Employment lawyer explains the reasons why high-performing workers are fired and it's eye-opening

Many people are aware of the manipulation, toxicity and unfair practices that are prevalent in the corporate world. As an employee, it often happens that even though one is performing well and achieving their targets, they are still fired based on bizarre reasons. For those wondering why high-performing workers get fired, employment lawyer Craig Levey (@craigleveyesq on TikTok) shared possible reasons as to why this happens in his video. “When an employee with a proven track record of success is terminated, it’s usually for one of the following reasons,” he said.

Elaborating on the same, he said, “The first reason could be when an employee gets a new supervisor.” Adding more, Levey said that new supervisors may not connect and gel well with their subordinates due to many reasons. He also highlighted a reason for the latter, which was seeing the employee as a threat to one’s position. The next reason Levey mentioned was a “change in ownership of the company or simply a change in management.” Explaining this reason, the lawyer said that new managers tend to reassess the company and its functioning and may determine that certain individuals and their services are no longer required.

“The third reason is if the high-performing employee becomes a burden on the company,” said Levey. He weighed in more on this reason and said that if the employee becomes passive or adds stagnant weight to the company, they could be fired irrespective of their top-performing capacities. “This could be by complaining about something illegal going on at the workplace or taking some kind of leave—pregnancy, medical or mental health,” he added. He concluded his video by saying, “Even high performers are expendable when they become a perceived burden to the company.” Levey’s video received over 54k likes and over a million views. Several fellow employees shared their experiences.

Many even added reasons why one can be fired despite having successful potential. @ur23329 said, “They burned me out. I became a burden, they laid me off.” @trixietrixie459 said, “The reason why you shouldn't give 101% to the company is because they forget work-life balance. They don’t care.” Levey posted another video recently, adding reasons why a good-performing employee may be laid off. “Their supervisor sets them up to fail,” Levey said as he began sharing reasons. “You can be the most effective employee in the world, but if your supervisor doesn’t want you to succeed, you’ll be fired,” he added.

The lawyer’s next reason was “being too expensive.” He mentioned that good employees negotiate higher pay. “If the company isn’t doing well financially, they’re the first to go,” Levey said. Sharing his last reason, he mentioned, “Unreasonable expectations for the employee.” Levey then shared how companies can have unrealistic expectations of employees simply because they’re willing to pay them and when the employee is unable to live up to those expectations, they’re laid off or fired. This video, too, received many views and people shared how supervisors are often careless about employees. @mbeammann said, “My husband was fired because he walked away from his supervisor who was attacking him verbally.”

Editor's note: This article was originally published on November 14, 2023. It has since been updated.