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…

‘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…

If you were ever to get dismissed from a role for a serious infraction, it would be common sense never to use that role as a reference—yet, doing so speaks to the delusional fantasy world you must live in that got you into trouble in the first place. Whilst working as a retail manager, there was one person I ever had to fire for misconduct. Surprisingly, when that person then applied to our competitor months later, they used me as a reference… without giving me as much as a warning first. My re…

When you receive an offer from a new employer, you may be incentivized to approach your current employer and see if they'll match the offer. After all—as we often discuss, your current employment is a known entity, and so it will often seem preferable to stay in the comforts of the known—rather than branch out into the unknown of the new role that is being offered. Usually, your current employer will come back with what they can reasonably offer, seeking to match the offer you've received. It's…

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…

Sometimes you have to fake it ‘till you make it, that may or may not include your salary. I’m not sure you're on the right side of ethics if you do this.

Welcome to the corporate world, where there is a ladder somewhere everybody is trying to climb and throw whatever relationships you thought had with the people there, because in here “it's just business” is the mentality. It's pretty upsetting, tbh. Millennials and Gen Z are working hard to dismantle this type of toxic workplace culture, but alas, it still seems to rear its ugly head all over professional situations. And it's even worse when the professional situation is with someone you consid…

Starting a new job is always tough. Sure, you might have tons of knowledge and industry experience, but there's always a different way of doing the same old thing at every new organization you walk into. You might think that a square peg would always just fit into the square hole, but your new job may require you to revolve the square 360 degrees clockwise, counterclockwise, and then on a vertical axis—all before putting it in the same square hole you always did before. Sure, it may be stupid,…

No matter how much we love our jobs, we're probably not expecting to be at them forever. Gone are the days when you started working down in the mines at 11 years old and spent the rest of your days until retirement there—or until the black lung took you. No, despite the children's yearning, they're no longer sent into the mines, and we're not expecting to work at the same place forever, either. Fortunately, many of us have the privilege of being able to seek greener pastures, probably only to f…

It's often said that you'll only be truly appreciated for your work long after you've left the job; this is owing to what little visibility upper management has into your work or what little understanding they have about what it is that you actually do. Unfortunately, rather than being missed or celebrated, it's more likely that you'll be blamed for things that had nothing to do with your role (or even happened after you left.) In most workplaces, your boss will be shaking their head and mutter…

Seldom do you quit a job and ever want to go back. It's surprising how the sudden absence of a paycheck removes all desire to set foot there ever again. This is especially true when you quit because of a bad boss or coworker; you would hope never to see them again if you can manage it. When your boss is verbally abusive, going in for one last “face-to-face” discussion is probably the last thing you should do; the last thing you want to do is give them another chance to get in your face or spin…

Feedback is important but usually not well received. People generally don't like hearing all of the things that they could have done better; those with overly inflated egos tend to take this especially poorly. Sure, it doesn't feel good, but most of us would take the feedback—maybe apply it, maybe not—and move on from it. Only occasionally recollecting the exchange when the intrusive thoughts move in while trying to go to sleep at night. Rather than doing this, this company decided that they ne…

Starting a new job is stressful; you've traded the relative security of whatever job you've just left for the uncertainty of a new one. This entire process, from start to finish, is time-consuming and emotionally draining, leaving you hoping that you'll never have to go through it again… and then you get fired on your second day. This old bait and switch probably means that either someone realized they didn't have the budget for a new role that they thought they did, or layoffs are on their way…

Realizing you're being paid far less than you're actually worth is stultifying. Suddenly, everything you do at work becomes an impossible burden as the weight of that knowledge brings you down. You can't help but wonder how long your employer has been knowingly capitalizing off this discrepancy and whether they've been laughing behind your back the entire time as they count the money they're saving on your paycheck.

There's no shame in ditching a new job once it's clear it won't work out. We're constantly told that a bad reference (or lack of one) will follow us for our entire life and hurt future job prospects, but that's not really true. Still, not everyone is going to be able to do this. However, when you're 17 years old and still living with your parents, you have the freedom to look for something else—which is good because you're often going to attract a lot of employers looking to exploit your lack o…

You should always be wary of the “walk back” as a manipulation tactic. Often used in sales and scams, the seller starts by offering something acceptable and slowly changes the terms of the deal to something that might have been unacceptable to start with but is now reluctantly accepted due to the sunk cost of invested time. Consecutive slight alterations to figures or terms should always raise red flags, and if something doesn't seem right you should always trust your gut instinct, just as this…