Top reasons why programmers are fired.

Question

Have you ever been fired before, or one of your colleagues?

What were the main reasons for him being fired?

The objective of this question is to get a list/description of other peoples experiences too see if we can come up with a theme of why people are let go.

For those that work for consulting companies, I would guess one of the main reasons would be a developer is just too slow pumping out code.

So my guesses would be:

 1) attitude 
 2) too slow

Please specify if you are saying something from experience or just guessing.

Answer 1

I'd say 2 is just asking for trouble - It's very difficult to prove that a programmer isn't performing because he's lazy or isn't good enough, and not because of changing spec, vague assignments, external factors, unreasonable expectations etc. Unless you have a number of programmers doing provably similar tasks, I doubt this is often the official reason.

Answer 2

Just a guess: Posting too much subjective questions on StackOverflow?

Answer 3

Consistently missing deadlines has to be a biggie.

I'd say being a bad fit (i.e. bad attitude) must also feature high.

Answer 4

Based on what I've seen in the past:

• They crashed the production system (again)
• They lied on their CV
• To be made an example of to others

Answer 5

It also depends on the country you're in - I'm assuming you're talking about the US here. In some countries, it's very difficult to fire an employee solely on the base that he's not working fast enough for the manager. So if a programmer gets fired in those countries, it's probably because (s)he did something really serious, like an NDA breach or a made a really costly mistake (in terms of money, client trust, reputation, etc).

Answer 6

I have had to recommend people be fired/let go for the following reasons ...

• Poor attitude
• Distributing propoganda at work (NRA material) ... I agree with the NRA ... just not at work
• Contractor was working on work for ANOTHER company while on my payroll instead of on my work
• Poor coding/lack of knowledge (had someone who used alot of 1-2 letter variable names, made the code extremely confusing, warned him repeatedly but the style never changed)
• Taking too much time on a project. I.E. Spent a dollar and saved a dime ... not good business sense.

Those were the biggest reasons. Never had anyone start an altercation or threats of voilence etc.

Answer 7

Most people I know who have been fired have been fired for having some sort of conflict with the boss. Like making a demand and the boss calls their bluff, etc.

Bad programmers just seem to get given bitch work / no raises until they quit.

Answer 8

I have not been personally released from a position, but I have seen my coworkers go. Now that I am in a position to be the one with the ability to fire, as well, I understand some of the reasoning behind what I have seen before a little more clearly.

In no particular order, here are some reasons that a person should be subject to termination (depending on your company, possibly after being placed on probation - not saying that all of these are immediate grounds, but more of a partial litmus test):

• Inability to adapt to new technology.
• Inability to work with other team members (personality issues, etc.).
• Inability to delivery quality work.
• Inability to show up to work on time, or work a minimum number of hours
• Inability to follow direction.
• Inability to work within their role (i.e. Sr. Developers who don't mentor, etc.)

Like I said, these are all parts of the puzzle, and are not likely to be means for an immediate dismissal. Normally, these things need to accrue and eventually become a larger part of the whole.

Answer 9

The main reason I have seen people fired was because they were unable to adapt to new ideas, unable to meet deadlines because of their inability to adapt.

That and the fact they most of their "production code" was rewritten by someone else to pass QA

Answer 10

The one time I witnessed someone get fired it was a contractor who lied about the hours he billed.

It doesn't get any more clear-cut.

Answer 11

I've seen people sacked for inappropriate behaviour -- saying inappropriate things in front of the customer (badmouthing the company that provides your paycheque in front of the customers is not a good idea).

Answer 12

I've sat in meetings where my CEO and CTO have both denied responsibility for hiring "Chris".

Chris had many many complaints about his extreme anti-social tendencies, and the quality of his work from clients. His colleagues had complained about his technical ability and his attitude to others. He shouted, screamed, didn't turn up sometimes, hung-up on support calls. He (badly) rewrote production code in other peoples projects at whim. Goals were set and not met.

He received three written warnings I know about and any number of verbals. Evidence was documented, a folder was built up.

Duly, Chris was not given a pay-rise - even inflationary - for three years, and was slowly given less and less new work by the PMs.

Eventually the company was sold off, and some were made redundant by the merge. Not Chris.

The new parent failed to understand the business and drove the good people away until the production division became unprofitable and they closed it in favour of offshoring to a third party. Only three of the staff were kept on, working from the sales office a couple of hundred miles away.

Chris was one of them.

He's still there now.

I can't even begin to imagine what it takes to get fired.

Answer 13

I contracted in a place where this one guy was let go for "demotivating the team". He was constantly moaning about the product, the tools, the other developers. And he would sit and browse job sites all day at work. I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did.

However, far and away the main reason I've seen people let go is of course layoffs.

Answer 14

Wasting too much time on StackOverflow... :oP

Answer 15

There is a distinct difference between being fired and being made redundant; there are common factors though. The reasons that might get you fired will overlap with the reasons that might mean that you're the one being let go rather than being kept around.

So a huge possible reason is breaking the law, or at the very least, ignoring or being ignorant of the regulations.

Not doing your job is quite important, but the law in most developed countries sides generally with the employee here - if you're not doing your job there are hoops that your employer needs to jump through. Several times, though, paying someone off is the easiest way out of this.

Having a bad attitude isn't really grounds for dismissal, your employers weren't forced to hire you in the first place and weren't force to retain you at the end of your probation period. If they then decide that your face doesn't fit, see the previous point.

Employing people is actually quite expensive, the general rule of thumb in the UK at least is to double the salary (once you've considered tax, NI, pension contributions and the marginal cost of office space, etc.) but you've also then go to consider the cost of not having someone in that position.

Ultimately getting fired (as opposed to laid off) is actually quite hard.

Answer 16

Wasting too much time on StackOverflow... :oP

Hahaha, but stackoverflow feeds our souls...its neccesary to hang around

Answer 17

In my case, Visa issues were the reason, mainly being that the H1-B I had been on for the past 5 years couldn't be extended and there wasn't enough time to get the paper work done for a green card, a.k.a. lawful permanent residency.

In other cases where I've worked, there have been layoffs where the company just couldn't keep paying the bills or they weren't carried over when the company or its assets were acquired.

Answer 18

MMORPG addiction and all that comes with it such as playing on the job, showing up late, sleeping on the job etc...

Answer 19

Wasting too much time on StackOverflow... :oP

But its necessary our boss should understand that we need to feed our souls ñ_ñ

Answer 20

The colleagues I've seen fired were each for gross incompetence. Essentially, it was clear that they were not up to snuff for the job so their managers gave them very carefully spelled out tasks with very reasonable deadlines. The work or lack thereof was reviewed and when found to be wanting, they were given the boot.

I also saw the same thing done to someone who was not grossly incompetent. His manager didn't understand his job and his constraints. He completely every task in a timely manner and done well. He kept trying to explain that his job description was more than full time. Finally he left out of frustration and they had to hire three people to do what he did alone.

Answer 21

I've seen very few people fired in > 25 years of working. Two that come to mind where

1. Someone who refused to do support in our very small company
2. Someone who ignored a direct order not to check code into a specific branch and actively worked around security restrictions.

I've known plenty of people who should have been fired tho.