Line #24 Main/FiringDay


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/youre_fired.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: At least there's no ambiguity.]]
3
4	->''A sacking, the book says, is one of the most harrowing and stressful events you may ever experience -- Jones assumes "you" means the person being sacked until he realizes it's talking about the manager. According to the book, sackings can be highly destabilizing: workers stop thinking about doing their jobs and start thinking about whether they'll still have them. [...] What Jones doesn't find in the book -- and he doesn't notice this at first; he has to flick back and forth -- is any mention of the retrenched employees. [...] It's almost as if once they are sacked, they cease to exist.''
5	-->-- Jones reading the [[FictionalDocument Omega Management System]], ''Company'' by Max Barry
6
7	Being fired is one of the most traumatic experiences a person can go through. Not only do they lose their livelihood, their circle of work friends, and their routine, but they have to deal with the fact that somebody looked them in the eye and said, "You're not good enough". Or maybe even worse: ''Didn't'' look them in the eye, and just sent a dismissal letter or e-mail as though they weren't worth the personal appearance.
8
9	Harsh.
10
11	But it's not always easy on the person doing the firing, either. They need to be the one who looks the other person in the eye and says, "You're not good enough", and then they need to live with the guilt afterwards. How do you just go back to your 9-to-5 job after you made the calculated decision that somebody wasn't worth keeping around?
12
13	Whether you're the fire-er or the fired, it's a serious event, with long-lasting repercussions.
14
15	Stories that focus on the person being fired can approach it in multiple different ways. If the character knows it's coming, they can play up the fear and dread as the deadline approaches. In a comedy, this can be the impetus for a ZanyScheme to try and save their job, or perhaps a form of revenge against the company instead. If it is a surprise, it can serve as a CruelTwistEnding to shock and dismay the audience. If the character is a ''main'' character in an ongoing story they will often [[SnapBack have their job again the next week]], but not always. Sometimes this leads to [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore an entirely new story or arc]]. Occasionally the firing will be seen as a ''good'' thing, giving the character the impetus to pursue the dreams that they had been putting off.
16
17	Stories that focus on the person performing the firing don't have as much leeway, and instead have one predominant feature: Forcing the character to shoulder the responsibility of firing somebody. Normally this will be their ''very first'' firing and will come after a recent promotion to highlight the burdens that come with the perks of management. It might also be somebody they were friends with, or had previously hired, to add emotional complexity. Normally they want desperately to be a BenevolentBoss, only to ultimately find that there is no way around the issue in the cut-and-dry world of dollars and cents.
18
19	If the person doing the firing is a supervillain or criminal of some kind, this might overlap with YouHaveFailedMe or YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness. Related to KickedUpstairs and ReassignedToAntarctica, where they try to get rid of somebody ''without'' firing them.
20
21	Keep in mind that this is not just for [[Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs any incident where a person is fired in a story]], but is about the way stories explore the lead-up and aftereffects on the people involved. Not related to OutOfJobIntoThePlot, which is when a person fired at the ''start'' of a work (Or even before it) leads to an unconnected main plot.
22	----
23	!!Examples:
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25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	[[folder:Comic Books]]
28	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': In ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', Clark Kent has lost his superpowers and [[BroughtDownToNormal is living a year as just a normal human.]] Unfortunately, this means that his work as a reporter is seriously lacking, as he isn't used to needing to go out and ''look'' for news. Perry White is on the verge of firing him, and in fact has his termination letter in his hand, when Clark is motivated to take a lesson from his wife's playbook and ''leaps out a window'' in order to attract the attention of the new hero Supernova for an interview.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
32	* ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'': In the future of 2015 seen in the movie, Jennifer witnesses Marty being fired after he is shamed into participating in an illegal scam with Needles. This highlights just how much of a FutureLoser Marty will become, and how much his life is ruined by the fact that NobodyCallsMeChicken. She judges just how much the future has changed when, in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', [[RippleEffectIndicator the "You're Fired!" fax she brought back is erased.]]
33	* ''Film/BigNothing'': Charlie gets fired on his first day as a call-center employee after getting several complaints from customers.
34	* In ''Film/TheFlintstones'', Fred is promoted and [[PromotedToScapegoat used as an unwitting pawn]] to lay off all the quarry workers, including Barney. As a result, his relationship with Barney becomes strained, and he is very nearly lynched by his former co-workers.
35	* ''Film/{{Godmothered}}'': [[spoiler:Mackenzie is fired for standing up to Grant about his desire to exploit Eleanor's chaotic nature to create more newsworthy stories and his desire to broadcast more bad news than good news.]]
36	* The main plot of ''Film/OfficeSpace'' is kicked off when Peter learns that Michael and Samir are going to be fired (and he's going to be promoted). It's particularly frustrating because Peter has recently been slacking off while Michael and Samir have been dutifully plugging away at their jobs, and there have been Outside Consultants interviewing all of the employees to see who is worth keeping. They decide to take preemptive revenge against the company by installing a computer virus to undetectably siphon off money from electronic transactions.
37	* ''Film/KidsInTheHallBrainCandy'': Chris arrives at the lab and learns that the owner of the company is firing just about every scientist in his employ who doesn't already have a new drug ready for the market. One scientist proclaims, "It's carnage!" This is what prompts him to claim that Gleemonex has been fully tested.
38	* ''Film/MarginCall'' begins and ends with the nameless company's HR department laying off large chunks of the workforce.
39	* {{Parodied}} in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' when the people who keep screwing up the opening credits get sacked.
40	* ''Literature/UpInTheAir'' is about a man who basically flies around the country firing people. He's an excellent speaker and rather charming (he's played by George Clooney in the film adaptation, after all), so his company basically dispatches him to notify employees that they're being fired, then give them a bit of a pep talk afterward.
41	* At the end of ''Film/TroopBeverlyHills'', after the Culver City troop is disqualified from the final competition to the benefit of the titular troop, their leader and one of the area council's executives, Velda Plendor, suffers a VillainousBreakdown and talks her way out of both her jobs.
42	-->'''Velda:''' I'm the only ''real'' Winderness Girl!\
43	'''Mrs. Temple:''' (''to Annie'') Does she strike you as being minus a few buttons?\
44	'''Velda:''' Oh, I'll tell you about the buttons, you senile old bag.\
45	'''Mrs. Temple:''' I may be old, and I may be senile. [[NoYou The only thing that's "bagged" around here is you]]. ''You're fired!''
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Literature]]
49	* Max Barry's novels deal heavily with business and corporate life, and include a lot of focus on what happens when people are fired.
50	** In ''Literature/JenniferGovernment'', about halfway through the novel [[CorruptCorporateExecutive John Nike]] offhandedly remembers that Hack Nike, the patsy he had hired to commit the Mercury killings that set off the plot of the novel, is still employed at the company. He absentmindedly has HR fire Hack, and when Hack sends him an angry e-mail reminding him that Hack has all sorts of compromising information, John only responds with a two-word message: "[[PrecisionFStrike Fuck off]]". This disrespectful dismissal is one of the final catalysts that gets Hack to join a group of anti-corporate terrorists (or rather, an afternoon discussion group that he pushes into committing some petty vandalism).
51	** In ''Company'', Jones picks up a copy of the [[FictionalDocument Omega Management System]], the newest how-to guide for executives that everybody at Zephyr seems to own. As he flips through it he realizes that its chapters on firings contain no mention of how it impacts the person who is actually fired and only talks about how hard it is to do the firing. When Jones eventually learns that Zephyr is actually just a case study for the company which publishes the OMS and is recruited, he is horrified at the callous way they toy with the employees' lives for "research". When Zephyr is eventually "consolidated" (re: significantly downsized) Jones almost touches off a riot among the ex-employees with the simple consoling statement "You don't deserve this".
52	* In Creator/IsaacAsimov's Robot novels, "Declassification" is an ever-looming threat for detective Elijah Bailey. In the overpopulated, strictly regulated life of Earth, all humans are guaranteed the basic sustenance of survival, but for those who are declassified, it can get very "basic" indeed. Cramped living quarters, menial labor, and subsisting on bland yeast products are the norm for those who don't have classified status to receive luxuries. Elijah's father was declassified when Elijah was just a child, and the way it destroyed their family still haunts and motivates him.
53	** In ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel'', the Spacers are deliberately trying to destabilize Earth society through the introduction of robotic labor to create a large declassified populace. [[DeconstructedTrope They hope that the Earthmen who are declassified will spearhead new exploration and settlement on extra-solar planets once they realize the opportunities they would have]]. Unfortunately, they miscalculated just how much the modern Earthman fears open spaces (and thus is psychologically unprepared for flying through open space), and also how much of the resentment towards the Spacers would turn into direct hate, so the declassified instead turn to "back to the Earth" Medievalism. The situation is only resolved when Elijah combines the two philosophies: They can go "back to the Earth" ''on other planets''.
54	** In ''Literature/TheNakedSun'', declassification is a less immediate threat since the story takes place on Solaria, where there is no classification system. Nonetheless, it is still a concern for Elijah, since he knows that if he messes up the investigation on Solaria he will be declassified once he returns home. He was only persuaded to go at all by the fear of what his family would be reduced to if he refused and was fired as a result. [[ShameIfSomethingHappened This was an un-stated threat from his superiors when they told him how well his family would be cared for while he was gone.]]
55	* ''Literature/SuperSalesOnSuperHeroes'': When Felix finally decides that he's had enough of his job as a fast food joint manager, he walks into his office after a week of "sick leave" and is happy to see the regional manager there. Before he walks in, he fires an incompetent employee, whom the regional manager was hoping to get in the sack, then he insults his boss. The manager finally fires him, and Felix happily calls HR and has the manager repeat what he said to the rep. Why not simply quit? Because being fired means he also gets severance pay, including the pay for all his unused vacation days.
56	* In ''Literature/TheBookThief'', Rosa Hubermann performs washing for the wealthier families in Molching. When Germany invades Poland and begins World War II, she is gradually let go from one family after the other, until eventually only the Mayor's family is left. The Hubermann family was always poor, but their situation grows more and more dire with less money coming in, especially with the added cost of feeding the Jewish man they are hiding in their basement. When the Mayor's family stops sending their washing as well, Liesel, Rosa's daughter, is crushed at the dismissal.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
60	* In ''Series/AmericanAuto'', an executive is planning to leave Payne and go to Volkswagen, where he already has an in. He reveals to Sadie that a number of high-level employees intend to follow suit and that they're aware this will tank both the stock price and confidence in new CEO Katherine Hastings. Katherine would prefer to hold onto these employees if she can, but since at least one seems determined to sabotage her outright she steals a march on them and fires them all at a festive corporate function.
61	* Two episodes of ''Series/TheBoldType'' deal with firings and layoffs at ''Scarlet'':
62	** In "Three Girls in a Tub", Kat spends the episode trying to reign in a new employee who just can't seem to get a handle on running social media for a publication like ''[[FashionMagazine Scarlet]]''. When her posts keep opening up the magazine to potential legal difficulties and outraging celebrities, Kat ultimately realizes that she has to fire her for the good of the magazine. The situation is exacerbated because she was the very first person that Kat had hired as well.
63	** In "The End of the Beginning" there are layoff rumors swirling all around Steinem Publishing, and Kat knows that the rumors are true. Jane and Sutton both fear for their jobs and try to prove their worth to the company, while Kat has to deal with ''not'' giving them any information since she is in management and the information is privileged. Despite sympathizing with their worries, Kat almost wishes that her own job was in jeopardy because it might motivate her to do something more with her life. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Jane and Sutton's jobs are saved]], [[DoubleSubverted but Jane ultimately decides to leave anyway when she gets a job offer from another magazine]]]].
64	* The season one finale of ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' opens with Jake Peralta walking into a bar, buying everybody a round of drinks, and explaining that he was just fired from the NYPD. [[HowWeGotHere The rest of the episode shows his ever-worsening relationship with NYPD brass that leads up to his disciplinary hearing]]. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope The final scene reveals that the entire first scene was a performance]], as Jake is infiltrating the Mafia and needed to be publicly separated from the NYPD.]]
65	* In ''{{Series/Cybervillage}}'', Baragozin fires his deputy in the first episode. Naturally, once the guy's mind is uploaded into a robot, the deputy isn't too eager to help him return to the original condition.
66	* In the second season finale of ''Series/FamilyLaw2021'', Harry learns that the lease on the Svensson & Svensson offices is up for renewal and that the costs of keeping their space will likely go up, and thus they need to cut personnel. He thus tasks Daniel with deciding who to fire, both because he doesn't want to do it himself but also because Daniel, as a recently-minted junior partner at the firm, needs experience in making tough decisions. After looking at all the data and consulting Jerri, Danny reluctantly fires Cecil, because Cecil is only a paralegal and he mostly works for Abigail, who is already expected to leave the firm. Much to Daniel's frustration, Harry overrides him and rehires Cecil, because Abigail decides to stay on after all and with three lawyers at the firm, Harry now feels confident that the firm will get enough business to keep up with the rising rents.
67	* ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'': In "[[VerySpecialEpisode Profiles in Courage]]", George is tasked with firing a Muslim factory worker after his bosses find out he went to flight school (the fact that the factory is up for a government contract not helping matters).
68	* In ''Series/TheGoodPlace'', Michael's description of what happens when Architects "retire" is absolutely hellish (Something people would literally describe as like hell), and it is looming over his head from the middle of the first season when he can't figure out what's wrong with his system design. When his boss, Shaun, shows up, he threatens that retirement is "on the table" if they can't resolve the situation. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Michael was actually not at risk of being retired at the start of the season]], he was just trying to make the main character feel bad by putting his pain on them. When things begin to fall apart for real, [[DoubleSubverted Shaun puts the threat in play for real]]]].
69	* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': In "King of the Narrow Sea", King Viserys dismisses Ser Otto Hightower as Hand of the King after Princess Rhaenyra accuses him of being overly ambitious to their family's detriment, using his recent accusations against her as evidence. He comes back later on, however, after his successor Lord Lyonel Strong perishes in a fire ordered by his son Larys.
70	* In ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' episode "Halloween", Michael Scott absolutely bungles a firing because he can't decide ''who'' to fire. He procrastinates until the end of the month (meaning it happens on Halloween) and he tries to pick the person that will be the least difficult to fire for ''him''. He first decided to fire Creed Bratton, but during the firing, Creed convinces him to instead fire Devon.
71	* Serena Southerlyn was the only Assistant District Attorney fired by the DA in the original ''Series/LawAndOrder''. Dismissed in the episode "Ain't No Love" by Arthur Branch, she had frequently butted heads with the DA and EADA over politics and procedures, and Branch ultimately decided that she was too sympathetic to defendants and couldn't properly serve as an ADA.
72	* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': In "The Eye", King Durin III disinherits his son and heir, prince Durin IV, after hearing that he considers Elrond, an Elf, to be his brother. The throne is now passed down to his unnamed younger brother.
73	* In the ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' episode "My Life in Four Cameras", Dr. Cox confronts Dr. Kelso when Kelso announces that he will need to fire somebody due to budget cuts. When Dr. Cox says that he could lower the budget ''without'' firing anybody, Kelso gives him the chance to figure it out but says that Cox will need to be the one to do the firing when it turns out to be impossible. Despite looking through the budget for hours, Cox realizes that there really is no alternative since the hospital simply doesn't have the money. He fires Kenny, the lunchroom attendant who earlier in the episode had said how much he enjoyed helping out the doctors who save people's lives.
74	* In ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', Elaine ''can't'' bring herself to fire somebody when she is running the Peterman magazine. The mailroom tough guy is so intimidating that every time she tries to fire him she chickens out and [[KickedUpstairs promotes him instead]]. This leads to all of her other senior staff [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere quitting in indignation]] when he winds up over their heads.
75	* On ''Series/WelcomeToWrexham'', Creator/RyanReynolds and Creator/RobMcElhenney are initially reluctant to make cuts to the team. However, after Wrexham AFC fails to make the playoffs, the two realize they have no choice and dismiss the coaching staff and eleven players to make room for new personnel.
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78	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
79	* In Wrestling/{{WWE}}, especially during the Attitude Era, one of the most well-known {{kayfabe}} stories was about a wrestler being fired on the set, mostly by [[Wrestling/VinceMcMahon Mr. McMahon]] acting as the BigBad (Especially with his famous "YOU'RE FIRED!"). This became so famous as part of the WWE kayfabe that it has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icIbs_GlDnQ its own Top10 at WWE.]]
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81
82	[[folder:Theater]]
83	* ''Theatre/DeathOfASalesman'': In the second act, there is a HopeSpot where Willy Loman decides to talk to his boss about being transferred to work in New York City, as he accepts that he's too old to be traveling up and down from New Jersey all the way to Massachusetts. While talking to his boss, Willy reminisces about his late boss, the new boss' father, and then brings up the idea of being transferred to only be a TravelingSalesman in New York City, only for his boss to tell him that lately his sales numbers have been so low that he's has become a liability to company and fires him. Willy tries to appeal to his ex-boss with the fact that he knew his father, but the ex-boss is unmoved, and when Willy tries negotiating a pay-cut, since he won't be traveling far, the boss just politely asks him to leave his office, and Willy eventually relents and leaves in defeat.
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86	[[folder:VideoGames]]
87	* Most of the bad endings from ''VideoGame/FreddyFazbearsPizzeriaSimulator'' (assuming an animatronic doesn't kill you first) result in you getting sacked. It can be as impersonal as a recording from Cassette man informing you that you didn't complete your tasks (no achievement received for this one), or because you became a liability (Blacklist certificate). You can even get one for doing absolutely nothing (Certificate of Mediocrity). There are also two ways to be fired before the week ends:
88	** If you find and play the recording of Cassette Man explaining his plan, you are promptly fired, getting the Certificate of Insanity.
89	** The game ends if you run out of cash and cannot pay for lawsuits, resulting in the Certificate of Bankruptcy. (And by ending, we mean the game literally closes on you. [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou It also repossesses anything you bought, leaving you with only any certificates you earned to that point]].)
90	* ''VideoGame/IdolManager'': If the agency goes bankrupt, the game isn't actually over until the player has formally had the "you're fired" talk with every single member of the staff. The strict minimum required for following the tutorial and advancing in the story is three idols, a manager (the PlayerCharacter's job title is "Producer"), a choreographer/dancing coach, and a sound producer/voice coach.
91	* ''VideoGame/LikeADragonInfiniteWealth'': One year after Ichiban's disastrous date with Saeko, he goes to work like he would any other day, only for his boss to call him into his office and inform Ichiban that he's fired, effective immediately. He returns home, dejected, and on his way back learns that his firing was courtesy of [[BadInfluencer Tatara Hisoka]] misconstruing what he does at Hello Work to make him seem like a villain; even worse, his friends Adachi and Nanba both got sacked from ''their'' jobs shortly after he did (though Nanba's firing later turns out to be unrelated to the Tatara video).
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94	[[folder:Web Animation]]
95	* ''WebAnimation/OverTheHills'': In episode 3, "Teething Troubles", while Mr. Bruce is testing Iain on the line, we find out that he put out Iain's fire by dumping a bucket of water into the boiler, which may have resulted in cracking his firebox. When the rest of the board of directors finds out, they fire him the next day. He then goes to work for Mr. Smith & Son's bus company.
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98	[[folder:Web Novel]]
99	* ''Literature/CanYouSpareAQuarter'': Graham has to think about what will happen to the IT employees of companies that have concluded contracts with his company NCS. Some will be hired over by NCS -- as happened to Graham in the past -- but others will end up without a job.
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102	[[folder:Western Animation]]
103	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS1E1DeathHasAShadow Death Has a Shadow]]" has Peter getting fired from his toy factory job after he falls asleep due to a hangover and inadvertently allows dangerous "toys" to slip into the market. Not wanting Lois to find out and blame him, he decides to sign up for welfare and keep her in the dark about it.
104	* ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'': In "Gone Goofy", the club goes over budget and requires one person to be fired, and it has to be someone who is lazy and unproductive. Goofy naturally fits the mold but the others, barring Donald, don't have the heart to fire their friend. As Donald tries to give Goofy a (literal) pink slip, Mickey decides to fire himself and make Goofy the new host.
105	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
106	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E3HomersOdyssey Homer's Odyssey]]", Homer gets fired from the power plant and, after failing to find another job, his life goes into a downward spiral. After attempting suicide, he soon decides to become a safety advocate.
107	** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E19SweetSeymourSkinnersBaadasssssSong Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song]]", the 100th episode of the show, deals with Bart's antics causing Principal Skinner to get fired.
108	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': Butters getting kicked out of the friend group in ''[[Recap/SouthParkS6E6ProfessorChaos Professor Chaos]]'' isn't technically a firing, but it's staged & animated to evoke the experience.
109	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
110	** In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarepantsS1E14SB129KarateChoppers Karate Choppers"]], [=SpongeBob=] is told not to do karate at work or risk getting fired. He is then attacked by Sandy, who refuses to believe his pleas to stop, only for Mr. Krabs to appear and make good on his threat. This causes [=SpongeBob=] to cry a river, but Sandy, realizing her friend wasn't kidding, convinces Mr. Krabs to give him another chance.
111	** In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarepantsS2E2SomethingSmellsBossyBoots Bossy Boots"]], Pearl gets a summer job at the Krusty Krab and makes radical changes to the theme and decor. Mr. Krabs disapproves of the changes, but he can't bring himself to fire his daughter, so he has [=SpongeBob=] do it instead. It turns out Pearl actually wants to be fired, so the two stage a dramatic "firing" for Krabs to hear.
112	** In [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarepantsS9E11SpongeBobYoureFired "[=SpongeBob=], You're Fired"]], [=SpongeBob=] gets fired from the Krusty Krab as a cost-cutting measure. After falling into a rut, he attempts to find jobs at other restaurants, but he is fired from them just as quickly because [[OneNoteCook all he can make is krabby patties]]. In the end, [=SpongeBob=] is re-hired because the Krusty Krab immediately falls apart without him, and Mr. Krabs installs a new pay toilet to make up for the extra nickel.
113	[[/folder]]

Context Main / FiringDay