Have you ever been let go from a job, only for them to beg you to come back as you're the only one who knows how to do the job?

Question

This happened to me when I was in my mid 20's. I worked for a major call center as an IT person. Major like they handled the billing for two of the four (at the time there were four) cellular carriers, and a few other companies.

Anyway I figured out how to automate a big chunk of my job, leaving me time to solve other issues and do systems upgrades. Well my boss felt I wasn't doing enough work so he chose to let me go. A week alter I'm getting a call from them telling me all the problems they are having and no one can figure out my automation, and the other stuff I was doing was piling up. I politely yet firmly advised I would come back under the following conditions, wanted more money a lot more. And I would only come back as an independent consultant not as an employee. My billed rate was 5k per hour billed in 4 hour increments, billed up front every day. Meaning no waiting till the pay period.

Suffice it to say they refused, and it didn't matter as I had already accepted a different position making 4 times my old salary. Instead they had to have someone come in and fix everything which costed them what I would have cost over a period of 20 years. Something like 250 million dollars. So instead of paying me they paid a ton more to someone else. Less than three years later they were bankrupt.

BCRanger10 · Accepted Answer

I talk about this in my newest MyTake.

I'd been at my last job for seven years. I had my ups and downs, but was generally happy.

However, a new manager eventually came on board. How he managed to successfully convinced his boss to give him that job is a mystery that will never be solved by anyone. He was the worst boss I've ever had. He had a very chaotic management style, he was a woefully horrendous, dreadful, awful communicator, he changed his mind on stuff every other week, and made generally very unintelligent decisions (like putting me by myself on the busiest part of the week by myself with no backup and no overtime).

These and a variety of other factors resulted in him asking for my resignation, which I did. Well, three months later, everyone else in my department had quit and so guess who had to do our job? He did!

He agreed to try hiring me back, but by that time, I was too busy accepting a promotion and $10,000 pay raise. I was never going to work for him again anyway. If they did formally offer me the job back, they would have had to pay me a lot more than I'd made before and get rid of him.

midnightmoon05 · Accepted Answer

Not I lol… my job is very replaceable! Most of us are insignificant which is okay.

my older sister had a situation… that was like 20 years ago also in her 20s, young.
Her boss told her to get him a cup of coffee… 😂 she said it’s not her job. He got upset and told her to leave. She came home crying … 2 days later he called her back to work. she is still there.
my sister does some of the bills for the real estate company, at this point she is the only one who knows certain things.

her boss is from Iran living in the US for over 50-60 years. He has the same among of money as Trump.

DizzyDesii · Accepted Answer

No because one of the companies was closing for good and the other— well none of us knew what we were doing and neither did the trainer who trained us. So they fired 39 of 40 new hirees and only kept those who worked there for years as well as one girl who had a huge rapsheet of experience.
Now I have quit jobs and they try to throw last minute vaction hours, sick time and pay raises at me. Mind you they said no for years but nooow want to offer to “keep me”. I left anyways cause they were messing with my mental

Changiis07 · Answer

Wow that's funny and sad!! They let go of someone good because you were making it look easy but in reality you were doing much more

Account · Answer

They didn't fire me, instead I quit on the spot in anger because a coworker was acting like an ungrateful piece of shit.  They called me the next two days asking me to go back.  I never went back.

DishLady · Answer

Yeah. And the same has happened to a few people I know as well.

Have you ever been let go from a job, only for them to beg you to come back as you're the only one who knows how to do the job?

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