It turns out they were essential to the business after all… Traditionally, layoffs were considered to be a point of shame in business, only used as a last resort as it was a sure sign that your business was failing—usually as a direct result of failures in leadership's decision-making and mismanagement. Really, this—along with the hit that was sure to follow the stock pricing of publically traded companies—was all that kept companies from considering using layoffs as a cost-saving measure. Nowa…

Staying until the end of the day when your work is complete should not be a sign of a good employee. If the work is done well, nothing else should be questioned. Staying late is a sign of poor boundaries between work and life, nothing more and nothing less. Let this also be a friendly reminder that any extra work or help with other tasks after one's regular work expectations are fulfilled is a gift and a favor, not an added responsibility. Thankfully, in this story, we have the rare instance of…

Some days at work will stick in your head more than others. If you're working hundreds of days each year, you probably won't recall what you were doing on some random Tuesday in April. What you'd definitely remember are the days that caught you off guard . Maybe you walked into the office and suddenly saw that the big boss chose that day for a surprise visit. Perhaps you'd recall the day that a customer made a giant deal with your company, leading to a huge celebration. When u/Voraxia had an un…

There are a lot of reasons not to hire a potential candidate, and on the other side of that coin, there are a lot of reasons why a candidate shouldn't pursue a role. Certainly, if the other party isn't willing to follow (or capable of following) basic etiquette and decorum, that's a pretty good sign that the ensuing relationship isn't going to be a bountiful one. In a world where much of our communication takes place in non-verbal written mediums, it's important to remember that it's incredibly…

Looking for a new job can be such a grind in itself—from scrolling through endless job listings to tweaking your resume and surviving the interview process. Not to mention the whole onboarding hoopla. But imagine surviving all of that just to realize the company is nowhere close to what it was hyped up to be. Well, that's exactly what happened to this employee. She thought she hit the jackpot with her dream job, only to throw in the towel after a mere week. Turns out, the management was a chaot…

White lies are one thing, but these bosses told a whopper of a lie right to their employee's face. As a manager , you have numerous responsibilities to your employees, and strangely enough, being truthful is not on that list. For example, a manager might hear word from their own boss that layoffs are coming. Suddenly, that manager is working with a team of people who are blissfully unaware that their livelihoods are going to be taken away from them. But all they're allowed to do is to continue…

If you can't even make it through the first shift at a job, maybe you just weren't cut out for that role in the first place. Or maybe you were right for that career, but you actually dodged a bullet by avoiding a bad place to work. Either way, these kinds of circumstances happen once in a blue moon--- but the people below were there to witness it and share the story. Everyone makes mistakes at work, but usually, they're pretty minor. Maybe only your boss knows about it, or maybe you botched som…

Why does it feel like this is giving Squid Game ? This boss decided that it was a good idea to have his employees fight over a piñata filled with money at the office Christmas party year after year. You would think given recent cultural conversations about toxic work environments that perhaps this dude would rethink this annual practice, but nope! This year, he decided to do it yet again. This thread was posted to Reddit's r/antiwork subreddit by u/schotte420 , whose girlfriend worked at this m…

We will always be affected by favoritism. Parents make an effort to convince us that there is no such thing as favoritism and that people evaluate us based on our qualifications or lack thereof. As someone who has worked at over a dozen jobs, attended roughly six different schools during her life, and is one of twenty grandkids, I can vouch for the fact that favorites exist. The story below is of a strong single mother who is having a hard time providing for her kid. OP is a hard-working waitre…

This must've been the craziest day on the job for one group of construction workers . At every job, there will come a day that is so outrageous that it turns into a legend. Maybe someone gets in a public screaming match with the boss and tells them off in front of everyone. Or perhaps the serial food thief finally gets caught. Or maybe one employee flips out on a client. Days like these don't happen all the time, and when they do, it certainly breaks up the monotony. One group of construction w…

Who wants to work at a company that can't even get their training program to work? Let's go a step further. Who wants to work at a company that blames new employees for their total dysfunction and lack of organization? Although the circumstances of this employee's dismissal were certainly not ideal, it's fair to say that they dodged a bullet early and that it's better this way. This thread was posted to Reddit's r/antiwork subreddit, and folks in the comments section were quick to add suggestio…

Being a target of workplace bullying or harassment is almost always a no-win situation, particularly in a small organization. If the offending party is a long-time member of the organization or otherwise well-connected to the organization's decision-makers, reporting them for their behavior isn't going to do much of anything; in fact, it may cause them to turn on you instead in order to relieve themselves of “the problem.” Large corporations will have no tolerance for this type of behavior and…

One thing's for sure: there's no greater relief than quitting a bad job, especially when you already have another one lined up and ready to go. Everyone, at one point or another, has dreamed of doing this—preferably in explosive fashion. One day, walking and just letting your honest feelings fly before walking out —never to be seen again—while everyone is still sitting there stunned and processing what has just occurred.

Isn't it annoying when you get asked to do something that is NOT in your job title without anything in return? If it's not part of your role, and you're not really getting paid for it, then why do it? I don't mean people shouldn't be innovative or try to move up in their line of work, but I am no stranger to employers taking advantage of their employees just to save money and time. Here, there's an incredibly devoted employer who was actually fine with taking on more responsibilities in his lin…

Many people say that working in retail builds resilience and character, but perhaps it just exposes you to the worst kind of people in this world. I guess in some sense, that builds resilience and character, but that has to be the only silver lining that comes with having to deal with entitled Karen customers on a daily basis. Otherwise, these workers deserve the kind of prizes and medals that heroes and soldiers receive because I'm sure it feels like every shift is an almost Sisyphean fight fo…

"You can't always get what you want..." Mick Jagger and the 'Stones famously taught us, before then going on to elaborate that “If you try sometimes, you'll find you get what you need.” While that's all well and good, and while this serves as a great message of inspiration about how one should never give up when the going gets tough… There are actually plenty of times in life when you might want something from someone else, and upon being told “No,” you should just take the “No” at face value a…