Employee wins 'Top Performer' award weeks after being fired — and it confirms what many always suspected
They also explained that they had been told a bonus was coming, but no points were ever deposited into their account.
An employee who was recently let go from their job found out they had received a company award, for the very same month they were fired. The discovery came weeks after their departure, when a former coworker sent them a photo of the certificate, still taped to the office wall. In a post on Reddit under the username u/Double-Low-1577, the employee added the photo and wrote, "So I was asking an old coworker how they're doing, and they sent me a picture of an award given to me by corporate for the same month in which they fired me! How can that even happen?" Employees have often complained about hardworking employees being ignored for raises and promotions, and many argued that this seems like just another case.
The certificate named him "Top Performer – Month of June 2025," commending their dedication, contributions, and consistent excellence. Beneath the award, a strip of white paper had been taped to the wall with the words: "LET’S SEE WHO’S NEXT TO SHINE!" In the comments, the user explained that they had also been told a bonus was coming, but no points were ever deposited into their account. They added, "Should be a red flag to other employees. Especially since they posted it on the back office and added the 'Let's see who's next to shine!' Oh, and get fired. I know they lied and said I quit."
Unfortunately, these kinds of experiences are far from unique. Research has shown that employees and organizations often view "reward" through completely different lenses. A Yale School of Management study found that people expect rewards to come from results rather than sheer effort, which creates a blind spot when hard work doesn’t directly lead to visible outcomes. Meanwhile, a survey highlighted by WRAL TechWire revealed that although 43% of workers said they were putting in more effort than ever, nearly a third felt unrecognized, and over half concluded that hard work alone doesn’t pay off. It’s a sobering reality, one that mirrors what u/Double-Low-1577 experienced firsthand.
The post resonated with a lot of readers, and most chimed in with eerily similar experiences. u/citymousecountyhouse imagined the chilling absurdity, writing, "I just picture at the next employee meeting, the manager stands up and coldly says, 'Now, let's see who's next to shine' and the entire room starts panicking, screaming, 'No, not me, please, I have a family to support.'" u/practicalm recalled a similar misstep in their workplace, "This happened once where I was working, except it was at a division-wide presentation on a stage and the presenter had not been informed that the team that had worked on the product had been let go."
u/asyouwish shared, "Was nominated in January, let go in March, and got the nomination packet from the committee in April or May. At least the director later got fired and had to downgrade his career." u/E__Rock quipped, "These recognition awards are always bulls***. I'm convinced my boss's boss has no idea what I actually do for a living, yet they're always handing out things like this." u/Fenrir46290 added, "I quit a job after 10 months, and they sent me a congratulations letter for a year of service at what would have been my one-year mark."
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