Today I was fired. I had a feeling that something was up in the past few weeks.
5 years ago I signed on with a machine shop. I have 20 years experience in this field. I started on the floor, then moved to programming, then moved into a teaching position where I brought people from lower ranks into the machine shop and mentored them to become full fledged machinists.
Several months ago HR discovered that I had a Linkedin profile and another on Indeed. I was confronted in a closed door meeting and informed that it was “unwritten company policy” to fire any employee suspected of looking for other work. I was told that I was an “exception” as I was considered leadership, so I was asked to make my profile invisible. Red flag #1.
Fast forward several months and I was asked that the training manual (which I authored) be placed on the company’s public drive so it could be accessed by people other than me. Red flag #2.
After discussing things with my spouse we determined that it was time for me to move on. This conclusion was reached based on the sketchy behavior of the owners and the fact that I was being paid below market value for my experience and contributions to the company.
Early this week I applied online for 3 jobs. I received call backs on all of them looking to hire me away from the company. Friday morning arrives and I was fired immediately with no reason given other than “we have decided to move the company in a different direction, and this decision was not easy to make.”
I’m sure i’ll be fine, as I have an impressive resume and skills to match, but what a shitty way to do things. They’re a bunch of shit heads. I’ll be back on my feet for more money and better benefits within a week, and then I’m taking on a side project: Hire existing employees away from them and discourage new people from signing on. These predatory assholes need to be outed, and they are going to be. Rant over.