He was a top performer, reached senior role in 6 months. Employee’s one decision led to layoff 2 days before job promotion

Amid the sudden wave of layoffs in big companies, job security has become as fragile as a sandcastle in a storm. Even if you give your all, there’s no guarantee that you will not be the next in line to be shown the door without warning or an explanation. So, in such tough times, it is important to be cautious and make decisions wisely instead of going with the whim. Along similar lines, career counsellor Simon Ingari shared a post on X, recounting an incident where one apparently harmless decision led to the termination of a top-performing employee.

Sincere employee assists manager for side project

According to Simon Ingari, his friend, 35, encountered steady growth in his first company, winning Performer of the Quarter twice in a row. Within 6 months of joining, he was appointed to a senior position and a year and a half later, the office authorities were planning to promote him to a lead role after his current lead announced a career break. Even the firm’s CEO acknowledged his dedication, claiming that expectations from him were very high.



Despite these achievements, one wrong decision by the employee, where he decided to work independently with the manager without the company's approval, caused his termination, right before he received his promotion. As per the post, his manager requested the employee to help her with an external side project on weekends. Although the professional refused initially, he later agreed after the manager insisted that he needed it for portfolio exposure.

Employee learns a lesson on moonlighting

The employee agreed to the side project, assuming it would remain limited. But over time, the work expanded, he signed an NDA without fully thinking through the implications and most surprisingly, he didn’t realize that the project was for another company until he found himself in meetings with them, some of which took place during lunch hours at work, upon the manager’s request.

The employee rationalised the entire thing, resting his faith on her manager. He didn’t believe her intent was malicious, and neither did it cross his mind that they could get caught. But just 2 days before his promotion, the HR discovered that he and the manager were secretly working for a different company through email tracking. Declaring it an ethical breach, both the manager and the employee were terminated.

The employee received the hardest blow as his manager was already quitting the company. When he tried to explain his situation to the CEO, the latter pointed out that he was smart and should have known better about the possible consequences. The CEO, however, noted that ironically, smart people tend to rationalize unethical behavior until consequences force accountability.