I got fired as the HR and my manager got to know that I have severe anxiety!
Sounds funny, right? It was devastating for me.
So, I'm from a non-tech background and while hiring I mentioned that clearly that even though the role is in the marketing department I'm not someone who is well-versed with tech. But they hired me and offered the role of content marketing. I joined in the last week of Dec 2024.
One day, my anxiety peaked and I silently went outside the office and sat in the cafeteria sipping cold water. My HR came there and I explained the scenario. I told her my anxiety level is high and I have a HAM-A score of 3.57. She told me this, "I can understand your mental insanity but during the working hours try to focus on work only. When it comes to deliverables, we don't have patience to deal with anything else. " Well, I was quiet because ig nobody would like to answer anything during that stage. I was shivering and her terming it as 'mental insanity' broke me into pieces.
My manager forced me to finish things off quickly within a day when I told her that I needed time to write a quality article that is completely tech-focused. Research was a mandatory thing for me before writing anything. She initially said fine but later told me, "yaar, I don't have patience and time for this. "
Yesterday, my HR and Manager set up a meeting with me. They told me that right now my performance is slow and due to my 'issue' I should step down as down the line delivering content would be a problem for me. They specifically told me that focusing on therapy and work would be time-consuming and they cannot afford to have someone who's slow-paced.
Well, I agree that I am new to the domain but hiring someone from non-tech background knowing all the details and then accusing the person of being slow is bullshit.
They asked me to send a resignation letter. I asked them to send me a termination letter as it was first their idea to hire me and firing me later. I still don't understand when the whole world is running behind employee wellness and flexibility why they chose to be complete asshole. Also, remote working is trust-based in that company. If an employee is working for long, only they're eligible for remote work.
I'm shocked and I'm devastated!!
Talking product sense with Ridhi
9 min AI interview5 questions
So you knew up front
About your own condition
About what the role needs and requires
And yet, given your situation and condition, you voluntarily chose to accept the role ?
HR and firm definitely screwed you up... but what about your own responsibility and accountability towards your own self?
Let me tell you one thing. With my anxiety I have a good career span of 5 yrs. No where, I have been treated like this. I am pretty accountable to what I do and what I have.. Anxiety does not have anything to do with the role. The role requires on-the-job learning that many of us do and I've done previously as well. Has no relationship with anxiety, I swear! My anxiety not due to anything related to work and has never been so.
Was it necessary to write such an insensitive comment? We all face high and lows in career and life as a whole and few words of sympathy show care. He was trying and we all try challenging situations to earn money. He didn't screw this up alone but the company did as well. While he is the one losing the job, it would have been kind if he was moved to some other less pressure role.
How big is the company? I'm asking with respect to the number of employees.
Because what you're saying makes me feel like it's a startup. And unfortunately these startups are like this . It's almost a single person's decision to hire or fire an employee. And they don't have concepts like "employee well being", "work life balance" , things like that .
I'd recommend you to find MNC's (where the chances of them doing this is less) instead of startups (assuming you've worked in one , ignore all this if you haven't)
I have worked with start ups till date and trust me, everywhere the scene was really good. I have switched only due to a compensation raise. This is the 1st time I found people are so insensitive.
You can raise this as a labour law court complaint. I'm sure we have some lawyers here who can help you too
Does labour law really help in India? Has anyone seen a case of unlawful termination beyond govt job? Just asking! Because this is a clear case of harassment by calling him mentally insane and firing him.
I doubt it would do anything good for this guy. The company would just quote that the employee did not disclose his anxiety before his joining and hence will find him accountable. Court would just have to follow what's written according to the book and it would be a shut case unfortunately. This happens very often. It is one guy against the company full of Predators.
Share company name too, also anxiety is not mental insanity this is harassment. Try not to tell this to any employer in future as they donot understand, try to find a job that is hybrid, incase of such situations try to wfh incase you are at office, take a leave saying its family emergency and you will wfh for rest of the day or be in washroom to avoid cruel people. Learn Tech and find a me job. Avoid start ups if you cant handle pressure at this stage in your life
Since you’re already on your way out, there’s no use of wondering about the why of the situation. But there is something you can (and should) learn from this situation.
The HR in any organisation is not your friend. Even if they appear friendly. Even if you commute together to work every day. Even if you have lunch together every day, take smoke breaks with them, forward reels to them on Insta, etc.
Their sole purpose is to ensure that they source the best possible talent for the company at the cheapest possible cost. Nothing more, nothing less. The moment there is even a hint of the possibility that the company is not getting their money’s worth for even a day (according to the HR or as communicated by your manager to the HR), they will do everything in their power to screw you over and salvage their situation.
They have been very direct in communicating to you that they have no patience for your mental health. Because they don’t care about the long term benefits of a healthy and stable employee. They are myopic and cannot see beyond the next deadline. The concept of loyalty only comes up when you try to resign quickly because you got a better offer. Because it means they are the ones losing money. Loyalty ceases to exist in their multiverse when it’s time to save money by cutting costs, aka layoffs.
So, never ever share your personal problems at your workplace. Not even within your team. And definitely not the HR. You might think they’ll be sympathetic and understanding, but you are actually providing them ammunition.
Firstly, get help for your anxiety. Professional help, not just a hug or a pep talk from your family and friends. Try and prep for the attacks when you’re in a normal state because you may not be in the best state of mind to think straight when it actually happens. So preparing for it is the best you can do besides the stuff that a qualified professional advises.
This is so your body can work on autopilot when your brain stops functioning rationally. Such that at your next job, if you get a panic or anxiety attack, you just have a glass of water and go out for a short walk. If it’s really bad, just tell your boss you’re feeling quite sick and need to take the day off and go home. Nothing more. If they press for details, tell them you’ve been recovering from an illness and you’re feeling weak and have a headache. You felt okay in the morning and so came in to work but it’s gotten worse. So you just need some rest and you’ll be fine.
All the best and things will work out. Have faith.
That is such a sweet advice. Thank you so much. Also, I've been into therapy for a while and it is helping me. However, things need time to heal properly. I'm in the healing phase and I can definitely crack something good. 💕
When would companies realise the importance of mental health smh
I'm sorry this happened to you @Salty_pookie
Let me know if you'd like a referral in my company :)
I would definitely like a referral and thank you so much for your kind words. I'm based out of bangalore.
Companies are made to create profit/ growth at all costs. Employees can shove their issues up their ass and work. It’s going to get worse because of competition. Companies know employees are burning but they are getting more work done, so they don’t care. One or two burnt out employees who quit in exchange for every employee that works more is a win for company
Dear @Salty_pookie I understand how your previous employer(s) treated you when you said "the whole world is running behind employee wellbeing". No most of the world's micro-to-startup-to-big-to-deep-tech have a very competitive culture which is also toxic india atleast. Let me tell you the verified harsh truth that is in my domain even some so-called MNCs behave with employees. Never ever share your weak points to the HR/ your team lead/ manager/ your colleagues before studying them. Because when you're joining new with the company/ the person, you never know how your weak points will be used against you. You're literally giving them all the power to pull you down at their pace. You may ask how do I make sure you keep them informed on your anxiety issue before hiring? Well, !o need to keep them informed. I would suggest DYOR about the company& culture in Glassdoor/ speaking to employees in linkedin. Your anxiety score shouldn't be a factor they should consider before hiring you. If you expose yourself plain, it would be taken as a disclaimer from your side not to expect the same value generation from your side compared to peer employees.
By your sentiment, I could sense you're feeling like "we at the workplace is a family, stronger as a family!". That's not true practically all the time.
Kindly kindly kindly understand the impact of the info you're sharing, who you're sharing to. Please take this as a lesson to tell people only relevant& up to the supposed-to-know info please.
Correction: well! No need to keep them informed.
I hope you get more power to handle this. Don't take this thing seriously. Just give it a laugh and move along. Layoff is getting more common than hiring recently, whatever the reason! It's happening all across. Just TC of yourself no matter who does or doesn't & move along afresh.
Okay. The company is obviously toxic and they treated you unfairly. But why are you writing the old fashioned way? Use ChatGPT. With the right prompt, you can get the exact kind of articles you need in just a matter of seconds.
They didn't want ai-written content.
Humanize it. Then edit it to suit your style more. Don't tell them you used it to write. If they find out and ask, tell them you were researching. The old fashioned way is stressful. For your mental health, you'll need to be sneaky. Nothing wrong in that.