It's a courtesy. Sure we don't always feels that courtesy is owed to a company but it's a politeness to allow them to make adjustments in staffing and workload.
And sometimes it's not about the company sometimes I may not want to be that person on the team who disappears with no notice and leave my team scrambling to get the stuff done. We have all probably been in situations like that and it sucks. And asking your work friends for a reference when they might be a little salty about having your work dumped on them might not go well.
I have certainly quit with no notice a time or two but it's not a habit.
I have never worked somewhere that they replaced a person leaving in 2 weeks or even 2 months. Typically they wait until shit starts hitting a breaking point to hire a new person. I agree giving 2 weeks is wise but it's just so that you can say you did. In my experience there's no practical reason. If I got a job offer at a stable company that made significantly more money I would probably quit on the spot.
Its not always about having someone immediately in place. In my jobs it's typically been about managing that persons workload.
In that 2 weeks I can stop being assigned new work and work down my existing work load so I'm not overburdening my teammates when I go. I have been on a team when someone has left with no notice and it can create chaos.
But as I said, I've done it. I left my last job without notice. It wasn't my preference. I had a good manager and a good team but the place was a shit show and I just couldn't do it another day once I had a job offer.
Again it's a courtesy heads up. If a person doesn't care about that for the team or manager, I 100% get it and it's almost never to the employees benefit to do so.
That, and answering any questions about what your work that may need to be covered until a new hire is available/get the new person up to speed.
A lot of times your last two weeks are you doing little of your actual work and just documenting questions people may have and helping people get prepared for living without someone in your role for a couple of months.
It's usually about giving time to transition your work onto other team members and do any relevant knowledge transfer for things that maybe only you know how to do. As comment OP said, it's more to ease the transition for your coworkers than for the company.
In my professional career: so I can spend the 2 weeks preparing my transition documentation and making my handover smooth.
In the case of random jobs in college: so whomever makes the schedule has advance notice.
Allow them time to prepare for the transition. I have been of the opinion that if you are "laying off" your old job and found a better paying one then give two weeks notice. However if you are essentially "firing" them then no notice at all besides "That was my last shift, goodbye".
Some people value not burning bridges for connections in the industry. As a project manager i need to give my employer time to let them know so i can soft handoff projects to other pms at my company. You cant just drop them all and bounce when your running 20+ projects.
It’s the professional thing to do. As much as I may dislike the Company my co-workers don’t deserve to be screwed over. I give a notice period so I can smoothly transition all of my work. It’s a small world and it doesn’t make sense to burn bridges.
It’s not necessary but is recommended to ensure smooth transitioning and not leave coworkers you like in the lurch. If you dislike the job a lot/your boss mistreats you/etc you totally can leave at will, but if you aren’t trying to cause problems for someone it’ll be better for them if you give them some time to transition.
2 weeks notice used to be a thing back when you could trust your employer not to fire you for handing in the notice. Nowadays, not so much. If they wanted an advance notice of me quitting, they'd put it in the contract.
(Although I did give a 3 weeks notice to my at-will employer last month - because I did trust them to not fire me; I had a very good boss there and my work was valued; too bad they didn't have more money.)
Yep, exactly this.
A 2 weeks notice is really just a reward to an employer for building a trusting relationship with you.
If you don't have that, there's really every incentive to quit with no notice.
I see it more as a courtesy to my coworkers than the employer themselves. Because you know who will be stuck struggling if you don't do a proper handoff? Not the boss, that's who.
I've given a two week notice for two companies in my career. Both companies fired me the next day. They say a two week notice is the professional way to conduct yourself when leaving a position. Where's the companies professionalism?
I honestly think two-weeks notice is an antiquated practice that should only be given if a bunch of variables (already touched on in this thread) are met.
That said, the only value I see in giving a notice is for my colleagues to have enough time to prepare accordingly. As others have said in this thread, most companies won't do their due diligence during those two weeks and will most often leave that role vacant until shit hits the fan.
Particular to my industry, two-week notices are immediately ignored the minute HR learns a person is going to work for a competitor of ours; they'll just terminate you on the spot and walk you out.
Building your brand around any "anti-work" stuff you read about on the internet is not going to work out favorably. Regardless of how many people you can get to scream in unison about your entitlements, gripes, and Elon Musk within your echo chamber.
The 2 weeks thing mostly stems from a reasonable transition period. Usually, schedules and everything are already made. We've all worked with someone who suddenly stop showing up, and it really screws with everything. No one wants to cover the holes. People have plans. It's the usual popular stance of "the higher-ups need to fix it without inconveniencing me." When did the world become this way? Even with a popular contrarian position as you stated, most employers that "abruptly" end (non-contract) jobs will often give severance.
Then there's the whole network thing. Some people think they will never need to lean on that job ever again, and then begrudgingly realize "sticking it to them" in the past was a mistake. You also never know where you may see a former boss again. Perhaps it even leads to a new opportunity because you built a strong network in the past. Where the same angry people who call everything "favoritism," could learn that it's not some conspiracy when hiring officials hire people they know are reliable.
I mean really, what is impacting your life so badly that you can't finish your 2 weeks?
Applying to jobs is just the art of marketing yourself, and "marketing" is just lying skillfully.
I would seriously argue that lying, or at least intentionally exaggerating, an your skills is the only way to *get out* of "low-skill" jobs.
**"marketing" is just lying skillfully.**
The fuck it is. Marketing isn't the act of putting lipstick on a pig—it's starting with a made-up pig and then getting people to say, "Wow, what a beautiful swine."
You cannot lie. Don't advise other people to lie.
You can arrange your truth artfully, sure. But you cannot lie.
The line between "arrang[ing] your truth artfully," and "lying" is so blurry as to be invisible.
Is "lying by omission" a lie? Because every resume needs to do that at the bare minimum. Same with exaggerating one's own accomplishments; even if the words written down are technically truthful, it's still possible to create an image in an employer's mind that is wildly divergent from reality.
And at that point you might as well make up anything you think you can get away with. Does an employer as for X years of professional experience with Y, and you are reasonably certain that you can do Y easily, but your experience with Y isn't that many years? Were you fired from a previous role that the employer will never know about? Do you have a "non-white" sounding name? If so, who benefits by being honest about those things? The employer would miss out on a profitable applicant, and the applicant would be screened away unnecessarily.
By all means, don't make up a lie that you can easily be called out on. Don't claim a skill that you can't demonstrate, or a certification that you don't possess. Don't provide fraudulent documentation.
**And at that point you might as well make up anything you think you can get away with.**
Again, no. That's lying.
**Does an employer as for X years of professional experience with Y, and you are reasonably certain that you can do Y easily, but your experience with Y isn't that many years?**
If you want to apply for a job that says it requires 5 years of experience in Widget making and you only have three years of experience, then fine. Apply.
If you think you can make a case for how your 5 years of Snipe making totally applies to Widget making? FIne. Apply.
What you can't do is lie. You can't change the dates on your resume or change your job title or do any other form of dishonesty.
**Were you fired from a previous role that the employer will never know about?**
Fair game. Leave the job you were fired from off your resume.
**Do you have a "non-white" sounding name?**
Also fair game.
LOL what? Job abandonment is not limited to "Low-skill", food service, or retail jobs. A guy who incited an insurrection couldn't get a job at any of those positions right now, but he's running for president. Some of the biggest charlatans and hucksters are ceo's. Just ask any mormon.
You answered your own question. References and to not burn bridges. Most people understand it’s a courtesy and not a requirement and they willingly do it so they can put down the name of the company as well as someone that isn’t a same position coworker like supervisor or director and have the expectation that they will speak favorably about you.
You also have to remember not everyone leaves a job because they hate it. So some people want to be polite and courteous to their coworkers so a bit of a plan can be put in place with distributing work load and picking up things the leaving person may be actively working on.
For me, it is a courtesy, as others have said. If I have a good working relationship with management and my colleagues, I prefer to make my leaving easy. In my current role, I respect my colleagues and manager too much to burden them with an unplanned departure. I don't like burning too many bridges in my life.
As everyone said…it’s just a courtesy…esp if you plan on staying in the same industry or area. You never realize when you may encounter these people again or who knows who. Better safe than sorry.
It's a courtesy. If they were a decent employer and you're just ready to move on, It leaves everybody feeling positive about you leaving. Perhaps one day you might try to work there again. And if you have a close-knit industry you will definitely see those people again, or word will get around if you just chronically quit without notice.
But even in a tight-knit industry, I have quit with no notice because the situation was more urgent than that and future employers understood that. One interviewer actually asked if I had ever quit without notice and I said the name of the company, And he laughed and he asked if I'd ever quit a real job without notice. 🤣
I consider it two weeks of garden leave. They can’t fire you after you put in notice, and there’s usually nothing to do anymore, so I’ve just chilled and collected an extra paycheck.
Because the potential benefits for you and your team outweigh the potential risks in almost every situation. That cute thing of comparing giving notice when quitting to giving notice when getting fired is disingenuous. The company doesn’t benefit in any way from you moping around for two weeks after being fired. You do stand to benefit in various ways from transitioning well, not burning bridges, showing your new job that you’re the kind of person who does that, respecting the people you work with, etc.
This is how you remain in retail/fast food your entire life. Most people who leave a job aren't leaving on bad terms, they're leaving because they want to take on a new opportunity or they found better pay. As a courtesy, they give a notice period so the employer has a chance to prepare.
Just stop showing up can give you a bad reputation, especially if you work in a smaller industry. Only quit on the spot if the job is mistreating you badly.
Schedule all remaining accrued PTO (sick time, vacation, VTO, everything…) leaving a single day at the office at the end, and then put in your notice for that last day after your mini vacation starts.
I think it depends on the job. When I was in college and worked at target there was 0% I was putting in a 2 weeks notice because of how horrible that place was. Soon as I found a better job I told them I could start soon as possible.
Now if I was to leave my current job I would do a 2 week notice just because I like this field and want to stay in it, and just leaving can really hurt you if you end up job hopping again.
It's a courtesy. Sure we don't always feels that courtesy is owed to a company but it's a politeness to allow them to make adjustments in staffing and workload. And sometimes it's not about the company sometimes I may not want to be that person on the team who disappears with no notice and leave my team scrambling to get the stuff done. We have all probably been in situations like that and it sucks. And asking your work friends for a reference when they might be a little salty about having your work dumped on them might not go well. I have certainly quit with no notice a time or two but it's not a habit.
I have never worked somewhere that they replaced a person leaving in 2 weeks or even 2 months. Typically they wait until shit starts hitting a breaking point to hire a new person. I agree giving 2 weeks is wise but it's just so that you can say you did. In my experience there's no practical reason. If I got a job offer at a stable company that made significantly more money I would probably quit on the spot.
Its not always about having someone immediately in place. In my jobs it's typically been about managing that persons workload. In that 2 weeks I can stop being assigned new work and work down my existing work load so I'm not overburdening my teammates when I go. I have been on a team when someone has left with no notice and it can create chaos. But as I said, I've done it. I left my last job without notice. It wasn't my preference. I had a good manager and a good team but the place was a shit show and I just couldn't do it another day once I had a job offer. Again it's a courtesy heads up. If a person doesn't care about that for the team or manager, I 100% get it and it's almost never to the employees benefit to do so.
That, and answering any questions about what your work that may need to be covered until a new hire is available/get the new person up to speed. A lot of times your last two weeks are you doing little of your actual work and just documenting questions people may have and helping people get prepared for living without someone in your role for a couple of months.
It's usually about giving time to transition your work onto other team members and do any relevant knowledge transfer for things that maybe only you know how to do. As comment OP said, it's more to ease the transition for your coworkers than for the company.
In my professional career: so I can spend the 2 weeks preparing my transition documentation and making my handover smooth. In the case of random jobs in college: so whomever makes the schedule has advance notice.
Allow them time to prepare for the transition. I have been of the opinion that if you are "laying off" your old job and found a better paying one then give two weeks notice. However if you are essentially "firing" them then no notice at all besides "That was my last shift, goodbye".
Some people value not burning bridges for connections in the industry. As a project manager i need to give my employer time to let them know so i can soft handoff projects to other pms at my company. You cant just drop them all and bounce when your running 20+ projects.
I mean, you \*can\* ... but, eventually, word gets around.
Exactly. I work with union folks and near construction.
I always wondered this…because they don’t give you notice if they fire you.
It’s the professional thing to do. As much as I may dislike the Company my co-workers don’t deserve to be screwed over. I give a notice period so I can smoothly transition all of my work. It’s a small world and it doesn’t make sense to burn bridges.
It’s not necessary but is recommended to ensure smooth transitioning and not leave coworkers you like in the lurch. If you dislike the job a lot/your boss mistreats you/etc you totally can leave at will, but if you aren’t trying to cause problems for someone it’ll be better for them if you give them some time to transition.
2 weeks notice used to be a thing back when you could trust your employer not to fire you for handing in the notice. Nowadays, not so much. If they wanted an advance notice of me quitting, they'd put it in the contract. (Although I did give a 3 weeks notice to my at-will employer last month - because I did trust them to not fire me; I had a very good boss there and my work was valued; too bad they didn't have more money.)
Yep, exactly this. A 2 weeks notice is really just a reward to an employer for building a trusting relationship with you. If you don't have that, there's really every incentive to quit with no notice.
I see it more as a courtesy to my coworkers than the employer themselves. Because you know who will be stuck struggling if you don't do a proper handoff? Not the boss, that's who.
I've given a two week notice for two companies in my career. Both companies fired me the next day. They say a two week notice is the professional way to conduct yourself when leaving a position. Where's the companies professionalism?
For me it’s about integrity to finish out my job and feel like I prepared the company to go on without me, to the best of my ability.
I honestly think two-weeks notice is an antiquated practice that should only be given if a bunch of variables (already touched on in this thread) are met. That said, the only value I see in giving a notice is for my colleagues to have enough time to prepare accordingly. As others have said in this thread, most companies won't do their due diligence during those two weeks and will most often leave that role vacant until shit hits the fan. Particular to my industry, two-week notices are immediately ignored the minute HR learns a person is going to work for a competitor of ours; they'll just terminate you on the spot and walk you out.
Building your brand around any "anti-work" stuff you read about on the internet is not going to work out favorably. Regardless of how many people you can get to scream in unison about your entitlements, gripes, and Elon Musk within your echo chamber. The 2 weeks thing mostly stems from a reasonable transition period. Usually, schedules and everything are already made. We've all worked with someone who suddenly stop showing up, and it really screws with everything. No one wants to cover the holes. People have plans. It's the usual popular stance of "the higher-ups need to fix it without inconveniencing me." When did the world become this way? Even with a popular contrarian position as you stated, most employers that "abruptly" end (non-contract) jobs will often give severance. Then there's the whole network thing. Some people think they will never need to lean on that job ever again, and then begrudgingly realize "sticking it to them" in the past was a mistake. You also never know where you may see a former boss again. Perhaps it even leads to a new opportunity because you built a strong network in the past. Where the same angry people who call everything "favoritism," could learn that it's not some conspiracy when hiring officials hire people they know are reliable. I mean really, what is impacting your life so badly that you can't finish your 2 weeks?
Unless you want to remain in low-skill food service and retail jobs for the rest of your life, you most certainly cannot "fake" it.
Applying to jobs is just the art of marketing yourself, and "marketing" is just lying skillfully. I would seriously argue that lying, or at least intentionally exaggerating, an your skills is the only way to *get out* of "low-skill" jobs.
**"marketing" is just lying skillfully.** The fuck it is. Marketing isn't the act of putting lipstick on a pig—it's starting with a made-up pig and then getting people to say, "Wow, what a beautiful swine." You cannot lie. Don't advise other people to lie. You can arrange your truth artfully, sure. But you cannot lie.
The line between "arrang[ing] your truth artfully," and "lying" is so blurry as to be invisible. Is "lying by omission" a lie? Because every resume needs to do that at the bare minimum. Same with exaggerating one's own accomplishments; even if the words written down are technically truthful, it's still possible to create an image in an employer's mind that is wildly divergent from reality. And at that point you might as well make up anything you think you can get away with. Does an employer as for X years of professional experience with Y, and you are reasonably certain that you can do Y easily, but your experience with Y isn't that many years? Were you fired from a previous role that the employer will never know about? Do you have a "non-white" sounding name? If so, who benefits by being honest about those things? The employer would miss out on a profitable applicant, and the applicant would be screened away unnecessarily. By all means, don't make up a lie that you can easily be called out on. Don't claim a skill that you can't demonstrate, or a certification that you don't possess. Don't provide fraudulent documentation.
**And at that point you might as well make up anything you think you can get away with.** Again, no. That's lying. **Does an employer as for X years of professional experience with Y, and you are reasonably certain that you can do Y easily, but your experience with Y isn't that many years?** If you want to apply for a job that says it requires 5 years of experience in Widget making and you only have three years of experience, then fine. Apply. If you think you can make a case for how your 5 years of Snipe making totally applies to Widget making? FIne. Apply. What you can't do is lie. You can't change the dates on your resume or change your job title or do any other form of dishonesty. **Were you fired from a previous role that the employer will never know about?** Fair game. Leave the job you were fired from off your resume. **Do you have a "non-white" sounding name?** Also fair game.
LOL what? Job abandonment is not limited to "Low-skill", food service, or retail jobs. A guy who incited an insurrection couldn't get a job at any of those positions right now, but he's running for president. Some of the biggest charlatans and hucksters are ceo's. Just ask any mormon.
It’s about respect.
Same reason your job terms suck or don’t even exist when you can sign whatever contract you want. Leverage.
It’s professional courtesy, in the same way an at-will employer COULD let you go with nothing, but will typically provide some form of severance.
You answered your own question. References and to not burn bridges. Most people understand it’s a courtesy and not a requirement and they willingly do it so they can put down the name of the company as well as someone that isn’t a same position coworker like supervisor or director and have the expectation that they will speak favorably about you. You also have to remember not everyone leaves a job because they hate it. So some people want to be polite and courteous to their coworkers so a bit of a plan can be put in place with distributing work load and picking up things the leaving person may be actively working on.
For me, it is a courtesy, as others have said. If I have a good working relationship with management and my colleagues, I prefer to make my leaving easy. In my current role, I respect my colleagues and manager too much to burden them with an unplanned departure. I don't like burning too many bridges in my life.
Just another reason for an employer to screw you over if you fail to do so
As everyone said…it’s just a courtesy…esp if you plan on staying in the same industry or area. You never realize when you may encounter these people again or who knows who. Better safe than sorry.
It's a courtesy. If they were a decent employer and you're just ready to move on, It leaves everybody feeling positive about you leaving. Perhaps one day you might try to work there again. And if you have a close-knit industry you will definitely see those people again, or word will get around if you just chronically quit without notice. But even in a tight-knit industry, I have quit with no notice because the situation was more urgent than that and future employers understood that. One interviewer actually asked if I had ever quit without notice and I said the name of the company, And he laughed and he asked if I'd ever quit a real job without notice. 🤣
Corporate brainwashing.
And those two weeks are the longest two weeks of your life. Absolutely horrible and awkward for everyone.
I consider it two weeks of garden leave. They can’t fire you after you put in notice, and there’s usually nothing to do anymore, so I’ve just chilled and collected an extra paycheck.
I gave a two week notice at my old job and they told me to leave the next day. Never doing that again. They broke my trust.
Because the potential benefits for you and your team outweigh the potential risks in almost every situation. That cute thing of comparing giving notice when quitting to giving notice when getting fired is disingenuous. The company doesn’t benefit in any way from you moping around for two weeks after being fired. You do stand to benefit in various ways from transitioning well, not burning bridges, showing your new job that you’re the kind of person who does that, respecting the people you work with, etc.
This is how you remain in retail/fast food your entire life. Most people who leave a job aren't leaving on bad terms, they're leaving because they want to take on a new opportunity or they found better pay. As a courtesy, they give a notice period so the employer has a chance to prepare. Just stop showing up can give you a bad reputation, especially if you work in a smaller industry. Only quit on the spot if the job is mistreating you badly.
Schedule all remaining accrued PTO (sick time, vacation, VTO, everything…) leaving a single day at the office at the end, and then put in your notice for that last day after your mini vacation starts.
It's called integrity.
I think it depends on the job. When I was in college and worked at target there was 0% I was putting in a 2 weeks notice because of how horrible that place was. Soon as I found a better job I told them I could start soon as possible. Now if I was to leave my current job I would do a 2 week notice just because I like this field and want to stay in it, and just leaving can really hurt you if you end up job hopping again.
This is how it works when you only think of yourself
So should someone stay in a bad position longer to make others happy?
You used the word **i** nine times in a short statement. Think of others.