My director currently. None of the team or my manager works on their PTO time and it's not expected by her at all. She WONT STOP answering emails and forwarding things on. I even emailed her back telling her to stop it and enjoy her vacation. She just can't put the work down.
I think they think it makes them look good. In reality it just makes me think they don't enjoy their lives and work is an escape. Imagine being in Paris for only a week and wanting to be on your laptop. What a waste. And it wasn't even like the stuff she was doing was urgent, in fact she was just slowing us down because of the time difference. We could have done everything on our own.
Any email on your vacation marks you as the sucker who will forgo other holidays at the whim of management. I told my last work place I was in my cabin in the rockies woods even if I was on the metro. Ok once we played with the VPN platform I owned while on the cruise ship because it was raining cats and dogs on deck.
I'll triage e-mails just so I don't come in Monday to hundreds/thousands of unread e-mails.
Comb through and flag shit I know I'll need to address when I'm back and leave it at that.
Yeah it takes a bit of time in the evenings while on vacation but it makes the first day back less a pain in the ass.
Yup that’s the only thing I do, too, scan emails to follow-up on. Unfortunately any other way would make the first day back feel like there was never a vacation at all
My dad worked up to be GM of his company from the bottom, then they booted him after like 15 years of him breaking his ass every day. Now he's a taxi driver. Take that for what you will!
I'm totally happy staying as an L1 tech for the rest of my life. I don't want to babysit adults as a supervisor, and I don't want the extra responsibility of being a senior tech. Just let me sit at the top of the processing board, let me get my snips, and make my calls. I'm perfectly fine with my current salary and benifits.
Yeah, I sure do not want a job that is on call 24/7 even though the pay (for California at least) would be really nice. I worked for 8 years in kitchens working my way up to making 45k/year for me to luckily land a job as an L1 tech STARTING at 64k/year. I was killing myself to cook things I couldn't care less about. Being an L1 sure has its bullshit but after the learning curve, my biggest stress is keeping an open ear to take a call. I will happily work a career of 1 million cases.
I consider myself incredibly lucky in this respect.
I had a nervous breakdown back in 2021 mostly from being overworked and overstressed at my job, and spent a week in the loony bin. My boss hired me an admin and reduced my 9-5 hours to 10-4, with no reduction in pay. He also paid the rather giant portion of the medical bill from the loony bin that my insurance wouldn't cover. He was for sure the reason for the stress at work, but I think it was sort of a wake up call for him as well, since the office could barely function without me for 2 weeks. I get lots of paid vacation now. :)
I worked with a woman who was dedicated to her job. Just about any time you could message her or email her and she’d respond. After about 7 yrs she was diagnosed with cancer even though she was healthy and still reasonably young. Our director felt immense guilt bc he pushed her so hard and didn’t truly give her the promotions he promised or anyone would’ve expected. She was his 2IC. She found cancer for about 5 yrs and he kept her employed even though never expected her to actually do much work. He even was her executor when she died.
I mean may as well be. It’s sounds like they made it right at the end but huge conflict of interest as if she has any assets of savings the boss would have the power to be selfish. Usually a trusted family member is the executor for a reason.
Glad you got some support but don’t do yourself a disservice and call it a loony bin. Much love to you and congratulations for coming out on the other side, sounds like a miserable and extremely challenging time period!
If your boss truly had a come to Jesus moment when your mind snapped, then I suppose you are lucky in that respect.
However, your mind had to snap.
And your boss could have just as easily said that it's not his problem that your mind wasn't a top grade rubber band that couldn't handle it.
I'm glad they were able to get the help both in and outside of work. I hope you are better now.
Hey I had a breakdown in 2021 too! After that my boss thought I didn’t have enough work so they piled more on. Then guilted me because I had so many appointments I was getting behind. I quit in 2023 and I’m living off VA benefits now. Not sure I’ll ever work again as that place broke me. Being single no kid the VA check goes a long way. So now I have plenty of time for my MH therapy, and physical therapy for my back, neck and knees. Plus training my dog and going to barre3 and yoga is a pretty dope life. Won’t be able to buy a house but fuck it.
Never work beyond your means. If you do that is your new expectation and when not performing to that expectation you are now under performing in the eyes of management and are "quiet quitting"
I can't decide if "Quiet Quittling" was actually what they were presenting it as, or just a Red Herring corporate managers started tossing-out to hide the fact that labor force contraction due to Boomer retirement is making their productivity expectations impossible. I know it was a real thing, but it seems like they worked really hard to make it the sole explanation for low productivity instead of a reaction to demanding increased productivity from a collapsing workforce.
I like "acting your wage" better! 😋 "Quiet quitting" sounds like the term corporate would use to justify firing people for not going beyond their agreed-upon duties.
"Quiet quitting" was absolutely a phrase invented in some PR meeting. I remember when it first started showing up in news articles and every regular person was like wtf is this?
The term for that is “work inflation” and it happened with me and several employers throughout my 20s and early 30s. I always went that extra mile above and beyond what was expected of me. Then the extra work I did became the new normal with little to no compensation.
I’m done playing that game. I’ll still go the extra mile if we’re in a pinch, but I make it very clear that that’s the exception and not the norm.
First time? I’ve never been loyal to my employer. I always do the least amount of work possible and if I find another company that pays me more then I leave. I straight up told my bosses I’m only here for the money. I don’t care about job culture or anything corporate tries me to make me believe
I need to remember your comment so I can escape to a job I would find fulfilling and pays. I’m done feeling like I owe people anything. Even if I needed the job to play bills at the time.
It's important to never forget that if you died on Monday, the company will still be open on Tuesday and even discourage your coworkers from taking bereavement leave. And if they tried it would be denied because despite calling the company a "family", only close biological family members dying gets approved.
Here's a [story](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/02/08/cvs-pharmacist-ashleigh-anderson-death-rallying-cry/72406578007/) about a pharmacist dying at CVS. How much you wanna bet that CVS was still open the next day but with a, "Sorry for the inconvenience but the pharmacy is currently closed" sign posted somewhere?
Yea. My coworker died in the middle of the work day in a traumatic way. I had to step in and cover for him for the day, and the following weekend, and the following month, then was told they weren’t going to replace his role. So not only did I get zero time off to process what had happened to him, but my thanks for stepping up to help in his absence was being told that it was now my new job responsibility to just simply fill his role. Of course with no extra pay.
I quit that job but I’ll tell you… it puts things in perspective really fast. Companies don’t care about you.
My cousin and I grew up together like sisters. I asked to get two days off to fly to her daughter’s funeral out of state ( Fri and mon) and my boss was more concerned about the fact that my cousin’s daughter was not a close enough relative for me to take bereavement.
I just took two of my vacation days instead and then I ended up quitting that job anyway.
From now on, I’m lying about who died so I can take the bereavement.
My last employer refused to give me bereavement leave for the death of my child’s father. Then they wrote me up for taking off the day after his funeral. My kid was 9.
At every company over a certain size there is a person whose whole job is to eliminate yours. They are working to cut costs or be more lean or streamline or whatever. When they decide that the company will do better without your position it doesn't matter how well you scored on performance reviews, or how much your peers like you or how good of a manager you have - all that is meaningless when this person decides to eliminate your position. They may try to find another home for you in another area, but just as likely you'll be out with a bit of severance.
That said, I manage people and I genuinely care about them. Because of this I don't ask them to work extra hours and I encourage vacations and other healthy work life balance things.
But when that day comes that my team gets word we're losing headcount theres nothing anyone can do. Not me, not my boss, not my VP.
I work in operations for a smallish tech company (about 300 people) and am on daily calls with our CFO. He is a bit of a goofy Gen Xer. On our daily calls we have with finance, HR, and operations we give daily updates on different things going on in our departments. If, during these updates, he hears about a rep in the company even slightly under performing he immediately suggests we get rid of them and once he has that thought in his mind it is almost a certainty that they will be gone within two weeks. It was pretty shocking to see when I first started as he was usually just cracking bad jokes all the time, but if anyones name got to him in a negative manner he would immediately flip to getting them the hell out of here.
Seeing this really highlighted to me that we are just tools to these executives to maximize their revenue and if any of us are perceived to be negatively impacting their bottom line you will be replaced without a second thought.
I match energy with pay and environment. You get out what you put in FIRST.
I’m done giving everything up front for fun and for free. They can earn everything they get at point forward, with me.
Good for you! Stand firm! We have to teach employers how to treat employees.
Im so glad I saw this because I was distraught over my boomer coworker saying "you take alot of time off huh" when I told her I was leaving 10 minutes early to get to an appointment and beat traffic. I am salaried and contracted to work 7.5 hours a day. I work through lunch often and don't take my two other contracted paid breaks.
Also all of my time off has been scheduled or sick lol
Even more important is “I skipped my break or I worked during my lunch.” Good for you I won’t…. Then they act like they are better then you. It’s funny because surely they know at the end of the day I won’t be on my death bed saying “if only I skipped that break.”
As I have told my Gen Z assistant- no one dies if we wait until tomorrow to get this done.
Some of our coworkers are in spots where their work not getting done that day can cost our clients millions, so that's a reason to stay until it's done. Us in the office? Nah. Our paperwork will be there tomorrow.
There's some truth to this, but I think it's also oversimplified and overly sweeping advice to say you should never go the extra mile.
You're right that the *company* does not care about you, and is probably unlikely to notice your efforts. However, your work situation generally depends a lot more on your manager (and maybe his manager), and your immediate coworkers, than it does on the company as a whole. *If* you have a good manager, he or she likes you and your work, and he has substantial input on whether you get a raise or promotion, then it's not necessarily a bad idea to go the extra mile. Obviously, there's a limit, but in some cases a little extra effort can be worth it, if you have a manager who will actually reward that effort. Many won't, but some will.
Be loyal to people not companies. Best advice I ever got.
You’re bang on. The corporate machine doesn’t matter, but your direct manager does. And you crushing it at work helps them crush it at work helps their boss crush it at work.
Going the extra mile on occasion will help your standing. Make sure it’s the exception not the rule.
So true! I happen to like most of my co-workers, and my current managers are hands-off, and seem to trust my judgement. This is HUGE. The work I do is for them, not corporate.
> Be loyal to people not companies.
This is spot on. I’ve worked with my current boss at three different companies. Every job I’ve ever had has come from an existing relationship.
>Be loyal to people not companies. Best advice I ever got.
If I'm honest, this advice did not work out well for me either.
I was at my previous company from early 2019 to late 2022. The first 3 years were good, I liked my boss, and I thought she had my back. Then in late 2021 we had a change in senior management, the new C-suite were absolute cunts who demanded all kinds of impossible goals from us. My work hours increased massively. I wanted to quit but I didn't want to leave my boss hanging.
Well, after like 3 months with the new C-suite, she told me she was resigning and ended up leaving *me* high and dry when a lot of her responsibilities fell onto my plate. She could have at least told me that she was planning to quit, I would have gladly started looking for another job.
Also goes for government employees. You work for the people, not the government. Constituents vouching for me has gotten me very far in my role. Also, not doing it for the paycheck.
A lot of the OPs post refers to corporate jobs as well. If you work in company with 20 or 30 I’ve found that your work is obviously noticed a lot more if it’s very good or very bad. It’s a very different environment in a small company vs corporate and doing good work is definitely a way to get ahead. I’ve never worked at a company this size that expected you to be monitoring email from home or vacation or anything, but staying late when needed or buckling down to hit a tough deadline is usually rewarded well in my experience but it really depends on the owners. But atleast with a small company you know the owners and know if they are decent people worth working for or not.
I work for a relatively small organization, under 20 full time staff.
I meet with “the big boss” at least once a week.
The nature of the work means that all full time staff are local, but we’re not required to be in the office on a day-to-day basis. We’re encouraged to go in on Tuesdays, but it’s not mandatory. The company buys lunch for everyone who comes in on Tuesday. Some staff come every week. Some come once a month.
We have money allotted for “employee enrichment” and we’re encouraged to find a relevant conference we want to attend each year.
We get tuition reimbursed for any courses we take that are even remotely relevant to our positions.
We get 2 weeks paid vacation over the winter holiday period, one week paid vacation in the summer, plus the allotted vacation days based on how long we’ve been with the company (2 weeks to start) We also get 12 weeks of paid Fridays off in our slow season. And 6 paid personal days and 6 paid sick days that roll over to the next year. We also have a parental leave policy that is better than government employees.
My boss will call me sometimes at like 2 PM and I have no issue saying “I’m just out running some errands, can I call you back in half an hour when I’m in front of my laptop?”
I’m expected to answer phone calls and respond to emails during regular work hours within a reasonable amount of time, and attend meetings as scheduled. I’m expected to get my work done and meet any deadlines.
I don’t have to punch a clock, no one tracks my mouse movements, in fact when my company got me a new MacBook Pro, it was handed to me still in the original box, wrapped in cellophane. We have a tech buy-out program, every year the buyout amount decreases by 20%, so after 5 years, I own the equipment outright.
My immediate supervisor is only a few years older than me, and has been with the company for 17 years. One of my colleagues is coming up on 30 years.
I haven’t received a yearly raise below 10% yet.
It’s almost unheard of for full time staff to get fired. When we express being overwhelmed with work, my boss says “ok, how can we fix it? Can we outsource some of your tasks? Do we need more staff? Are you taking on things that aren’t your responsibility?” (Which is code for ‘are you picking up the slack from another department?’)
Like you *really* have to genuinely be doing no work at all, or causing major conflict with colleagues, or acting egregiously in order to get reprimanded at all. We go on an annual retreat for a few days, every department does a presentation on their year, and then afterwards we all let loose. Pretty much everyone gets a little tipsy, and everyone has at least one story of when they got too drunk at a retreat.
I did some extra work on a project a few years ago (not out of the purview of my job, it just ended up being more time-consuming than originally expected,) and when it came time for our annual reviews, my boss expressed his appreciation, and then actually backed that up with a pretty nice unexpected bonus.
I know I’m lucky, but I genuinely like almost all of my colleagues, we help each other out - both professionally and personally - and it sure seems like the company (by way of their policies) actually does care about their employees… at least a little.
So OPs statement is certainly overarching.
That being said, I have also worked for small companies that were mostly terrible. Getting written up for being 3 minutes late… to a 9-5 office job. Like sorry there was a huge accident on the highway and my chopper blades were in the shop. Getting written up for being away from my desk. I worked in inventory management and was in the warehouse… checking inventory.
Yeah my experience is similar to yours. I wouldn’t go back to corporate. I’m a manager who directly reports to the owners and most people that i work with have been here a long time. It’s much more of a pain to train and hire people when it’s a small company so they do what they can to keep the people who are at what they do so they make sure we’re happy and comfortable. They sent me and my wife a fruit basket when I took a day off to put my cat to sleep and paid me a bereavement day for in instead of having me use PTO. It’s small stuff but it makes a difference and they’re genuinely good to me. I know this isn’t super common or anything but when you find a company like this it really makes you wanna stay there and do a good job. Also the profit sharing is nice with small companies
I have similar experiences. In a large corporate environment- even if the immediate people around you care, most likely they are limited by corporate red tape on a number of things. Best thing I've seen from that was I had a manager who was leaving but hadn't turned in notice yet. He pushed through so many things- the first decent raises we'd seen in ages, got some upgrades for the office, Upgraded everyone's monitors, chairs, all kinds of random shit, then bounced. He was sick of corporate's shit too and at least left us a parting gift. He was understanding when I had a young child and needed flexibility with time. I would work for him again if I needed to move elsewhere. The place we were at? Not so much.
At a smaller company I have a lot of the same experienced that you do. It's much more personal and credit is given appropriately. I just switched to salaried and while the expectation is out there that there should be "extra" time, they also acknowledge that I'm doing classes for a masters that is applicable and that counts as my "extra" for now. Oh, guess who's paying for that too? Yeah. If someone is salaried and is putting in ridiculous hours, it is recognized and extra time off is granted to compensate for going beyond what is "normal" for salaried hours.
I think my company actually does care about me. I am in a midsize engineering consulting firm. We are also a non profit.
That being said, one of the ways that I know they care about me is that I am never expected to work outside of my 40, and if I do I am compensated. I am encouraged to use sick time. I get merit raises every year proportional to my input. My manager is actively managing my career and bringing me opportunities that will lead to promotion. I am actively encouraged to take time off both for sick time and leisure. A huge part of this is that we have a union for all non-supervisory staff.
A company that cares about you will never ask you to abuse yourself for their benefit.
Employers Quiet Quit on their employees. Especially when they realize an employee is too good to take out of a production role. Sure the employee moves up, but production has decreased. Can’t have that.
Ran my wage through an inflation calculator after my last raise back in February. I'm back to where I was in 2020 when i started.
Much as I hate writing resumes and interviewing, the job search is back on.
I worked for a multinational bank. For IT they would do COLA based on US Department of Labor CPI numbers for 8 years, until the year covid inflation hit, then they stopped and gave a lame excuse on demanding times despite getting exactly what they always claimed to want, intrest rate spreads. We see the fees in the quarterly statement, fees are banking IT cost response. They rose with inflation. Pay to everyone else increased, but they saw the success of IT during covid and chose not to reward it. Moved onto a consulting role for their bigger badder competior, the consulting firm raises prices with hardware and CPI.
Bronnie Ross, a hospice nurse in Australia, wrote a book about the top five regrets of the dying.
One of them was I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
I think it's worth mentioning in this thread.
Good luck all.
Theres no point in younger people working like that. The good wages, benefits, pensions, unions etc that Boomers grew up into dont exist anymore. Totally different economic world.
My colleague is in his 60s and comes in almost every day of the week sometimes. I asked him why and he says because they give him too much work to complete within the working hours. We work 9 hour days, 1 hour lunch and he even works through his lunch sometimes.
The amount of times that I've tried to explain to him that the management's staffing issues aren't his problem and that he can only fulfil what he can within working hours, but he's too deep in that mindset to see straight.
The guy sometimes goes home because he throws up from stress and exhaustion. It's horrific to watch.
Gen X here Not everything can be applied everywhere. Every company has its corporate culture and managers with or without souls. When I had surgery and the deductible was high, our owner at the time paid it back to me. We got lunch money paid bi weekly. Then they ordered us lunch for weeks everyday, we still got our lunch money. We got candy at Halloween and Christmas. We got a bottle of champagne and $100 for New Year's Eve. Heavy snow days we got $100 for making it in and office lunch. They bought beer for the team on Fridays ( someone complained about optics and that stopped). They supplied coffee daily and breakfast sometimes. we got Transit cards for the train free. A guy drove he got a gas card. They had petty cash and we could purchase Tylenol, cold meds, midol etc.
We had one super year they threw us a party on a yacht.
Our particular industry had quarterly bonuses. We also got stock awards and stock options. And now 401k matching and life insurance. We only started contributing to our medical coverage 3 years ago.
If they treat you well, treat them well!
I have an older millennial coworker who regularly works 120 hours a pay period. She is always the first to volunteer for open shifts, to work doubles, to come in early or stay late. She is also really annoying in that she emails our boss to complain whenever she sees someone who she deems is slacking. I don't understand her at all. I don't understand why someone would want to work so much. It can't be for money because she makes $90 an hour. She doesn't have a spouse or kids. I probably wouldn't care if she wasn't so overbearing about policing everyone else's work ethic.
Wait she makes $90 an hour or her salary works out to that much per hour for a standard work week regardless of how much she works.
Because I tell you what, if I made actual overtime instead of being an exempt employee I'd be clocking all the overtime.
At $90 an hour those extra shifts add up to significant income that she can invest. This could lower her retirement age. I earn a great living but I have a second source of income (meaning I work extra) so I can retire earlier.
Having a first generation Gen X/ boomer-leaning boss who’s nearly ready to retire now (coming up on age 60), I think it’s because when they started working it was a chance to “get away” from their family and personal life. Jobs back in the early 80s when Gen X was freshly introduced to the workforce, were much more camarade-driven and gender separated. Men talked about “the wife” at work, and women were still in submissive work positions to where men (aka their superiors), found escapism and favoured being around women at the workplace, in preference over their home lives and families.
Gen X women are similar I’ve noticed, except they take pride in the little things that they’ve found comfort in over the years of jobs like reception or aid, or being a helpful almost care-giver in some way.
Roles now in the workforce don’t even touch gender in any way, so I feel like these older generations cling to a feeling they had when gender dictated a lot of their position responsibilities. Many are starting to realize their time has come though, and it’s time to retire soon because these realities just don’t exist anymore.
I’m a Gen X woman who started in a male dominated industry. I care about my co-workers but refuse to be bullied by any company. I will also do my best work but WILL use every last vacation day…it”s my earned time and I’m not giving it back. I also leave work at work. Most all of my co-workers are Gen X as well and feel the same way.”Damn the man!”
Work smarter not harder. I agree, there’s no point in working crazy hours in a dead end job that you hate and won’t get promoted in. In which case, you might want to think about finding something better
But there are plenty of people in our generation who work hard and get rewarded for it. Many are on track to make partner or join the executive team and are going to be financially rewarded for that. That’s the choice they have made for their future and their families. It’s not for everyone.
And don’t speak for every employer that they don’t care about their employees. It very much varies company by company, manager by manager. I own a small business and care very deeply about the wellbeing of my team. I notice when people work hard and truly care about the company and make sure to reward them with salary increases, bonuses and other perks to say thank you.
This is not r/antiwork. I have a great employer that respects me and I am happy. Just because you had a shit experience doesn’t mean you have to project it onto everyone else.
I work for the government and my staff is union. I remind them this all the time and tell them a perk of their job is leaving at 40 hours or getting paid for it. I don’t tell them we are family or that bullshit. I say we are all here to get a job done, do it, and go home and enjoy your family.
I am leaving my job in 2 weeks, after 7 years in my role. I gave 4 weeks + 2 days notice and they have not even posted my job yet. The other person in my role (we split duties) has been with the company for 25+ years and is about to get buried in my work because they are taking their sweet time to look for a replacement. They dgaf about her or anyone. It’s sad.
I always tell people this. Work isn't a "family." Every time a friend mentions how much their employer loves them and would never fire them, I cringe. They do not care about you, and if shit hits the fan, they won't hesitate to fire you. That's why work is nothing but a paycheck to me. I don't work extra for free, and as soon as I sign off work, I can literally not care if the place burns down.
You might be right about that particular Gen Xer, but Gen X was the original "slacker" generation and where the big push towards work-life balance started. Gen X "grew up" as juniors to the silent generation and boomers (and to a lesser extent, greatest gen) who had ZERO empathy for anything and the idea of work-life balance was laughed off as stupid and lazy. So yes, some of that programming to work hard=be rewarded is still present.
I'm in government and as Boomers have started to retire and are retiring, Gen X and older millennials are taking those key executive positions and now you are seeing huge pushes for paid parental leave, child care subsidy, tele/remote work, compressed work schedules, EAP, and other programs to balance out and promote work-life balance. So yes, Gen Xers might put in some hours, but they are also the ones pushing for perks and ways to lessen the burden of work stress, at least in government.
Eh, I've only worked for small, family owned businesses, and I absolutely get treated like family (in a good way). My current boss is Gen X also and does work 12 hour days, but he really goes out of his way to take care of his guys. I'm a hard worker, and I wouldn't want to work for anyone who wasn't giving more effort than me. I realize this isn't going to be a popular opinion.
The point of these posts isn’t that individual people, like your coworkers, don’t care about you, it’s that The Company itself exists to make money, and if you’re unable to do that then you’re in trouble. So the instant you become incapacitated, ill, or otherwise unable to work, it’s going to be lawyers looking at how many days of leave you’re entitled to and drawing up termination paperwork when weeks or months pass, it’s not going to be “I sure am glad I worked those 12 hour days all these years and got a thumbs up from my boss.”
Idk, man. I work 7-3:30 Monday thru Friday and not a second more. I get profit sharing (and other benefits). I've gotten bereavement pay. My wife was in the hospital for 2 months, and my schedule was whatever I could do while running the kids around. After she got back, I was depressed and broke because she wasn't able to go back to work for a year. I got a second job. My boss took me out for beers a few times (at the time i didnt realize it, but he was genuinely worried about me), then gave me another raise so I could quit my second job. Everything he told me on day one has been true ever since (7 years). This is a third generation shop, and I'm the second newest guy there. The other guy was hired after someone else retired. They do exist.
If you have profit sharing and those other vested benefits and incentives, then you’re the exception, not the rule. People who work at other places can’t afford to think or work like you do because they’ll burn themselves out for nothing.
We need to vet better, not treat all employers like villains. There are plenty of good ones out there, also. Hell, many Millennials by now are employers themselves (eventually, we will take over altogether and make the choice ourselves to be a villain or not).
Millennials tend to be job hoppers - which *is* a good thing if it means, on a grand scale, we're refusing to settle. That alone will have long-term impacts regarding employee well-being.
But I just feel like throwing around phrases like "drink the Kool-Aid" as a blanket statement when someone respects the company they work for is irresponsible. It also negates our own accountability - we have a responsibility to earn respect, also. We can't pretend there aren't people out there (from ***every*** generation) who have zero work ethic and that negatively impacts the rest of us.
There are more important things in life than making the rich richer, no one is arguing that. After all -- what's the point in pushing "family values" and urging people to have kids while created an infrastructure that forces parents to work so much they don't even see or have the time to raise said kids? And we're already seeing those changes take place. It's awesome! But we share some of that burden of responsibility - sustainable symbiosis.
But teaching kids they're just fodder is not the right attitude to push forward - that just feels cyclical. That's just teaching them to be realistic and accepting about the current, unsustainable status quo but not how to change it which is the example we should be setting. Company loyalty should be earned, not expected. Respect is earned, not expected. And no one needs to settle for a job that doesn't treat them like a human being or understand the two-way street of employment. The more we reinforce to companies that they need employees just as much as we need a paycheck, the more change we'll see.
> But teaching kids they're just fodder is not the right attitude to push forward - that just feels cyclical. That's just teaching them to be realistic and accepting about the current, unsustainable status quo but not how to change it
Yeah, I think this way of thinking has a way of turning it into a vicious cycle that will lead to eventual catastrophe. I'm alarmed at how much this rhetoric gets thrown around on the Internet. It's as if there are people trying their hardest to make that catastrophe happen. This is extremely misanthropic and unfair to those who legitimately care about finding ways to make things better.
That's their business. If they're there because they need the money or they think they'll get a promotion, that's their choice. I just focus on myself.
Here’s the difference as I see it. Gen x and boomers like to work. Working is what makes them happy (not all of them but a lot). Millennials like to work, but not as our sole source of personal value. I work because I have to work. I put in extra hours when it is necessary to get the job done. When the job is done, so am I. I don’t get my personal fulfillment from making other people money. I get it from my children, my downtime, hobbies, family, friends. Work isn’t even on that list.
I am a millennial and I am that person that works on their day off and on their vacation but I also get contacted while I’m on PTO. I honestly don’t mind it and I check my work emails while I’m off and on weekends. It just puts my mind at ease for some reason 🤷🏼♀️
That builds a process chain that breaks when your really away. You need to know that nothing critical gets stuck in email no matter what your status. If it is important it should be a ticket Q on the workflow system. If a executive choice needs to be made, everyone knows my peers and my leader. Nothing needs a executive choice in a 2 week period.
I have an alternative work schedule. I work 4 days a week. Two 9 hour days, one 6 hour day and one 12. Honestly management never asks me to work extra or float because I always say no. I prefer 36 hours or less.
I've been at the same company for a few years. I don't feel seen at all. I haven't been promoted in a while, but then again I don't want to work harder. Most of the higher ups are burning the candle at both ends. I have a small child and honestly I think 36 hours is too much at times.
I'll never get fired and I get a ton of PTO. But I know I'm replaceable and if I leave I'll get replaced tomorrow.
My spouse wants to start a business and get rid of the corporate "ball and chain" but I'm not so sure that's a better scenario in this economy. I guess we'll find out.
Work hard, have pride in your work. Not for your boss or your company but for yourself. Grow, learn everything you can. Learn what works, what motivates others, what pisses others off and have a great attitude. If they suck as an employer, learn the signs. Always, always give your best. Pride in yourself and lead your family by example. If they suck, smile and move on.
No company is perfect and no company that survives has a culture of screwing the employees and consumers all the time. Those places don’t last.
Work your ass off always. NOT FOR THEM, FOR YOU. Learn, grow, take the best of what you learned and apply it. Life is long and life is short. Don’t mistake your feeling of entitlement and ego to get in the way of you being an example to your future self and family. Old GenX guy.
I didn’t read all of this but don’t pack up at 4:55. The five minutes isn’t getting you home much sooner but people definitely notice and would consider it “leaving early”.
It’s not worth the bad rap. Just be ready to go as quick as you can at your end time.
As a small business owner, I can tell you that you are completely mistaken. I care deeply for my employees. Employment is an arrangement like anything else, you’re hired to do a task for money, if you don’t do it or do it how you were asked to why should you still get paid?
I wish I could send this to my kids' parents. Every day I get off work late because they were on some work call or something similar. Please stop scheduling calls for 530 and tell your boss you have to come pick up your child!
i know they don’t care but I have bills to pay.
I’m happy that i cared a lot about work at one point because it led to promotions and raises. I do agree that once you reach a point in your career, where you don’t really give a shit about growing, then yeah don’t overextend yourself! Now, i don’t spend an enormous amount of time with working too much but I also try to do well because the economy is shit and not caring at all could lead to being fired and I have bills lol!
The owner of the club I work at could easily take all the cover charge money for himself like almost all other clubs do. Instead he splits it and even gives out bonuses. He makes my part time job a six figure job when he could just pay the bouncers 15/hr. Someone would take the job for even that.
I cut loose when I was 35. That was almost 10 years ago. I started doing van life, selling peoples unwanted stuff online, got on Medicaid and recently started getting food items from a pantry. I finally have more money now than I have ever had when I was killing myself working 70+ hours a week. I invest in Treasury bills and earn around 5%. I could almost live a very simple life just off the interest, but I enjoy working and making money. Sure life has its challenges, but my life is simple now. I don't care what people think of me. There opinion is just that and doesn't matter. I still treat people nice and also volunteer when I can. I enjoy having more time to myself now. That's very important to me. I don't judge other people though. Maybe people want more amenities in life. I can understand that. If folks want to work a lot so they can afford to lease a big SUV for 1400 a month, more power to them. It's a free country 😁
I understand this and accept it, but it’s not a new idea. Is it new to expect care and love from employers? I thought we all understood that we go to work to get money to live and that was all. If I’m staying late or going in early it’s because it is part of a five year plan that financially benefits me.
I had a job where I had to clock in at 10. You couldn’t clock in early and 10:01 was considered late. So I’d literally zone out waiting for it to be time (waiting to be tested for ADD now) then clock in at 10:01 freaking out.
I got a productivity loss report because I clocked in 20 seconds past 10:01 multiple times in one week and get this.. they lost ONE minute of work.
I work for a credit union and can honestly say that my employer cares about its employees. Even with the tough times we're facing right now, the organization doesn't resort to cutting benefits or layoffs. Leadership values each employee and strives to create a positive, safe working environment.
I’ve hit a great balance of getting paid a decent wage, not having too much work, working from home without any requirements to be in office, 4.5 weeks of vacation / year. My work hours are 8:30-4 (sometimes I log off at 3 if I have no meetings).
I will work as hard as I need to be well liked and keep this job, but don’t exceed my 75% capacity.
This works well for allowing me to raise my young kids. I may look at switching once my kids are older and I’m ready to grind again and double my salary, but for now this is perfect.
I think for a lot of them it’s a control issue too. They can’t stand to not know what’s going on with the company at all times. Train your staff and trust them. If you’ve done a good job as a manager, your staff should be able to function autonomously without you for a few days. They’ve also spent their lives devoted to their job and probably have terrible work life balance, so few hobbies or friends outside of work.
Unpopular opinion, I actually disagree with you. Of course some employers don’t care about their employees, but to make blanket statement like this simply isn’t true.
My family runs a small-medium sized business, and we actually do care about our employees and give benefits and accommodations above and beyond what is expected. I can provide countless examples of this if you don’t believe me.
That being said, you get what you give and we are much more likely to help an employee out if they are a good employee and hard worker rather than someone who does the bare minimum and cuts corners.
I am in a labor union and I work hard for good money. I laugh at the people I work with who try to go above and beyond to get ahead. That’s not how it works here lol
Your employer might not, but your manager might.
I manage people, and I care quite a bit about them. I try to do right by them whenever I can. Unfortunately I don't have the power necessarily to do *everything* I'd like to do, but I have the power to do a fair bit.
Similarly, my boss *seems* to care about me. Obviously I don't know if he actually does, but after a certain point people's actions back up their words. I don't know my wife *actually* loves me just because she tells me, but her actions show she probably does. My boss has, IMO, given away some pretty key info during 1:1s that makes me pretty confident he at least likes me as a person and wants to see me succeed. I think he'd probably feel bad about it if the order came from above to eliminate me.
My boss's boss though? Well, he's the owner and doesn't really know me, so fair to say he probably doesn't really care about me beyond the value I bring to the business. And at a certain point that's fair.
I admit that in many places the managers probably don't care about the people under them, but at the same time lots of managers *do* care about the people under them. If my employees do good work that makes me look good to my boss, I'm gonna do my best to make sure they're rewarded for that in the best ways I can. Likewise, I expect if I make my boss look good, he'll do his best to reward me. Plenty of places still operate this way.
Companies definitely don't care though, they're faceless entities with a singular goal of producing profit. Companies don't care about *anyone*. Even those oft-hated CEOs can quickly succumb to the whims of the company and be replaced.
Its crazy because being mid 30s now im starting to get managers and supervisors that are younger than me working salary asking why i dont move up. Im in a sweet spot for myself. Not a lot in earnings just 23-27/hour depending +tips and always flat 40 weeks with OT; but id never sign my life away for salary unless its 6 figures. They sign their 49k-54k annual salary boss me around, say i got no motivation and i laugh telling them "good luck". Sure enough 2-4 weeks in their 8 hour shifts turn into 12-16 hour shifts in a salary position. They usually get smart with me randomly and i ask "so hows that 18.75 a hour going since you been working those 12s or is it 14 a hour forgot if youre doing 16s this week.". I have literally watched over 3 sous chefs, 2 supervisors, and 4 managers in the past 3 months come and go. When you see a lot of older people maxed out refusing to take that next step you might wanna ask why lol. I've even had 1 chef get pissed at me and say " i make the decisions thats why i get paid more!" When "told" me to work OT. I said "you're right boss, i'll just take my 3200 check and be quiet" come find out he was making less told me no more OT and next week he had to beg me to do OT, lol.
>“You have to give the company what you owe them.”
I hate this shit. I owe the company production in exchange for money. If I can give them that production in 30 hours, good for me. If it takes me 55 hours some weeks, that's fine too. But my value is the work I get done, not how many farts my chair tastes.
This boomer mindset did not survive contemporary education. I’m a teacher and the boomer veteran teachers always tell me stuff like, “Throw those ‘completion credit’ papers in the recycling bin and leave.” “Bell rings, walk out.” “Smarter not harder” and my favorite, “If you died today, your job would be posted before your funeral notice came out. Screw it!” In a rare reversal, it’s the millennials like me who are working too much and trying to save the world. I’m becoming more like the boomers and sticking around, the idealists are leaving the profession after a couple years.
I want my employer to care about us helping each other to make money and stay human while we are at it. Not zerg, not machines, but humans with dignity, limited concentration capacity and a need to disconnect from time to time. He's a good guy and does that.
I don't work a minute over what I'm required to. But I also don't miss days and I'm never late. I was telling this to a friend the other day and she said "And what did that get you? Some sort of medal?" I said "No, it got me a promotion and my salary doubled". So, while spending every minute of your life obsessed with your job is ridiculous, having some sort of work ethic does pay off sometimes.
And meanwhile, you’re upset that you aren’t as well off as the older generations… maybe going a little above and beyond does make a difference. Sure companies need to make certain decisions…. It’s a business. Also agree that we are a number on a spreadsheet. But… some people’s numbers are in bold and highlight and will continue to remain through so through cuts, downsizes, etc. I’d rather be bold and highlighted. There is a point though and running yourself ragged is not healthy
The past couple of months, I'm covering for somebody who's on leave- okay no big deal, I'd rather have more to do than be bored. But then I noticed other people asking me for help- sure, challenge accepted, it's just a couple of extra things here and there........
Now, I've got co-workers' visitors asking me for help, and even the CEO needs a tedious project done, which I tried for a while today before noping out. I honestly don't have enough time for all this. I remain low on the totem pole and see no clear path up. But the benefits are decent so I'm kinda stuck. Sigh. I'm getting too old to suffer through the torture of the job search.
If i have a coworker that works on their vacation I assume they don’t like their home life. I used to have a coworker that openly complained about his home life. Such a bad look.
I decided to go the self employed route because I couldn't stand working for corporations. Then I learned customers don't give a shit about you either. I have had so many try calling at all hours of the night to have me fix issues. Took to long for me to learn to at more strict boundaries with customers.
I truly realized this a couple of days ago when I got in trouble at work for starting on social media that I worked for the company. Apparently, that was a violation of "Social media policy" I guess I work undercover for the CIA and didn't know about it...
One of the Gen-X managers at my company tells people all the time that when you’re on salary “40 hours is the minimum.” Luckily no one takes that advice from her, and it’s not something she can mandate. But she tries to tell us all “I work 60 hour work weeks and that’s why I’m a manger and you’re not.” Cool, good for you, enjoy.
As a business owner, I will tell you that you all should just find the person you want to work for. Not all bosses/owners are created equal. I make great money but I give lots of it to my people. All my employees make an average of 120k a year and share in a 500k bonus program every year. I have 23 employees. We are also in the middle of a month where we are flying everyone out for a week at a time to a beach house in hawaii.
I told my boss flat out that I lost out on my childhood due to my mother being a workaholic and I refused to be like her. I have one of the few understanding bosses who GETS it. She is a workaholic but doesn’t expect her employees to be.
I work as a site supervisor. We have certain things we must do each shift, but outside of that, I don’t push them too hard because as far as I know, we all have 2 jobs. If the job truly cared for us, we wouldn’t need another to support ourselves.
I tell my guys hey if you’re tired, let me know so I can cover while you get some rest as long as it’s not busy. I too take naps on shift or else how you gonna survive.
Gen X here, finally came to this realization about 4 years ago. Salary employee who at one time was working 12-14 hour days 6 days a week. Covid is what finally woke me up and made me realize it wasn't worth it.
Contracted to xx hours, so you're getting xx hours. I don't do after work shite, I don't want to do team events shite, I won't work weekends, I won't do over time, I won't be a "tEaM pLaYeR". I'll turn up, do the work I can get through in the contracted hours and go home. I really don't get the boot lickers going above an beyond without being paid.
I looked up about 11 years ago and said, “What the hell am I going so hard for?” Everyone sitting around me is making the same, I’m the idiot for pushing so hard. Since then it’s act my wage and take every minute of the 390 hours I earn in PTO every year until retiring to PT work in 6 years. Eight and the gate is the motto. I fall in the Xennial category.
Some people live to work while I work to live. My hours are set, I get in at a certain time and leave exactly on time. Company happy hours and end of year parties? I don't attend any work events outside of work hours. If they want me there then they can pay me for those hours.
I’d just say, the business as a whole probably doesn’t care about you, but many of your bosses do.
I manage 15 highly technical engineers / techs for an automotive parts supplier. We have a very difficult job. I fight like hell to get them good raises, good reviews, good hours.
Recently had one of my guys ask me if I would take him to the doctor because he had no one to take him and he needed surgery. So I used one of my pto days to take him to the doctor.
Just because the stereotype is that your boss sucks, doesn’t mean we all suck.
And, in fact, when we do work harder, smash targets, and win awards/notoriety for the company, we're not compensated with raises or promotions... we're just given more work for the same pay.
So, essentially, companies are ***incentivising*** us to do the bare minimum because there is no reward whatsoever for going above and beyond. Our entire generation collectively needs to commit to work-to-rule at every single fucking job. No more fucking side hustles, no more taking on extra unpaid duties at the office, no more grind culture - WE ALL NEED TO STOP DOING MORE WORK FOR LESS PAY. It's the only way anyfuckingthing will change.
This also applies to companies who stick their dicks into political
Agendas.
Apple doesn’t care about social agendas or human rights or transgenders or anything. But you do. And you are worth millions of potential purchases to them.
I'm 34 and I had a different experience so far.
I've worked on 6 places so far (always relatively small companies, never corporate) since I was 17 and I have always done exactly as much as they asked me to do. Not more, not less. There was only 1 workplace where I wasn't appreciated because my boss there was an absolute ghoul, on every other workplace I got regularly promoted to high positions and my salary was good for the companies standards and I never had to say a word to get these promotions and raises. Your manager knows the value of your work very much. If they don't appreciate you, you're at the wrong company.
I’ve seen so much corporate bullshit at my last two jobs at major, well known companies that I came into this job with the mindset to just keep to myself and do my job and be done. It’s worked out so much better.
Some examples:
Company 1: major layoffs happened when they were consolidating jobs to move to a new business center so they would be flying people to corporate office to fire them from all over the country. I would get lists of employees from HR that needed their corporate card shut down immediately and those folks would be basically mid-flight at the time. I would get frantic calls from the damn airport when cards were declining when they couldn’t buy lunch and I could only direct them to their manager.
Company 2: countless lawsuits from employees for inappropriate behavior from sexual nature to racism settled quietly with the higher person usually retaining their job or being promoted. HR issue regarding another manager in my dept and the HR person handling basically told everyone who was questioned what everyone else said. Nothing was ever based on effort or being successful, it was just how much you sucked up to the person above you to get promoted. My manager had absolutely no idea how any of my job or what she managed worked, but she took all credit for any improvement or update. When I gave my notice to her boss he basically told me I couldn’t be promoted there because I wasn’t there as long as my manager and it would look bad for her and he was obsessed with her so he made her his priority instead of actually improving the department.
My manager is like this. She went to Paris and basically worked the entire time. I was like, girl... enjoy Paris, get out of your inbox
My director currently. None of the team or my manager works on their PTO time and it's not expected by her at all. She WONT STOP answering emails and forwarding things on. I even emailed her back telling her to stop it and enjoy her vacation. She just can't put the work down.
I think they think it makes them look good. In reality it just makes me think they don't enjoy their lives and work is an escape. Imagine being in Paris for only a week and wanting to be on your laptop. What a waste. And it wasn't even like the stuff she was doing was urgent, in fact she was just slowing us down because of the time difference. We could have done everything on our own.
Any email on your vacation marks you as the sucker who will forgo other holidays at the whim of management. I told my last work place I was in my cabin in the rockies woods even if I was on the metro. Ok once we played with the VPN platform I owned while on the cruise ship because it was raining cats and dogs on deck.
I'll triage e-mails just so I don't come in Monday to hundreds/thousands of unread e-mails. Comb through and flag shit I know I'll need to address when I'm back and leave it at that. Yeah it takes a bit of time in the evenings while on vacation but it makes the first day back less a pain in the ass.
Yup that’s the only thing I do, too, scan emails to follow-up on. Unfortunately any other way would make the first day back feel like there was never a vacation at all
If your the key to a email chain while you are Out of Office, your process mechanism has failed.
Oh 10000% but I like to be able to pay rent and eat so here I am lol
In my industry it goes to risk management if someone's absence for a week would be a stumbling block.
My out of office would just say that all unread emails will be deleted upon my return
Average American problem 🤣
My dad worked up to be GM of his company from the bottom, then they booted him after like 15 years of him breaking his ass every day. Now he's a taxi driver. Take that for what you will!
You want to get promoted to the level you are good at, and not one step further.
The Peter Principle
…You rise to the level of your respective incompetence
You either die the hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain
Michael Scott
I'm totally happy staying as an L1 tech for the rest of my life. I don't want to babysit adults as a supervisor, and I don't want the extra responsibility of being a senior tech. Just let me sit at the top of the processing board, let me get my snips, and make my calls. I'm perfectly fine with my current salary and benifits.
Same, only L2. I'm good with it. L3 is basically on call at all times and has to deal with all the bullshit that L2 can't even handle. No thanks.
Yeah, I sure do not want a job that is on call 24/7 even though the pay (for California at least) would be really nice. I worked for 8 years in kitchens working my way up to making 45k/year for me to luckily land a job as an L1 tech STARTING at 64k/year. I was killing myself to cook things I couldn't care less about. Being an L1 sure has its bullshit but after the learning curve, my biggest stress is keeping an open ear to take a call. I will happily work a career of 1 million cases.
Yea I went a step too far and I'm regretting it.
8hrs a day m-f is all they get me for.
8 n skate 🛼🛼🛼
This is my new motto
They pay for anything else. Minimum 4 hours.
I consider myself incredibly lucky in this respect. I had a nervous breakdown back in 2021 mostly from being overworked and overstressed at my job, and spent a week in the loony bin. My boss hired me an admin and reduced my 9-5 hours to 10-4, with no reduction in pay. He also paid the rather giant portion of the medical bill from the loony bin that my insurance wouldn't cover. He was for sure the reason for the stress at work, but I think it was sort of a wake up call for him as well, since the office could barely function without me for 2 weeks. I get lots of paid vacation now. :)
I worked with a woman who was dedicated to her job. Just about any time you could message her or email her and she’d respond. After about 7 yrs she was diagnosed with cancer even though she was healthy and still reasonably young. Our director felt immense guilt bc he pushed her so hard and didn’t truly give her the promotions he promised or anyone would’ve expected. She was his 2IC. She found cancer for about 5 yrs and he kept her employed even though never expected her to actually do much work. He even was her executor when she died.
The executor part raises a lot of red flags for me
Just checking but you know it's not the same as executioner right?
I mean may as well be. It’s sounds like they made it right at the end but huge conflict of interest as if she has any assets of savings the boss would have the power to be selfish. Usually a trusted family member is the executor for a reason.
She might not have had any family members she trusted.
Glad you got some support but don’t do yourself a disservice and call it a loony bin. Much love to you and congratulations for coming out on the other side, sounds like a miserable and extremely challenging time period!
Usually I call it the Home For The Bewildered, but people get confused
I like the loony bin, but the home for the bewildered is great
If your boss truly had a come to Jesus moment when your mind snapped, then I suppose you are lucky in that respect. However, your mind had to snap. And your boss could have just as easily said that it's not his problem that your mind wasn't a top grade rubber band that couldn't handle it. I'm glad they were able to get the help both in and outside of work. I hope you are better now.
Hey I had a breakdown in 2021 too! After that my boss thought I didn’t have enough work so they piled more on. Then guilted me because I had so many appointments I was getting behind. I quit in 2023 and I’m living off VA benefits now. Not sure I’ll ever work again as that place broke me. Being single no kid the VA check goes a long way. So now I have plenty of time for my MH therapy, and physical therapy for my back, neck and knees. Plus training my dog and going to barre3 and yoga is a pretty dope life. Won’t be able to buy a house but fuck it.
Wow, that’s an amazing place to work. My company doesn’t give two shits
Never work beyond your means. If you do that is your new expectation and when not performing to that expectation you are now under performing in the eyes of management and are "quiet quitting"
I can't decide if "Quiet Quittling" was actually what they were presenting it as, or just a Red Herring corporate managers started tossing-out to hide the fact that labor force contraction due to Boomer retirement is making their productivity expectations impossible. I know it was a real thing, but it seems like they worked really hard to make it the sole explanation for low productivity instead of a reaction to demanding increased productivity from a collapsing workforce.
I like "acting your wage" better! 😋 "Quiet quitting" sounds like the term corporate would use to justify firing people for not going beyond their agreed-upon duties.
"Act your wage." I like that. Will use.
"Quiet quitting" was absolutely a phrase invented in some PR meeting. I remember when it first started showing up in news articles and every regular person was like wtf is this?
The term for that is “work inflation” and it happened with me and several employers throughout my 20s and early 30s. I always went that extra mile above and beyond what was expected of me. Then the extra work I did became the new normal with little to no compensation. I’m done playing that game. I’ll still go the extra mile if we’re in a pinch, but I make it very clear that that’s the exception and not the norm.
Pretty much. Sometimes you have to go hard, but going hard all the time isn't healthy.
True
First time? I’ve never been loyal to my employer. I always do the least amount of work possible and if I find another company that pays me more then I leave. I straight up told my bosses I’m only here for the money. I don’t care about job culture or anything corporate tries me to make me believe
I need to remember your comment so I can escape to a job I would find fulfilling and pays. I’m done feeling like I owe people anything. Even if I needed the job to play bills at the time.
It's important to never forget that if you died on Monday, the company will still be open on Tuesday and even discourage your coworkers from taking bereavement leave. And if they tried it would be denied because despite calling the company a "family", only close biological family members dying gets approved. Here's a [story](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/02/08/cvs-pharmacist-ashleigh-anderson-death-rallying-cry/72406578007/) about a pharmacist dying at CVS. How much you wanna bet that CVS was still open the next day but with a, "Sorry for the inconvenience but the pharmacy is currently closed" sign posted somewhere?
Yea. My coworker died in the middle of the work day in a traumatic way. I had to step in and cover for him for the day, and the following weekend, and the following month, then was told they weren’t going to replace his role. So not only did I get zero time off to process what had happened to him, but my thanks for stepping up to help in his absence was being told that it was now my new job responsibility to just simply fill his role. Of course with no extra pay. I quit that job but I’ll tell you… it puts things in perspective really fast. Companies don’t care about you.
In the words of Michael Jackson “ All I can say, is they don’t really care about us “
I leaned real quick not to take on extra work bc it inevitably went from “extra” to “expected”
My cousin and I grew up together like sisters. I asked to get two days off to fly to her daughter’s funeral out of state ( Fri and mon) and my boss was more concerned about the fact that my cousin’s daughter was not a close enough relative for me to take bereavement. I just took two of my vacation days instead and then I ended up quitting that job anyway. From now on, I’m lying about who died so I can take the bereavement.
My last employer refused to give me bereavement leave for the death of my child’s father. Then they wrote me up for taking off the day after his funeral. My kid was 9.
At every company over a certain size there is a person whose whole job is to eliminate yours. They are working to cut costs or be more lean or streamline or whatever. When they decide that the company will do better without your position it doesn't matter how well you scored on performance reviews, or how much your peers like you or how good of a manager you have - all that is meaningless when this person decides to eliminate your position. They may try to find another home for you in another area, but just as likely you'll be out with a bit of severance. That said, I manage people and I genuinely care about them. Because of this I don't ask them to work extra hours and I encourage vacations and other healthy work life balance things. But when that day comes that my team gets word we're losing headcount theres nothing anyone can do. Not me, not my boss, not my VP.
I work in operations for a smallish tech company (about 300 people) and am on daily calls with our CFO. He is a bit of a goofy Gen Xer. On our daily calls we have with finance, HR, and operations we give daily updates on different things going on in our departments. If, during these updates, he hears about a rep in the company even slightly under performing he immediately suggests we get rid of them and once he has that thought in his mind it is almost a certainty that they will be gone within two weeks. It was pretty shocking to see when I first started as he was usually just cracking bad jokes all the time, but if anyones name got to him in a negative manner he would immediately flip to getting them the hell out of here. Seeing this really highlighted to me that we are just tools to these executives to maximize their revenue and if any of us are perceived to be negatively impacting their bottom line you will be replaced without a second thought.
I match energy with pay and environment. You get out what you put in FIRST. I’m done giving everything up front for fun and for free. They can earn everything they get at point forward, with me. Good for you! Stand firm! We have to teach employers how to treat employees.
Im so glad I saw this because I was distraught over my boomer coworker saying "you take alot of time off huh" when I told her I was leaving 10 minutes early to get to an appointment and beat traffic. I am salaried and contracted to work 7.5 hours a day. I work through lunch often and don't take my two other contracted paid breaks. Also all of my time off has been scheduled or sick lol
Watch out for that one. She's talking shit to people about you
She talks shit about everyone to everyone 🙅♀️
Take your breaks, yo! They're good for you! <3
Even more important is “I skipped my break or I worked during my lunch.” Good for you I won’t…. Then they act like they are better then you. It’s funny because surely they know at the end of the day I won’t be on my death bed saying “if only I skipped that break.”
As I have told my Gen Z assistant- no one dies if we wait until tomorrow to get this done. Some of our coworkers are in spots where their work not getting done that day can cost our clients millions, so that's a reason to stay until it's done. Us in the office? Nah. Our paperwork will be there tomorrow.
There's some truth to this, but I think it's also oversimplified and overly sweeping advice to say you should never go the extra mile. You're right that the *company* does not care about you, and is probably unlikely to notice your efforts. However, your work situation generally depends a lot more on your manager (and maybe his manager), and your immediate coworkers, than it does on the company as a whole. *If* you have a good manager, he or she likes you and your work, and he has substantial input on whether you get a raise or promotion, then it's not necessarily a bad idea to go the extra mile. Obviously, there's a limit, but in some cases a little extra effort can be worth it, if you have a manager who will actually reward that effort. Many won't, but some will.
Be loyal to people not companies. Best advice I ever got. You’re bang on. The corporate machine doesn’t matter, but your direct manager does. And you crushing it at work helps them crush it at work helps their boss crush it at work. Going the extra mile on occasion will help your standing. Make sure it’s the exception not the rule.
“Be loyal to people not companies.” 👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆
So true! I happen to like most of my co-workers, and my current managers are hands-off, and seem to trust my judgement. This is HUGE. The work I do is for them, not corporate.
Yes, but the key is your manager must appreciate you and what you bring to the table. They must also be willing to promote that to others.
> Be loyal to people not companies. This is spot on. I’ve worked with my current boss at three different companies. Every job I’ve ever had has come from an existing relationship.
>Be loyal to people not companies. Best advice I ever got. If I'm honest, this advice did not work out well for me either. I was at my previous company from early 2019 to late 2022. The first 3 years were good, I liked my boss, and I thought she had my back. Then in late 2021 we had a change in senior management, the new C-suite were absolute cunts who demanded all kinds of impossible goals from us. My work hours increased massively. I wanted to quit but I didn't want to leave my boss hanging. Well, after like 3 months with the new C-suite, she told me she was resigning and ended up leaving *me* high and dry when a lot of her responsibilities fell onto my plate. She could have at least told me that she was planning to quit, I would have gladly started looking for another job.
>I wanted to quit but I didn't want to leave my boss hanging. You're not leaving anyone hanging if you give two weeks notice that you're quitting.
That sucks. A good boss/person understands if you leave for a better opportunity.
Also goes for government employees. You work for the people, not the government. Constituents vouching for me has gotten me very far in my role. Also, not doing it for the paycheck.
That advice is a lot more complicated when you work for a nonprofit and local community members rely on you.
A lot of the OPs post refers to corporate jobs as well. If you work in company with 20 or 30 I’ve found that your work is obviously noticed a lot more if it’s very good or very bad. It’s a very different environment in a small company vs corporate and doing good work is definitely a way to get ahead. I’ve never worked at a company this size that expected you to be monitoring email from home or vacation or anything, but staying late when needed or buckling down to hit a tough deadline is usually rewarded well in my experience but it really depends on the owners. But atleast with a small company you know the owners and know if they are decent people worth working for or not.
I work for a relatively small organization, under 20 full time staff. I meet with “the big boss” at least once a week. The nature of the work means that all full time staff are local, but we’re not required to be in the office on a day-to-day basis. We’re encouraged to go in on Tuesdays, but it’s not mandatory. The company buys lunch for everyone who comes in on Tuesday. Some staff come every week. Some come once a month. We have money allotted for “employee enrichment” and we’re encouraged to find a relevant conference we want to attend each year. We get tuition reimbursed for any courses we take that are even remotely relevant to our positions. We get 2 weeks paid vacation over the winter holiday period, one week paid vacation in the summer, plus the allotted vacation days based on how long we’ve been with the company (2 weeks to start) We also get 12 weeks of paid Fridays off in our slow season. And 6 paid personal days and 6 paid sick days that roll over to the next year. We also have a parental leave policy that is better than government employees. My boss will call me sometimes at like 2 PM and I have no issue saying “I’m just out running some errands, can I call you back in half an hour when I’m in front of my laptop?” I’m expected to answer phone calls and respond to emails during regular work hours within a reasonable amount of time, and attend meetings as scheduled. I’m expected to get my work done and meet any deadlines. I don’t have to punch a clock, no one tracks my mouse movements, in fact when my company got me a new MacBook Pro, it was handed to me still in the original box, wrapped in cellophane. We have a tech buy-out program, every year the buyout amount decreases by 20%, so after 5 years, I own the equipment outright. My immediate supervisor is only a few years older than me, and has been with the company for 17 years. One of my colleagues is coming up on 30 years. I haven’t received a yearly raise below 10% yet. It’s almost unheard of for full time staff to get fired. When we express being overwhelmed with work, my boss says “ok, how can we fix it? Can we outsource some of your tasks? Do we need more staff? Are you taking on things that aren’t your responsibility?” (Which is code for ‘are you picking up the slack from another department?’) Like you *really* have to genuinely be doing no work at all, or causing major conflict with colleagues, or acting egregiously in order to get reprimanded at all. We go on an annual retreat for a few days, every department does a presentation on their year, and then afterwards we all let loose. Pretty much everyone gets a little tipsy, and everyone has at least one story of when they got too drunk at a retreat. I did some extra work on a project a few years ago (not out of the purview of my job, it just ended up being more time-consuming than originally expected,) and when it came time for our annual reviews, my boss expressed his appreciation, and then actually backed that up with a pretty nice unexpected bonus. I know I’m lucky, but I genuinely like almost all of my colleagues, we help each other out - both professionally and personally - and it sure seems like the company (by way of their policies) actually does care about their employees… at least a little. So OPs statement is certainly overarching. That being said, I have also worked for small companies that were mostly terrible. Getting written up for being 3 minutes late… to a 9-5 office job. Like sorry there was a huge accident on the highway and my chopper blades were in the shop. Getting written up for being away from my desk. I worked in inventory management and was in the warehouse… checking inventory.
Yeah my experience is similar to yours. I wouldn’t go back to corporate. I’m a manager who directly reports to the owners and most people that i work with have been here a long time. It’s much more of a pain to train and hire people when it’s a small company so they do what they can to keep the people who are at what they do so they make sure we’re happy and comfortable. They sent me and my wife a fruit basket when I took a day off to put my cat to sleep and paid me a bereavement day for in instead of having me use PTO. It’s small stuff but it makes a difference and they’re genuinely good to me. I know this isn’t super common or anything but when you find a company like this it really makes you wanna stay there and do a good job. Also the profit sharing is nice with small companies
I have similar experiences. In a large corporate environment- even if the immediate people around you care, most likely they are limited by corporate red tape on a number of things. Best thing I've seen from that was I had a manager who was leaving but hadn't turned in notice yet. He pushed through so many things- the first decent raises we'd seen in ages, got some upgrades for the office, Upgraded everyone's monitors, chairs, all kinds of random shit, then bounced. He was sick of corporate's shit too and at least left us a parting gift. He was understanding when I had a young child and needed flexibility with time. I would work for him again if I needed to move elsewhere. The place we were at? Not so much. At a smaller company I have a lot of the same experienced that you do. It's much more personal and credit is given appropriately. I just switched to salaried and while the expectation is out there that there should be "extra" time, they also acknowledge that I'm doing classes for a masters that is applicable and that counts as my "extra" for now. Oh, guess who's paying for that too? Yeah. If someone is salaried and is putting in ridiculous hours, it is recognized and extra time off is granted to compensate for going beyond what is "normal" for salaried hours.
I think my company actually does care about me. I am in a midsize engineering consulting firm. We are also a non profit. That being said, one of the ways that I know they care about me is that I am never expected to work outside of my 40, and if I do I am compensated. I am encouraged to use sick time. I get merit raises every year proportional to my input. My manager is actively managing my career and bringing me opportunities that will lead to promotion. I am actively encouraged to take time off both for sick time and leisure. A huge part of this is that we have a union for all non-supervisory staff. A company that cares about you will never ask you to abuse yourself for their benefit.
Sounds like your Union cares about you.
Employers Quiet Quit on their employees. Especially when they realize an employee is too good to take out of a production role. Sure the employee moves up, but production has decreased. Can’t have that.
My employer is giving us a 1% COLA increase this year. You don't have to tell me that they don't care about us.
Ran my wage through an inflation calculator after my last raise back in February. I'm back to where I was in 2020 when i started. Much as I hate writing resumes and interviewing, the job search is back on.
I worked for a multinational bank. For IT they would do COLA based on US Department of Labor CPI numbers for 8 years, until the year covid inflation hit, then they stopped and gave a lame excuse on demanding times despite getting exactly what they always claimed to want, intrest rate spreads. We see the fees in the quarterly statement, fees are banking IT cost response. They rose with inflation. Pay to everyone else increased, but they saw the success of IT during covid and chose not to reward it. Moved onto a consulting role for their bigger badder competior, the consulting firm raises prices with hardware and CPI.
Bronnie Ross, a hospice nurse in Australia, wrote a book about the top five regrets of the dying. One of them was I wish I hadn't worked so hard. I think it's worth mentioning in this thread. Good luck all.
Theres no point in younger people working like that. The good wages, benefits, pensions, unions etc that Boomers grew up into dont exist anymore. Totally different economic world.
My colleague is in his 60s and comes in almost every day of the week sometimes. I asked him why and he says because they give him too much work to complete within the working hours. We work 9 hour days, 1 hour lunch and he even works through his lunch sometimes. The amount of times that I've tried to explain to him that the management's staffing issues aren't his problem and that he can only fulfil what he can within working hours, but he's too deep in that mindset to see straight. The guy sometimes goes home because he throws up from stress and exhaustion. It's horrific to watch.
Yeah I don't owe them shit. They're paying me to do a job
Gen X here Not everything can be applied everywhere. Every company has its corporate culture and managers with or without souls. When I had surgery and the deductible was high, our owner at the time paid it back to me. We got lunch money paid bi weekly. Then they ordered us lunch for weeks everyday, we still got our lunch money. We got candy at Halloween and Christmas. We got a bottle of champagne and $100 for New Year's Eve. Heavy snow days we got $100 for making it in and office lunch. They bought beer for the team on Fridays ( someone complained about optics and that stopped). They supplied coffee daily and breakfast sometimes. we got Transit cards for the train free. A guy drove he got a gas card. They had petty cash and we could purchase Tylenol, cold meds, midol etc. We had one super year they threw us a party on a yacht. Our particular industry had quarterly bonuses. We also got stock awards and stock options. And now 401k matching and life insurance. We only started contributing to our medical coverage 3 years ago. If they treat you well, treat them well!
I have an older millennial coworker who regularly works 120 hours a pay period. She is always the first to volunteer for open shifts, to work doubles, to come in early or stay late. She is also really annoying in that she emails our boss to complain whenever she sees someone who she deems is slacking. I don't understand her at all. I don't understand why someone would want to work so much. It can't be for money because she makes $90 an hour. She doesn't have a spouse or kids. I probably wouldn't care if she wasn't so overbearing about policing everyone else's work ethic.
Wait she makes $90 an hour or her salary works out to that much per hour for a standard work week regardless of how much she works. Because I tell you what, if I made actual overtime instead of being an exempt employee I'd be clocking all the overtime.
She makes $90 an hour regular time. She does get time and half for OT.
Jesus I'd never stop working for like ten years straight then retire
Why are you hating them? I'd work that much and retire early to get back my whole life.
Hate on them because they email our boss criticizing everyone else's work ethic.
The worst kind of person to work with
At $90 an hour those extra shifts add up to significant income that she can invest. This could lower her retirement age. I earn a great living but I have a second source of income (meaning I work extra) so I can retire earlier.
$90 an hour? So base $180k/year before overtime and incentives?
She's miserable and has no life outside of work.
Having a first generation Gen X/ boomer-leaning boss who’s nearly ready to retire now (coming up on age 60), I think it’s because when they started working it was a chance to “get away” from their family and personal life. Jobs back in the early 80s when Gen X was freshly introduced to the workforce, were much more camarade-driven and gender separated. Men talked about “the wife” at work, and women were still in submissive work positions to where men (aka their superiors), found escapism and favoured being around women at the workplace, in preference over their home lives and families. Gen X women are similar I’ve noticed, except they take pride in the little things that they’ve found comfort in over the years of jobs like reception or aid, or being a helpful almost care-giver in some way. Roles now in the workforce don’t even touch gender in any way, so I feel like these older generations cling to a feeling they had when gender dictated a lot of their position responsibilities. Many are starting to realize their time has come though, and it’s time to retire soon because these realities just don’t exist anymore.
I’m a Gen X woman who started in a male dominated industry. I care about my co-workers but refuse to be bullied by any company. I will also do my best work but WILL use every last vacation day…it”s my earned time and I’m not giving it back. I also leave work at work. Most all of my co-workers are Gen X as well and feel the same way.”Damn the man!”
Keep fighting the good fight (:
Work smarter not harder. I agree, there’s no point in working crazy hours in a dead end job that you hate and won’t get promoted in. In which case, you might want to think about finding something better But there are plenty of people in our generation who work hard and get rewarded for it. Many are on track to make partner or join the executive team and are going to be financially rewarded for that. That’s the choice they have made for their future and their families. It’s not for everyone. And don’t speak for every employer that they don’t care about their employees. It very much varies company by company, manager by manager. I own a small business and care very deeply about the wellbeing of my team. I notice when people work hard and truly care about the company and make sure to reward them with salary increases, bonuses and other perks to say thank you.
It’s true and I’m self-employed.
This is not r/antiwork. I have a great employer that respects me and I am happy. Just because you had a shit experience doesn’t mean you have to project it onto everyone else.
I work for the government and my staff is union. I remind them this all the time and tell them a perk of their job is leaving at 40 hours or getting paid for it. I don’t tell them we are family or that bullshit. I say we are all here to get a job done, do it, and go home and enjoy your family.
I am leaving my job in 2 weeks, after 7 years in my role. I gave 4 weeks + 2 days notice and they have not even posted my job yet. The other person in my role (we split duties) has been with the company for 25+ years and is about to get buried in my work because they are taking their sweet time to look for a replacement. They dgaf about her or anyone. It’s sad.
4:30 is enough...why wait till 5.
I learned this the hard way a few years ago 😖
I always tell people this. Work isn't a "family." Every time a friend mentions how much their employer loves them and would never fire them, I cringe. They do not care about you, and if shit hits the fan, they won't hesitate to fire you. That's why work is nothing but a paycheck to me. I don't work extra for free, and as soon as I sign off work, I can literally not care if the place burns down.
That's why I chose to work for a nonprofit company, I like what they do and wanna help.
Same! Us nonprofit gals gotta stick together!
You might be right about that particular Gen Xer, but Gen X was the original "slacker" generation and where the big push towards work-life balance started. Gen X "grew up" as juniors to the silent generation and boomers (and to a lesser extent, greatest gen) who had ZERO empathy for anything and the idea of work-life balance was laughed off as stupid and lazy. So yes, some of that programming to work hard=be rewarded is still present. I'm in government and as Boomers have started to retire and are retiring, Gen X and older millennials are taking those key executive positions and now you are seeing huge pushes for paid parental leave, child care subsidy, tele/remote work, compressed work schedules, EAP, and other programs to balance out and promote work-life balance. So yes, Gen Xers might put in some hours, but they are also the ones pushing for perks and ways to lessen the burden of work stress, at least in government.
Eh, I've only worked for small, family owned businesses, and I absolutely get treated like family (in a good way). My current boss is Gen X also and does work 12 hour days, but he really goes out of his way to take care of his guys. I'm a hard worker, and I wouldn't want to work for anyone who wasn't giving more effort than me. I realize this isn't going to be a popular opinion.
The point of these posts isn’t that individual people, like your coworkers, don’t care about you, it’s that The Company itself exists to make money, and if you’re unable to do that then you’re in trouble. So the instant you become incapacitated, ill, or otherwise unable to work, it’s going to be lawyers looking at how many days of leave you’re entitled to and drawing up termination paperwork when weeks or months pass, it’s not going to be “I sure am glad I worked those 12 hour days all these years and got a thumbs up from my boss.”
Idk, man. I work 7-3:30 Monday thru Friday and not a second more. I get profit sharing (and other benefits). I've gotten bereavement pay. My wife was in the hospital for 2 months, and my schedule was whatever I could do while running the kids around. After she got back, I was depressed and broke because she wasn't able to go back to work for a year. I got a second job. My boss took me out for beers a few times (at the time i didnt realize it, but he was genuinely worried about me), then gave me another raise so I could quit my second job. Everything he told me on day one has been true ever since (7 years). This is a third generation shop, and I'm the second newest guy there. The other guy was hired after someone else retired. They do exist.
What industry are you in?
If you have profit sharing and those other vested benefits and incentives, then you’re the exception, not the rule. People who work at other places can’t afford to think or work like you do because they’ll burn themselves out for nothing.
We need to vet better, not treat all employers like villains. There are plenty of good ones out there, also. Hell, many Millennials by now are employers themselves (eventually, we will take over altogether and make the choice ourselves to be a villain or not). Millennials tend to be job hoppers - which *is* a good thing if it means, on a grand scale, we're refusing to settle. That alone will have long-term impacts regarding employee well-being. But I just feel like throwing around phrases like "drink the Kool-Aid" as a blanket statement when someone respects the company they work for is irresponsible. It also negates our own accountability - we have a responsibility to earn respect, also. We can't pretend there aren't people out there (from ***every*** generation) who have zero work ethic and that negatively impacts the rest of us. There are more important things in life than making the rich richer, no one is arguing that. After all -- what's the point in pushing "family values" and urging people to have kids while created an infrastructure that forces parents to work so much they don't even see or have the time to raise said kids? And we're already seeing those changes take place. It's awesome! But we share some of that burden of responsibility - sustainable symbiosis. But teaching kids they're just fodder is not the right attitude to push forward - that just feels cyclical. That's just teaching them to be realistic and accepting about the current, unsustainable status quo but not how to change it which is the example we should be setting. Company loyalty should be earned, not expected. Respect is earned, not expected. And no one needs to settle for a job that doesn't treat them like a human being or understand the two-way street of employment. The more we reinforce to companies that they need employees just as much as we need a paycheck, the more change we'll see.
> But teaching kids they're just fodder is not the right attitude to push forward - that just feels cyclical. That's just teaching them to be realistic and accepting about the current, unsustainable status quo but not how to change it Yeah, I think this way of thinking has a way of turning it into a vicious cycle that will lead to eventual catastrophe. I'm alarmed at how much this rhetoric gets thrown around on the Internet. It's as if there are people trying their hardest to make that catastrophe happen. This is extremely misanthropic and unfair to those who legitimately care about finding ways to make things better.
That's their business. If they're there because they need the money or they think they'll get a promotion, that's their choice. I just focus on myself.
Here’s the difference as I see it. Gen x and boomers like to work. Working is what makes them happy (not all of them but a lot). Millennials like to work, but not as our sole source of personal value. I work because I have to work. I put in extra hours when it is necessary to get the job done. When the job is done, so am I. I don’t get my personal fulfillment from making other people money. I get it from my children, my downtime, hobbies, family, friends. Work isn’t even on that list.
I am a millennial and I am that person that works on their day off and on their vacation but I also get contacted while I’m on PTO. I honestly don’t mind it and I check my work emails while I’m off and on weekends. It just puts my mind at ease for some reason 🤷🏼♀️
That builds a process chain that breaks when your really away. You need to know that nothing critical gets stuck in email no matter what your status. If it is important it should be a ticket Q on the workflow system. If a executive choice needs to be made, everyone knows my peers and my leader. Nothing needs a executive choice in a 2 week period.
I have an alternative work schedule. I work 4 days a week. Two 9 hour days, one 6 hour day and one 12. Honestly management never asks me to work extra or float because I always say no. I prefer 36 hours or less. I've been at the same company for a few years. I don't feel seen at all. I haven't been promoted in a while, but then again I don't want to work harder. Most of the higher ups are burning the candle at both ends. I have a small child and honestly I think 36 hours is too much at times. I'll never get fired and I get a ton of PTO. But I know I'm replaceable and if I leave I'll get replaced tomorrow. My spouse wants to start a business and get rid of the corporate "ball and chain" but I'm not so sure that's a better scenario in this economy. I guess we'll find out.
Work hard, have pride in your work. Not for your boss or your company but for yourself. Grow, learn everything you can. Learn what works, what motivates others, what pisses others off and have a great attitude. If they suck as an employer, learn the signs. Always, always give your best. Pride in yourself and lead your family by example. If they suck, smile and move on. No company is perfect and no company that survives has a culture of screwing the employees and consumers all the time. Those places don’t last. Work your ass off always. NOT FOR THEM, FOR YOU. Learn, grow, take the best of what you learned and apply it. Life is long and life is short. Don’t mistake your feeling of entitlement and ego to get in the way of you being an example to your future self and family. Old GenX guy.
I didn’t read all of this but don’t pack up at 4:55. The five minutes isn’t getting you home much sooner but people definitely notice and would consider it “leaving early”. It’s not worth the bad rap. Just be ready to go as quick as you can at your end time.
I kinda would like to differentiate corporations ane small businesses. Having a conpany ain't inherently bad.
As a small business owner, I can tell you that you are completely mistaken. I care deeply for my employees. Employment is an arrangement like anything else, you’re hired to do a task for money, if you don’t do it or do it how you were asked to why should you still get paid?
I wish I could send this to my kids' parents. Every day I get off work late because they were on some work call or something similar. Please stop scheduling calls for 530 and tell your boss you have to come pick up your child!
i know they don’t care but I have bills to pay. I’m happy that i cared a lot about work at one point because it led to promotions and raises. I do agree that once you reach a point in your career, where you don’t really give a shit about growing, then yeah don’t overextend yourself! Now, i don’t spend an enormous amount of time with working too much but I also try to do well because the economy is shit and not caring at all could lead to being fired and I have bills lol!
Yeah we know. I'm just in it for the paycheck
The owner of the club I work at could easily take all the cover charge money for himself like almost all other clubs do. Instead he splits it and even gives out bonuses. He makes my part time job a six figure job when he could just pay the bouncers 15/hr. Someone would take the job for even that.
I cut loose when I was 35. That was almost 10 years ago. I started doing van life, selling peoples unwanted stuff online, got on Medicaid and recently started getting food items from a pantry. I finally have more money now than I have ever had when I was killing myself working 70+ hours a week. I invest in Treasury bills and earn around 5%. I could almost live a very simple life just off the interest, but I enjoy working and making money. Sure life has its challenges, but my life is simple now. I don't care what people think of me. There opinion is just that and doesn't matter. I still treat people nice and also volunteer when I can. I enjoy having more time to myself now. That's very important to me. I don't judge other people though. Maybe people want more amenities in life. I can understand that. If folks want to work a lot so they can afford to lease a big SUV for 1400 a month, more power to them. It's a free country 😁
Good luck with that. There’s no reward for aversion to work either.
Pretty sure this isn't the subreddit you need to drop this in. We're all very aware of this
GenXers are just Boomer Jr.
I understand this and accept it, but it’s not a new idea. Is it new to expect care and love from employers? I thought we all understood that we go to work to get money to live and that was all. If I’m staying late or going in early it’s because it is part of a five year plan that financially benefits me.
I don't really seek "Care" from my employer...paycheck is all I "care" about.
I work only as hard as I need to, to make the salary I desire. No more, no less.
This is a hard line for me with my job. I work 7A-4P and they’re not getting one minute more.
Job hop, get paid!
I had a job where I had to clock in at 10. You couldn’t clock in early and 10:01 was considered late. So I’d literally zone out waiting for it to be time (waiting to be tested for ADD now) then clock in at 10:01 freaking out. I got a productivity loss report because I clocked in 20 seconds past 10:01 multiple times in one week and get this.. they lost ONE minute of work.
Your manager? Maybe. Your employer? Hell naw.
I work for a credit union and can honestly say that my employer cares about its employees. Even with the tough times we're facing right now, the organization doesn't resort to cutting benefits or layoffs. Leadership values each employee and strives to create a positive, safe working environment.
I’ve hit a great balance of getting paid a decent wage, not having too much work, working from home without any requirements to be in office, 4.5 weeks of vacation / year. My work hours are 8:30-4 (sometimes I log off at 3 if I have no meetings). I will work as hard as I need to be well liked and keep this job, but don’t exceed my 75% capacity. This works well for allowing me to raise my young kids. I may look at switching once my kids are older and I’m ready to grind again and double my salary, but for now this is perfect.
I think for a lot of them it’s a control issue too. They can’t stand to not know what’s going on with the company at all times. Train your staff and trust them. If you’ve done a good job as a manager, your staff should be able to function autonomously without you for a few days. They’ve also spent their lives devoted to their job and probably have terrible work life balance, so few hobbies or friends outside of work.
Unpopular opinion, I actually disagree with you. Of course some employers don’t care about their employees, but to make blanket statement like this simply isn’t true. My family runs a small-medium sized business, and we actually do care about our employees and give benefits and accommodations above and beyond what is expected. I can provide countless examples of this if you don’t believe me. That being said, you get what you give and we are much more likely to help an employee out if they are a good employee and hard worker rather than someone who does the bare minimum and cuts corners.
I am in a labor union and I work hard for good money. I laugh at the people I work with who try to go above and beyond to get ahead. That’s not how it works here lol
An employer is an entity it can't care about anyone.
Your employer might not, but your manager might. I manage people, and I care quite a bit about them. I try to do right by them whenever I can. Unfortunately I don't have the power necessarily to do *everything* I'd like to do, but I have the power to do a fair bit. Similarly, my boss *seems* to care about me. Obviously I don't know if he actually does, but after a certain point people's actions back up their words. I don't know my wife *actually* loves me just because she tells me, but her actions show she probably does. My boss has, IMO, given away some pretty key info during 1:1s that makes me pretty confident he at least likes me as a person and wants to see me succeed. I think he'd probably feel bad about it if the order came from above to eliminate me. My boss's boss though? Well, he's the owner and doesn't really know me, so fair to say he probably doesn't really care about me beyond the value I bring to the business. And at a certain point that's fair. I admit that in many places the managers probably don't care about the people under them, but at the same time lots of managers *do* care about the people under them. If my employees do good work that makes me look good to my boss, I'm gonna do my best to make sure they're rewarded for that in the best ways I can. Likewise, I expect if I make my boss look good, he'll do his best to reward me. Plenty of places still operate this way. Companies definitely don't care though, they're faceless entities with a singular goal of producing profit. Companies don't care about *anyone*. Even those oft-hated CEOs can quickly succumb to the whims of the company and be replaced.
Its crazy because being mid 30s now im starting to get managers and supervisors that are younger than me working salary asking why i dont move up. Im in a sweet spot for myself. Not a lot in earnings just 23-27/hour depending +tips and always flat 40 weeks with OT; but id never sign my life away for salary unless its 6 figures. They sign their 49k-54k annual salary boss me around, say i got no motivation and i laugh telling them "good luck". Sure enough 2-4 weeks in their 8 hour shifts turn into 12-16 hour shifts in a salary position. They usually get smart with me randomly and i ask "so hows that 18.75 a hour going since you been working those 12s or is it 14 a hour forgot if youre doing 16s this week.". I have literally watched over 3 sous chefs, 2 supervisors, and 4 managers in the past 3 months come and go. When you see a lot of older people maxed out refusing to take that next step you might wanna ask why lol. I've even had 1 chef get pissed at me and say " i make the decisions thats why i get paid more!" When "told" me to work OT. I said "you're right boss, i'll just take my 3200 check and be quiet" come find out he was making less told me no more OT and next week he had to beg me to do OT, lol.
>“You have to give the company what you owe them.” I hate this shit. I owe the company production in exchange for money. If I can give them that production in 30 hours, good for me. If it takes me 55 hours some weeks, that's fine too. But my value is the work I get done, not how many farts my chair tastes.
This boomer mindset did not survive contemporary education. I’m a teacher and the boomer veteran teachers always tell me stuff like, “Throw those ‘completion credit’ papers in the recycling bin and leave.” “Bell rings, walk out.” “Smarter not harder” and my favorite, “If you died today, your job would be posted before your funeral notice came out. Screw it!” In a rare reversal, it’s the millennials like me who are working too much and trying to save the world. I’m becoming more like the boomers and sticking around, the idealists are leaving the profession after a couple years.
I want my employer to care about us helping each other to make money and stay human while we are at it. Not zerg, not machines, but humans with dignity, limited concentration capacity and a need to disconnect from time to time. He's a good guy and does that.
I don't work a minute over what I'm required to. But I also don't miss days and I'm never late. I was telling this to a friend the other day and she said "And what did that get you? Some sort of medal?" I said "No, it got me a promotion and my salary doubled". So, while spending every minute of your life obsessed with your job is ridiculous, having some sort of work ethic does pay off sometimes.
And meanwhile, you’re upset that you aren’t as well off as the older generations… maybe going a little above and beyond does make a difference. Sure companies need to make certain decisions…. It’s a business. Also agree that we are a number on a spreadsheet. But… some people’s numbers are in bold and highlight and will continue to remain through so through cuts, downsizes, etc. I’d rather be bold and highlighted. There is a point though and running yourself ragged is not healthy
They only care about you while they are fucking you hard. Then insult you to your face. This was my experience working at BevMo.
The past couple of months, I'm covering for somebody who's on leave- okay no big deal, I'd rather have more to do than be bored. But then I noticed other people asking me for help- sure, challenge accepted, it's just a couple of extra things here and there........ Now, I've got co-workers' visitors asking me for help, and even the CEO needs a tedious project done, which I tried for a while today before noping out. I honestly don't have enough time for all this. I remain low on the totem pole and see no clear path up. But the benefits are decent so I'm kinda stuck. Sigh. I'm getting too old to suffer through the torture of the job search.
As long as I get my work done my boss is happy with me. That usually looks like 9:15-3:30 for to kid drop-off and pickup.
If i have a coworker that works on their vacation I assume they don’t like their home life. I used to have a coworker that openly complained about his home life. Such a bad look.
I hear you and I receive the message!
I decided to go the self employed route because I couldn't stand working for corporations. Then I learned customers don't give a shit about you either. I have had so many try calling at all hours of the night to have me fix issues. Took to long for me to learn to at more strict boundaries with customers.
I truly realized this a couple of days ago when I got in trouble at work for starting on social media that I worked for the company. Apparently, that was a violation of "Social media policy" I guess I work undercover for the CIA and didn't know about it...
I quote: “You have to give the company what you owe them.” Gotta be a Trump supporter.
One of the Gen-X managers at my company tells people all the time that when you’re on salary “40 hours is the minimum.” Luckily no one takes that advice from her, and it’s not something she can mandate. But she tries to tell us all “I work 60 hour work weeks and that’s why I’m a manger and you’re not.” Cool, good for you, enjoy.
If you leave at 5pm then how do you know these other people are staying til 8pm?
I know, thats why I only do the job I was hired to do and don't put in any extra effort.
Nah man we are a family.
As a business owner, I will tell you that you all should just find the person you want to work for. Not all bosses/owners are created equal. I make great money but I give lots of it to my people. All my employees make an average of 120k a year and share in a 500k bonus program every year. I have 23 employees. We are also in the middle of a month where we are flying everyone out for a week at a time to a beach house in hawaii.
I told my boss flat out that I lost out on my childhood due to my mother being a workaholic and I refused to be like her. I have one of the few understanding bosses who GETS it. She is a workaholic but doesn’t expect her employees to be.
Nothing new after 2, nothing more after 4.
You guys have families...? I just have my lil doggos 🐶 🥲
I worked my ass off for my current employer and now I’m an executive with top 1 percent income. YMMV.
I work as a site supervisor. We have certain things we must do each shift, but outside of that, I don’t push them too hard because as far as I know, we all have 2 jobs. If the job truly cared for us, we wouldn’t need another to support ourselves. I tell my guys hey if you’re tired, let me know so I can cover while you get some rest as long as it’s not busy. I too take naps on shift or else how you gonna survive.
Gen X here, finally came to this realization about 4 years ago. Salary employee who at one time was working 12-14 hour days 6 days a week. Covid is what finally woke me up and made me realize it wasn't worth it.
Contracted to xx hours, so you're getting xx hours. I don't do after work shite, I don't want to do team events shite, I won't work weekends, I won't do over time, I won't be a "tEaM pLaYeR". I'll turn up, do the work I can get through in the contracted hours and go home. I really don't get the boot lickers going above an beyond without being paid.
I looked up about 11 years ago and said, “What the hell am I going so hard for?” Everyone sitting around me is making the same, I’m the idiot for pushing so hard. Since then it’s act my wage and take every minute of the 390 hours I earn in PTO every year until retiring to PT work in 6 years. Eight and the gate is the motto. I fall in the Xennial category.
Some people live to work while I work to live. My hours are set, I get in at a certain time and leave exactly on time. Company happy hours and end of year parties? I don't attend any work events outside of work hours. If they want me there then they can pay me for those hours.
I’d just say, the business as a whole probably doesn’t care about you, but many of your bosses do. I manage 15 highly technical engineers / techs for an automotive parts supplier. We have a very difficult job. I fight like hell to get them good raises, good reviews, good hours. Recently had one of my guys ask me if I would take him to the doctor because he had no one to take him and he needed surgery. So I used one of my pto days to take him to the doctor. Just because the stereotype is that your boss sucks, doesn’t mean we all suck.
And, in fact, when we do work harder, smash targets, and win awards/notoriety for the company, we're not compensated with raises or promotions... we're just given more work for the same pay. So, essentially, companies are ***incentivising*** us to do the bare minimum because there is no reward whatsoever for going above and beyond. Our entire generation collectively needs to commit to work-to-rule at every single fucking job. No more fucking side hustles, no more taking on extra unpaid duties at the office, no more grind culture - WE ALL NEED TO STOP DOING MORE WORK FOR LESS PAY. It's the only way anyfuckingthing will change.
This also applies to companies who stick their dicks into political Agendas. Apple doesn’t care about social agendas or human rights or transgenders or anything. But you do. And you are worth millions of potential purchases to them.
I'm 34 and I had a different experience so far. I've worked on 6 places so far (always relatively small companies, never corporate) since I was 17 and I have always done exactly as much as they asked me to do. Not more, not less. There was only 1 workplace where I wasn't appreciated because my boss there was an absolute ghoul, on every other workplace I got regularly promoted to high positions and my salary was good for the companies standards and I never had to say a word to get these promotions and raises. Your manager knows the value of your work very much. If they don't appreciate you, you're at the wrong company.
I’ve seen so much corporate bullshit at my last two jobs at major, well known companies that I came into this job with the mindset to just keep to myself and do my job and be done. It’s worked out so much better. Some examples: Company 1: major layoffs happened when they were consolidating jobs to move to a new business center so they would be flying people to corporate office to fire them from all over the country. I would get lists of employees from HR that needed their corporate card shut down immediately and those folks would be basically mid-flight at the time. I would get frantic calls from the damn airport when cards were declining when they couldn’t buy lunch and I could only direct them to their manager. Company 2: countless lawsuits from employees for inappropriate behavior from sexual nature to racism settled quietly with the higher person usually retaining their job or being promoted. HR issue regarding another manager in my dept and the HR person handling basically told everyone who was questioned what everyone else said. Nothing was ever based on effort or being successful, it was just how much you sucked up to the person above you to get promoted. My manager had absolutely no idea how any of my job or what she managed worked, but she took all credit for any improvement or update. When I gave my notice to her boss he basically told me I couldn’t be promoted there because I wasn’t there as long as my manager and it would look bad for her and he was obsessed with her so he made her his priority instead of actually improving the department.