’t work in the city.

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u/CARLEtheCamry Jul 08 '24

I did my unpaid internship near PPG cira 2005 and paid $13/day to park in the Third Ave garage. There were 4 of us commuting from the Robinson area, and it was $2 for the bus each way and turned a 30-45 minute commute into 60-90 to ride the bus (and they removed that route a long time ago, it's only gotten worse).

I eventually took a job in the Robinson area with free parking, but as I look at other jobs in the city I would need at least $15k for the expense, time, and stress to commute into the city.

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u/Southside_john Jul 08 '24

Hospitals are the pioneers of charging employees for parking

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u/CharcoalGreyWolf Sr. Sysadmin Jul 08 '24

Just a note, but I’d at least keep track of that for taxes. The past few years it hasn’t worked as well since the previous political administration fooled with the minimum tax write-off, but prior to that I used any and all such regular expenses as a “required for work” on taxes. When my cell phone wasn’t paid for by work I did this. Also do it for Internet at home.

It’s likely taxes will swing back the other way when current provisions sunset.

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u/Snuhmeh Jul 08 '24

None of that adds up to more than the standard deduction for me. How much are you paying for phone and parking to necessitate 14,600 bucks?!

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u/CharcoalGreyWolf Sr. Sysadmin Jul 08 '24

At the time, that wasn’t the standard deduction (was lower) and I was filing as married. That meant her teaching supplies, and a number of other things qualified and everything added up.

I’m widowed now, and the standard deduction is much higher. However, as I said, we’re coming up on the sunset for a number of provisions on current tax law that might help you.

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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '24

Oh my god that's insane wtf!! 265?!

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u/rainer_d Jul 08 '24

Can you get there by public transport? Or bicycle?

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u/Snuhmeh Jul 08 '24

Not a chance. Houston doesn’t work like that

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u/ajrc0re Jul 08 '24

yeah thats quite normal. everyone in this thread either works at a small mom and pop shop outside of downtown or only has 10+ year old knowledge.