A stronger economy often gives workers greater courage to change jobs, but the excuses — ahem, reasons — offered for jumping ship can leave many employers baffled.
In the face of The Great Resignation, huge swathes of workers have been leaving jobs for various, not-unreasonable reasons.
Some people are taking early retirement or resigning positions where they don’t feel safe in their workplaces. Others are leveraging a favorable market, seeking opportunities (or creating their own) that offer greater flexibility and/or compensation.
But people are still odd, as this survey from OfficeTeam reveals! Here are just a few of the weirdest reasons employees have given for handing in their notice at work.
29 strange reasons to resign
There are many different kinds of logic that get people to finally say “I quit.” Here’s a look:
1. “We had someone quit to participate in a reality show.”
2. “An employee said it was his routine to change jobs every six months.”
3. “One person left because she lost her cell phone too many times at work.”
4. “Someone left because her boss lost the dog she had given him.”
Some individuals simply had to follow their true calling:
5. “Our employee said he was joining the circus.”
6. “One worker quit to join a rock band.”
7. “A staff member quit to climb Mount Everest.”
8. “There was an individual who left to play the trombone.”
9. “One worker left to become an apple farmer.”
10. “An employee wanted to enter a beauty contest.”
It may be hard to fault these professionals for their honesty:
11. “A guy said he was making too much money and didn’t feel he was worth it.”
12. “One person left because she didn’t want to work so hard.”
13. “An individual said he was bored.”
14. “Someone quit because she was going to live off her trust fund.”
15. “An employee said work was getting in the way of having fun.”
16. “A person quit because informal dress was not allowed.”
17. “The worker told us he just couldn’t get up in the morning.”
And there were other employees who suffered from sensory overload:
18. “He quit because he didn’t like the way the office smelled.”
19. “One employee didn’t enjoy the cafeteria food.”
20. “An individual did not like the sound of file cabinets being slammed.”
These shortsighted workers gave notice to resign when a day off might have sufficed:
21. “One person quit to watch a soccer tournament.”
22. “We had someone leave because he had to stay home to feed his dog.”
23. “An employee left because he wanted to watch a movie with his girlfriend during work hours.”
Some individuals couldn’t ignore their eye for interior design:
24. “A person quit because he hated the carpet.”
25. “One worker did not like the colors of the walls.”
26. “The employee quit because the office building was unattractive.”
27. “Someone felt the lobby area was too small.”
28. “She hated the lighting in the building.”
Then there was the worker who gave his employer the silent treatment:
29. “He just walked out without a peep. We have no idea why he left, and we were not able to contact him.”
“How you leave a job can be just as important as what you did while you were there,” said Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam.
“Regardless of the reason you want to resign, making a graceful exit by tying up loose ends and thanking colleagues shows your professionalism, and can help you down the road in your career.”
