This is basically just a vent.
I finally managed to get a pretty good job to replace my previous one, which I was eager to leave due to bad pay and horrible management and the constant shitty coworkers.
Around to under 3 months ago I got hired in a well known german brand grocery store (I live in Australia) which paid well and I was decently enjoying the job. They were weirdly strict about some things and had a “Oh we'd like you to be here 10mins early, but what we actually mean is if you're not 10 mins early you're late. Yes even if you're 8 mins early” but I could deal as the pay was much more worth it and the management seemed really nice and coworkers not putting on shows worthy of teen dramas and going whining to other staff for being asked to do their job because it was making it very difficult to do mine.
They have a probation period of 90 days. My 30 day review had very little feedback, as I'd barely done anything due to being new. 60 day review, no one has said anything to me and I'm basically always on tills which means there are 2 sections of the store I've never touched and I haven't been allowed to run load very often so i can get faster and know where things are- this store is very up their ass about doing everything super fast. So, as no one has said anything to me I thought everything was fine.
Last week I was ill and had to go home early and ended up calling out the next day too, which led into a doctor giving me a med Cert to take the next week off as well. I rang in right after my appointment to let my manager know I couldn't come in for the rest of the week and I had the Cert. He said it was fine and that they had a feeling i wouldn't be coming in so he had someone to cover me. I got extremely anxious about the call, as I wasnt positive he registered that I'd said the week, meaning my Saturday shift, but my anxiety was so bad it kept me up all night as I tried to decide if I could bring myself to call again. Ended up waiting until 20mins after my shift would have started, with the idea that they'd call to ask where I was. Heard nothing so i assumed it was fine and finally managed to get some sleep.
On Wednesday I got a text from my manager saying he wanted to talk to me before my shift so to make sure I was on time. Naively, to try and not have an anxiety attack, I convinced myself maybe he wants to do my 90 day review since I knew it should be around now. Checking my past rosters, it's been at least 13 weeks so I'm pretty sure I passed the probation period.
Then that brings me to 3 days ago, last Friday. I got a call from one of the managers at about 10am and he asked me if I was coming in for my shift at 2pm. Confused, I said yes, and then he asked about Saturday, so I explained what I'd told the other manager and that no one had called so I thought it was fine. Then he asked if I had time to talk or if I'd rather wait to do it before my shift. I agreed to talk on the phone.
I'll be honest, I can't remember most of what he said I was so upset, but here's the gist: apparently the managers were of the feeling that I didn't enjoy my job, which confused me and I said as much and that I didn't know what to say to that. He said they felt I wasn't where I should be at this point, starting to hint they were letting me go, and I asked if there was anything I could do to improve to which he hmmd and haaad and said sometimes they'll give people an extra few months if they're really passionate about the job but they felt I didn't enjoy the job. He kept saying it was nothing personally but they weren't going to keep me on after the probation. He told me he'd pay me for this week's shifts and next weeks instead of 1 weeks notice. I assume I'll be getting that next Wednesday which would have been pay day.
I cried in the call, though for some reason i tried not to show it, and after. So much. Because now I have a week to find a job, when it was so fucking hard to get this new one in the first place, but now it's Christmas and no one is hiring because all the Xmas casuals were hired at least 2 months ago, so they're not going to want any more employees regardless of casual/part time etc. Not to mention, i finally felt financially secure enough to make some purchases I've been saving for and to buy Xmas gifts. Now I've spent a lot of money with no way to buffer it back with my pay.
Thinking back on the things he said, I'm really starting to think i got fired because I'm anxious (which they knew), introverted and very likely autistic (I don't have a confirmation yet, it's expensive to do the tests) and theyve decided that means “I dont like the job”. I hadnt done anything wrong to my knowledge and i was really good at tills, and if i had done something wrong no one ever spoke to me about anything i could improve. The only time people tried to talk to me was while I was on break, so obviously I don't want to talk and they basically always asked how I was going in the job and if I was liking it. I always said I was liking it and that I like doing tills, but I'd like to do more load for practice and to learn the store easier.
Been feeling extremely disconnected since I got fired, and there have been times where it's hard to think, which has made applying for jobs that much harder.
Fuck that place for ambushing me with this, especially at this time of year. I'd had no indication they wanted to fire me until that call, I even had shifts rostered for the next 3 weeks on the works app. Probably going to have to try and go back to my shitty old job if I can't find anything and pray they take me back