Being overworked and understaffed, working long hours at odd hours, is no way to live your life. Still, many of us are doing so in order to eke out a living in this wild world. It can even seem manageable while you're in it, grinding out the hours to keep up with an ever-increasing workload to keep the bossman happy while seasonal demand runs its course or to cover for that vacant role that they've yet to see fit to fill. The reality is, by trying to do the right thing and keep everyone happy,…

Have you ever worked for a company that allowed you to donate your PTO to other coworkers? This new hire received an email from HR on his very first day asking him to donate PTO to two employees he didn't even know. The worst part is that he already doesn't like his new job and is taking a major pay cut after being laid off from his old job. It's understandable to donate hours to a coworker with whom you've developed a relationship, who may be in desperate need of PTO time due to family issue...

People will always be willing to better their own situation at the expense of others, whether it's that guy in front of you who sees fit to recline his seat for the entirety of a 15-hour flight despite having no one in front of or next to him, or something like cutting a queue in traffic or manipulating the schedule so that they don't have to work a shift that they find to be inconvenient. Everyone's the hero of their own story, so they, of course, won't see themselves as doing anything wrong.…

Another day, another eight hours spent in the office. There are some days when office life is a breeze. You get to hang out with your favorite coworkers, the workload is light, and you might even get to hit up your favorite lunch spot. Ah, the sweet taste of a midday burrito! Not all days are a grind. But then, there are the other days. The days where you're hanging on by a thread, furiously trying to chip away at the looming pile of work on your desk. You find yourself trapped in the endless s…

Let us discuss the concept of minimum wage. In case you didn't know, the minimum hourly wage was initially set according to the current cost of living and was meant to set the minimal bar that ensures employees would be able to afford the most basic human needs. As years went by, and costs of living grew more and more expensive, we have reached a point in which the minimum wage no longer accomplishes the one thing it was made to do. To read a story in which an employee with 20 years of experien…

When you actually like the place you work and can tolerate the people you work with, it's easy to reason that going into an office once in a while might present some benefit. But if you're being forced to go into an office where no one talks to each other (except under duress) just to do all of your work alone in an isolated room and all your meetings over Zoom anyway… It's easy to scratch your head and wonder what the point of all this really is. This worker shared how their employer made the…

Good childcare is hard to find… and it doesn't come cheap. It's reached the point where many families are now weighing up the costs of childcare and finding that it actually doesn't make sense for one spouse to work when their entire salary is going to the childcare costs incurred by their absence. Even for families that can afford it, filling the gaps between childcare providers is particularly challenging, creating a mess of busy schedules and further complicating workplace obligations. For t…

Hiring—especially in the way it's usually conducted—is not an exact science. There's a whole lot of speculation and social shadowboxing going on with elaborately constructed facades masking true personalities in order to seem more put together and desirable according to the bizarre decorum of the entire process. The entire thing is based more on “vibes” than any concrete Superstition seems to reign on both sides of the interview table, with everyone having their own tricks. Even the most well-i…

When you're in charge, it's pretty important that you follow your own rules, drinking the Kool-Aid that you've set out for everyone else to drink. Anything else would be hypocritical at best, causing dissension and demotivating those you're supposed to be leading and generally just setting a bad example. Conversely, being consistent and fair in your leadership helps foster a culture of accountability; by holding yourself to the same standards you've set for everyone else, you demonstrate the in…

Have you ever come across a job listing and immediately knew you wouldn't want to work there? Maybe the listing used phrases to describe the company culture, like "we're a big family," or stated that they required candidates who could "perform well under stress," setting off major red flags in your head. That's not really the type of environment you're looking for when you're trying to find your dream job. But the kinds of red flags you can find at companies go way further than those examples.

Taking time off work is probably just as important as the work itself. Being able to step away, take a break, and come back with a new perspective will likely benefit your work—besides, you've earned it. Although, of course, what you'll often find happens is that the freedom and relaxation your vacation offers you makes returning to work even more difficult than it already is on a normal Monday. Being denied the chance to take leave can mean missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, fami…

Getting a new hire at your job is always exciting. It's nice to have a fresh perspective, someone to help with the workload, and possibly a new work bestie. Unless they are a terrible employee, then it's not exciting to get a new hire. Sometimes, employees are onboarded, make it to the 90-day review period, and are let go. Or sometimes they decide that the company wasn't what they were looking for and leave on their own. That's why you can't get yourself super invested in a new coworker beca...

Oftentimes in our lives, a weary, exasperated manager with sagging eyes will give us an order, desperate for us to follow it without asking questions. Depending on the dynamic of our relationship with that manager and the nature of the request, we might be more than happy to follow their direction—or we may, instead, choose to follow the literal meaning of that direction but not necessarily the intended purpose of the direction. This “malicious compliance” to their request will help balance the…

Time, in a sense, is a resource that we spend doing different things, which is why when we talk about “spending time” on something, there's a literal sense to it. Through the sheer course of its slow march, the way we spend our time through the things we do, the things we think about, and the way we prioritize our responsibilities and personal interests goes on to shape who we become, what we know and what skills we possess. It might be a facile generalization, but for those familiar, I like to…

There are always going to be certain things that are best off communicated to only their intended audience. For example, you'd probably hate to accidentally send your parents a text detailing your weekend plans with your friends or other intimate details about another personal relationship. No matter what age you are or how close you are to your parents, certain things are better off left undisclosed. The same goes for an employee-employer relationship. Professional decorum relies on certain th…

It's hard to escape the conversation surrounding AI and the growing likelihood that we may soon find our jobs replaced by it. Yet, while some have attempted it, most seem to be falling short of success. While AI is proven to be effective at handling superfluous and repetitive work, it doesn't yet understand the subtlety and nuance of specific tasks, often lacking necessary details or fabricating information and then confidently reporting it as fact. So, at the very least, even where there is ef…