My Boss Said “You’re Fired.” I Smiled and Said “Great”. He Had No Idea Why

I’ve been working diligently for 20 years. One day, out of the blue, I received a notice of termination, despite my dedication to the company.

“Congratulations, Mark. You’ve been selected for workforce reduction. We’ve hired a top-notch new recruit, so you’re being let go. Thanks for your hard work.”

I stood speechless at the sudden declaration from my manager, Evan.

“It’s unfortunate, but that’s reality. You should regret your foolishness for opposing me.”

“That’s good.”

What?

He was taken aback by my response and stopped speaking. But soon he regained his composure and flashed that nasty, smug grin.

“No matter how tough you talk, you’re still fired. Pack your things and leave.”

He walked away laughing loudly, but he truly understood the meaning of my words the next day.

My name is Mark Davis. I’ve been working at Carson Manufacturing, which makes industrial machinery, for 20 years.

Before I knew it, I had become 43 years old, focusing solely on my work and working tirelessly. Even though I’ve been around for a long time, I’m still a regular employee without any position.

That’s because I love tinkering with machines more than anything and wanted to stay on the production floor forever. There were several opportunities for promotion, but I always explained my situation and had the promotion deferred for me.

Having the environment to freely create machines was more important than the salary. However, such happy days came to an abrupt end yesterday.

Despite my 20 years of dedicated service, I was suddenly given a termination notice yesterday. Looking back, Evan becoming my supervisor was the direct cause.

All my previous supervisors were hardworking and respectable mentors. They would cover for my mistakes and collaborate with other departments to solve problems when consulted.

Such a culture allowed Carson Manufacturing to gain a certain level of trust in the industry, despite being a small company. But that changed when the CEO was replaced and his nephew, Evan, was transferred here.

“I won’t tolerate the lax atmosphere of this workplace from now on. Every employee must give their all to achieve results.” Evan declared this abruptly in his first address.

At first, we employees were confused but tried to accept his demands. Needless to say, everyone at the factory has been passionate about machine manufacturing without being told; we were already trying our best to get the job done.

But Evan, without understanding the situation on the ground, kept demanding higher sales without any concrete instructions. We were constantly reprimanded, and I finally decided to speak directly to him.

“Evan, everyone is doing their best every day, but if you ask us to improve our performance without specific directions, we don’t understand how.”

“If you guys working on the ground don’t understand, how should I know? Mr. Carson boasted that you are excellent employees; if you’re so talented, you should be able to figure it out without my instructions.” He replied.

No matter how hard I tried to communicate, he was always like this, making conversation impossible. Through persistent discussions, I realized that he was completely inexperienced.

It seems Mr. Carson called his nephew, who had been drifting from job to job in various industries, to give him a position out of pity. I gave up on expecting concrete instructions from Evan, but he held a grudge against me for embarrassing him in the meeting and resented me persistently afterward.

“I heard you’re in your 40s, Mark. In other companies, you’d be considered a mid-level employee. Why are you still a regular employee here?” He asked.

“I enjoy working on the production floor and wish to continue here until the end.”

“No need for such excuses. In other words, you’re incompetent. We don’t need incompetent employees here, but do your best to work hard.” He said.

Whenever we crossed paths, he would make sarcastic remarks and complain. Gradually, his sarcasm wasn’t just directed at me, but also at Emily, my right-hand woman.

She is a younger woman in her 30s with exceptional skills and a great sense for the work. That’s why I always included her in my product development, but Evan mocked her for it.

“This company has generous benefits, Mark even has a babysitter assigned to him.” Seeing him compare me and Emily while laughing, I almost retorted.

I could ignore insults directed at me, but involving other employees was different. However, it was Emily herself who held me back.

“I know how capable you are, no matter what anyone says. We just need to prove ourselves through our work.” Her smile, which always cheered up everyone around, also helped ease my tension.

This is how we managed to continue our daily work despite the troublesome presence of Evan. However, over time, his behavior became even more unbearable.

It became a norm for him to leave work on time while pushing his tasks onto his subordinates. Although we employees covered his work, he never showed any gratitude or appreciation.

Moreover, when employees apply for paid leave, he would reject it with unreasonable excuses like being too busy or coinciding with his own leave. Realizing that this was unsustainable, we decided to directly complain to Mr. Carson about him.

We believed that only he, being a relative, could change Evan’s attitude, but the result was a complete failure. Instead of reprimanding Evan, I was the one who got scolded.

“You’ve been with this company for 20 years, haven’t you? It’s your role to support Evan, yet you complain without making any effort. From now on, devote yourself more to assisting him.” The CEO said.

Hearing this directly from the CEO made me utterly disillusioned with the company. Since then, Evan has been subjecting me to various petty harassments.