For some unfathomable reason, companies have a larger hiring budget than retention budget. They're willing to pay more money to hire a new employee, than they would be willing to pay as a raise for an existing employee. OP was working as a junior at an IT job for a company. During OP's yearly evaluation, they asked their boss for a 5-10% raise, which was completely fair, as they had taken on many responsibilities since the beginning of their employment. OP's boss refused, giving a bunch of reas…

Management often doesn't realize that when you quit, you technically stop working for them. In this case, OP was working for a security company, and one month in, already decided to quit. OP gave his manager two weeks' notice, despite the fact he didn't actually owe them that. Two weeks go by and OP's manager hadn't yet found a replacement. On OP's last day, things changed, and a new trainee showed up, less than eager to be trained. OP did his best to train the new hire, despite running into a…

Companies seem to be allergic to retention, instead opting to micromanage, cut employees' salaries, and demand they work two jobs for the same pay. The list goes on; the lesson stays the same, but they never learn. In this case, OP was working in a toxic work environment, where he were forced to take a 40% pay cut because the company replaced his whole department with contractors. His boss also dangled a certification for 6 months with training in front of him, causing much anxiety on OP's part…

Quiet quitting what up

‘Nobody wants to work these days’ and ‘Employees aren’t loyal anymore' are two of the most popular sentences coming out of management's mouths nowadays, as they seem to be under the assumption that something has gone awfully wrong in recent years when it comes to work ethic. They aren't entirely wrong, but they're looking at it the wrong way. Why doesn't anybody want to work anymore? Why have employees finally grown a pair and are no longer feeling obligated to their job the same way they'd fee…

New hires are like the runt of the litter; small, without confidence, and in need of some extra assistance. Bosses often underestimate new hires, under the assumption that they should be grateful to have a job, and should want to contribute and 'take one for the team' until they reach emotional burnout. In this case, OP began working in a short-staffed office. The person training OP ended up quitting, which only caused further problems for OP, who was already picking up a lot of slack. Their bo…

Our circumstances often change, as life throws all kinds of hurdles at us, varying in their severity. In this case, OP was working as a medical professional, and their spouse got a new job in another state, meaning that OP would have to move with them. According to OP's boss, they were breaking their employment contract, which was technically true, but OP's boss took it harder than they should have. OP's boss said OP wasn't entitled to an entire month's wage, as their contract stated that were…

Here's hoping this manager learned that her power trip was certainly not worth it.

Malicious compliance usually ensues after management messes their job up to the extent that employees find a clever way to get back at them or the system while technically carrying out their job description. OP was working as a paid intern for a law firm while they were still in law school, and to say that they enjoyed it would be an understatement. Working weekends and pulling all-nighters was the norm for OP, who claims they were the typical 20-year-old overachiever. Everything went smoothly…

Weekend, where art thou

Upper management glosses over the fact that it has been proven, time and time again, that micromanaging employees results in more problems than it solves. In this case, OP was working at a company for over 10 years, overseeing about 30 employees. The upper management in OP's company micromanaged its employees, ignored mental health issues, and held daily power trips that consisted of illegitimate disciplinary write-ups. OP was utterly exhausted from the amount of energy it took just to stay san…

The customer service industry is unpredictable; customers range from super kind, to average, to complete wacko human beings. Servers often encounter a variety of strange, weird, odd, and unexpected situations, some of them being the tip that people leave when they are done with their meal. Apparently, not everyone leaves 15%, or any money at all… some customers prefer to leave some pretty strange, unconventional things instead. As we have worked in the service industry, we can vouch for the fac…

Management seems to have a different set of rules for themselves, on the one hand, they are allowed to do whatever they want, even if it goes against company guidelines, yet employees caught behaving, in the same manner, will be immediately given the boot. In this case, OP was working part-time as an IT manager for a small company, as OP was still in University finishing their degree. OP described the management team as extremely incompetent, as they would browse the internet for personal shopp…

Working in the customer service industry, you've got to be tough as nails, as you will be constantly and consistently tested without fail. Every day you'll need more and more patience as Karen customers become less daunting, and more of a nuisance. OP was working as a front desk clerk at a hotel that was holding a very expensive, corporate event, resulting in most of the rooms being taken by said event. The last ten or so rooms were reserved by construction workers who had a contract with the h…

Some companies' policies don't allow overtime, as paying minimum wage employees a slightly more humane salary is just not in their budget. Despite this, managers can overrule this when holidays arrive and they are in dire need of help. In this case, OP was working at a retail store; unsurprisingly, this was the type of company that paid its employees little but expected a lot. The holidays were fast approaching, and management knew that they were way behind, thus they would need many hands on d…

When working in any industry, you may find that you come across tight-knit teams of employees who often meet up in their spare time, whether for drinks or a meal, for some good old 'team building'. In this case, it went further than that, as the place OP was employed at organized a team building during the weekend, pulling employees away from their spouses and families, yet not paying a dime. OP approached their boss and exclaimed that weekends were an important time for her to be with her spou…