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Employee denied raise and told they're replaceable after becoming sole engineer on a project, costs the company big when they quit: '$500,000 and two years of productivity over a $40,000/yr raise'

The proverb “A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush” postulates that you're better off with what you have or are able to get now rather than what you might be able to get in the future. Reson being that While working for an emergency telecommunications company, this worker fell into the all-too-common trap of taking on additional work with the promise that it would eventually lead to more pay. Spoiler alert: It didn't. With the proverbial carrot dangling just in front of them indefin…
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Developer embarrasses new boss and gets foolish "no overtime" policy overturned by adhering strictly to it: 'Well, it's 4:30. That's my 8 hours. I'll see you tomorrow'

Sometimes you can't just tell people things—they won't listen. It takes actually experiencing the negative result that you were warning them about for them to admit they were wrong. Predictably, this happens all the time with unreasonable egotistical bosses who are eager to prove themselves… This developer, working for a financial services company, developed various tools and scripts to compensate for the company's other shortcomings, sometimes inadequate customer solutions. This saw them worki…
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Software giant fires last developer capable of servicing $25M contract in short-sighted cost-cutting measure, he successfully negotiates $1M/yr consulting fees:'Never fire the last legacy knowledge guy...'

This employee worked in the contracts department of a major software company, which they refer to as “MidSoft Inc” Continual foolish decisions that thought of nothing but the bottom line and cost-cutting measures, driven by the ravenous interests of private equity investors, reduced the company's senior development team from 12 to one soldier, “Sam.” While the ledger might have looked better for a time, the immeasurable loss of institutional knowledge and literal lifetimes of experience would g…
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HR refuses to give developer raise by downplaying their work, forced to eat their words when their software stops working

It's common knowledge that you'll often never be appreciated for your job when things are going well—or even great. Your boss and employer assume your high performance is just a given and merit to their management rather than a credit to your own talent and efforts. But, as soon as something goes wrong, they won't blame themselves, even though that will make the most sense based on their logic. No, they'll suddenly come around asking questions, trying to figure out what went wrong, and looking…
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Customer refuses to accept quote estimate, complains when developer refuses to haggle and instead rejects their business:'You don't wanna pay the estimate, that's fine ma'am enjoy your day'

Earlier in my career, working for a retail organization that also had a workshop providing maintenance and break-fix work, I received some sage advice from a wizened and weary mechanic who had been dealing with unruly customers for far too long. “Bend over backward to solve their problem today, and they become your permanent problem.” See, there are plenty of people in this world just looking for the attention of someone, and if you make it your problem to help them, they'll identify you as som…
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'I quit and they lose the contract': Overworked software developer given massive projects, agrees to lie to clients

'I quit and they lose the contract': Overworked software developer given massive projects, agrees to lie to clients

Instead of under-promising and over-delivering, one company found themselves doing the exact opposite. Truly, this company sounds like a hot mess. Just ask u/SchalkLBI, a software developer who suddenly found themself with a ton of responsibility for low pay. How low was this pay? It was just $1000 per month, and the software developer had to commute for four hours every day to get to work. Commuting two hours each way on an intern salary? That's tough. This developer writes that they stuck aro…
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Team Leader asked to motivate worker by arrogant manager, motivates them to leave: 'He's doing the work of 2-3 people'

'He's a millionaire now': Team Leader asked to motivate worker by arrogant manager, motivates them to leave for a better job

Being a manager is all about knowing people, and believe it or not, in order to be a good manager you also have to care about people. Of course, you have to protect the business interests too (if you want to keep your job) but there's a balance to be struck here—and the best managers strike it true. See, the thing is, having a motivated and cohesive team is actually the best asset a company can have—heck, even if your morals are based on a balanced checkbook, it stands to reason that the best i…
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Software developer accidentally cuts his salary in half: 'Always unavailable, always underperforming'

Software developer accidentally cuts his salary in half: 'Always unavailable, always underperforming'

If you ever find yourself making a six-figure salary , you'd better try your hardest not to lose that job. Many people never progress past salaries of 30k-48k per year. These salaries are livable, but if you want to have kids or own a house? You can forget about things like that on such a low wage. You find yourself shopping at the dollar store, trying to find clearance foods, and super-gluing your shoes together when they start to inevitably fall apart. I just know that if I made 100k-200k per…
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'He confessed he lied on his resume': Programmers band together to get nepotistic managers fired

'He confessed he lied on his resume': Programmers band together to get nepotistic managers fired

There's this thing that happens in life that you'll see time and time again, where you meet someone in a position of authority and can't help but wonder how in the heck they got there. Maybe they're not necessarily cruel (though that's usually the case), but they'll be so obstinate and incompetent that you can't help but be surprised that no one else noticed.
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'I guess I'm not working at all, then': Engineer gets 3 days off work after micromanager demands he provide a ‘doctor’s note' to work from home

'I guess I'm not working at all, then': Engineer gets 3 days off work after micromanager demands he provide a ‘doctor’s note' to work from home

This story is about (drum roll, please) new management and the silly demands they make in order to make a statement at a workplace. They stroll in, head high, title in check, scanning employees to see who will break the easiest. Who can they push around, and who will fight back? Well, one employee was not having it with their new boss. The employee was an engineer for the company, and they had one mandatory team day at the office. OP wasn't feeling well, so they informed their boss that they wo…
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Update: 'You all took it up a notch': Development team realizes they're 'actually able to do nothing' following boss's new directions

Update: 'You all took it up a notch': Sarcastic development team realizes they're 'actually able to do nothing' following boss's new directions

This development team got away with something that would probably get most people fired in an instant. Not only that, but they were able to update the r/MaliciousCompliance community on how everything went down the next day. Bosses are always trying to optimize their workers' outputs. They want to seem like their team is strong and is working harder than ever. But how should a manager prove to their own bosses what their team is up to? They could just talk to their employees and be involved in…
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'You'd be losing money!': Real estate agent landlord increases rent $500, tenant costs him $20k years later

There are few people you can truly trust in this world… and none of them are real estate agents or landlords. Two groups of people who make a name and a living for themselves by carving the flesh off of the unsuspecting. They'll stop at nothing to ensure they always walk away on top and with some extra coin in their pocket. So, it's unsurprising that a real estate agent who also landlords their own properties might be a little unethical and uncaring when it comes to profit-seeking and the fatte…
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'You make $200 and hour?': Arrogant boss brags about making more than IT Guy, he quits and charges that as contract rate

While this story may not be as spicy as some of the other stories we've seen come out of this particular subreddit, without a doubt, it's a good bit of revenge against an arrogant employer that doesn't reek of an “and everybody clapped” sort of ending.
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'I never offered any solutions to that company again': Egotistical boss overrules software developer's plan with their own, leading to their quiet quitting

Sometimes, getting too good of results will only prove to your boss that you're a threat to them and will earn you the honor of being the target of their ire and infantile rage as, rather than up their own game, they try to politically hamstring you in order to prove their superiority. After all, whenever their ego is involved, you can trust someone to make an irrational decision.
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'She wanted to buy grass-fed pork. There is no such thing': 20+ Professionals who rolled their eyes at people who think they're experts, when they're actually just wrong

'She wanted to buy grass-fed pork. There is no such thing': 20+ Professionals who rolled their eyes at people who think they're experts, when they're actually just wrong

Your years of career expertise are no match for someone who watched three YouTube videos on the subject. Learning is a lifelong endeavor for some people. They always want to read up on new ideas and form new opinions based off what they're reading or watching at the moment. Sometimes, people think they're so educated on a topic that they know better than a person in that profession. From lawyers to healthcare professionals to software engineers , these professionals have all met ordinary folks…
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'I helped end his career': Developer ends her old incompetent boss's whole career after he wrongly fired her

Being a ruthless cutthroat certainly has its advantages. Being unencumbered by the usual social requirements like empathy, mutualism, and reciprocation really frees you up to make some agile and dastardly moves. Still, the only friends you'll make will be “yes men” and sycophants, who are really only there to ride your coattails and feed off your scorched-earth rampage to the top, hanging around begging for scraps like a dog at the dinner table. When the house of cards eventually topples, these…
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