No full-time employee truly works for 8 hours a day. It is actually scientifically proven that most employees get around 3-5 hours of work done in a day, which means that most employees also have around 3-5 hours a day in which they basically do nothing. For people who work from home, it is supposedly much easier to avoid doing work, because you have no one to physically monitor you while you are meant to be working. This fact has brought on a phenomenon called ‘mouse jiggling’, which describes…

You'll encounter this often: Some middle manager in your organization decides to start tracking everyone's metrics and efficiencies, completely and obstinately oblivious to the irony that they themselves are doing nothing productive by doing so… They'll further add to the irony of their entire existence by implementing new procedures for staff to follow that do nothing but add to the inefficiency and make every task more painful and less efficient. Common examples of this would be, say, replaci…

In your first customer service gig, you will be shocked at how readily people manipulate and bend the truth in their favor while recounting events with what seems like complete and absolute sincerity. The first time you encounter one of these sad sob stories, your first instinct will be to do everything in your power to help them out. But the first time one of these stories starts to not quite add up, unraveling before your very eyes, you're going to end up with trust issues and not take anythi…

There are plenty of folks who do not look back fondly on their first job. Entering a professional setting without any relevant experience can be a daunting learning curve for anyone, regardless of the industry. However, no matter how much experience you may or may not have regarding the working world, sometimes, abhorrent behavior is so obvious that you know you have been wronged. You don't even question if this is “how things are done” no matter what your employer tries to tell you. You know t…

Organizations really, more than anything else, love scapegoating lowest-level workers for mistakes made by management and general organizational incompetence. The only thing that comes close is their love for simultaneously insisting that you should have just “handled” something on your own, even though the process you were following stated explicitly otherwise. Really, the truth of the matter is that they just hate having to handle any customer issue that has escalated to them, so there's no w…

Why do boomers want the next generations to suffer just as much as they did?

There's this idea that sums up how we end up with so many incompetent managers, which is called the “Peter Principle." You've probably heard of it before, but if you're just coming across the term for the first time, it's basically surmising that people who are good at a job get promoted to the next level, even if that promoted position really has nothing to do with the skills they've proven to be apt at. What's unfortunate about these situations is moving into management is really the only way…

New employees are not supposed to spend their first day at a job fearing that they will be immediately fired. The typical first day should involve getting to know one's coworkers and employers, becoming adjusted to daily tasks and responsibilities, and gaining a general understanding of the expectations in this new workplace environment. One should not feel tested on day one or threatened by a competing coworker. Unfortunately for this warehouse employee , he arrived on the job and instantly fo…

After their boss vetoed their preferred method of travel, this worker got the last laugh. Next, check out these folks who were rather uninformed about some crucial things in life, like the cook who “once served ‘rare’ chicken.”

Landing a job after a full year of unemployment elicited the biggest sigh of relief for this asset management employee; that is, until he was fired a mere two months later. Of course, the employee was not at fault here. In fact, he was working hard to ensure that he was a necessary hire for the company, to no avail. He even went out of his way to do the work of other employees when they were on their breaks or when they called in sick. However, none of that extra work was recognized or validate…

“They will watch you cry as they take away the only thing you have asked for at this job, and then leave early to go work from home that same 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…

Showing up early for work is a personal choice. If it makes it easier for you as the employee to have a few extra moments in the workplace to center yourself before getting started with your daily tasks and responsibilities, that makes total sense. However, if you're someone that can show up right on time and get started immediately, that works too. No one can say anything otherwise. Remember that: if you're being pressured to show up early to work, it's time to pull out that contract and advoc…

There's something about the realization that your manager is younger than you that triggers complex and deeply confrontational psychological crises and self-evaluation, making you wonder how and why you never progressed to that point, or at least passed the point you're at. What happened? What went wrong? Where did things go off course? Even if you never really wanted to be promoted to a management position in the first place, having someone younger than you as a manager for the first time may…

Have you ever met someone who’s so misinformed about things that you start doubting them yourself? It’s a strange feeling to have someone happily inform you that solar panels are going to be too powerful sometime in the near future… because they’ll soak up too much sun? Yes, that’s a real thing that u/ChanceFray was told by their oddball roommate. They aren’t the only person who’s had some funny encounters with people who just weren’t very bright. When u/noelioli asked, “Who’s the stupidest per…

This retail merchandiser fell right into her manager's trap. No matter how hardworking an employee is, it just won't be enough for some bosses. But that won't stop that boss from trying to work that employee to the bone anyway! When you're trying your hardest at work, it's tempting to take both successes and failures personally. You want to do your best, and if your manager criticizes you, it can sting. This manager realized that he could push this retail merchandiser to take on way, way more t…