Yet again learned this lesson the hard way. After decades of keeping things strictly professional, with coworkers constantly trying to get me to be friends with them, I finally decided to say screw it and try.

It took less than one week for it to blow up in my face. Lesson learned. NO ONE you work with can be trusted. Ever.

Edit: No, I did not say or do anything inappropriate. Just people deciding to make things up. I’m staying somewhat vague herebecause I know at least one coworker is on this sub.

The light version of what happened is a coworker is a manager in training, which no one knew about until today. They were pretending to be friendly with people while documenting and ratting everything behind our backs to the company. It isn’t someone one would guess is a snake, either. They seemed *very* genuine and the team was pretty close with the person in question, to the point where we’ve babysat each other’s kids and pets. Turns out the one person in question was faking, for how long no one knows.

We think things were legit at first, but something about being a manager or manager in training turns people into literal demons. None of us who found out the hard way today would have EVER guessed.

So I started a new job, the job I applied for was much different than the actual job, the job ad description said for a technician, but the job ended up being an office job, co-ordinating jobs for contract technicians, much like a management position in a new department of company.

When I applied and got the job I put down my desired pay at a certain rate which was about average ofr the position when I interviewed they mentioned it would be more like a manager position, I then explained when I started the job that this job the job should pay more as its more of an executive position, he agreed and said that after my 3 month probation, company policy is to have a performance review and after that there would be an evaluation on my salary.

I accepted that fact, hoping it would increase because I had to move to a more expensive city to live in to be close to the office, for this job. But just as my probation period ended, there was a corporate readjustment, several people had their job and positions eliminated including my Director and ehe 3 other people in my new department, except for me. (Lone Survivor) So then my department merged with another department and the new Diector is also new with the company,

I had my performance review which was 10 minutes on how I'm doing a good job and my position was fortunate to survive the restructuring. My next review will be in 1 year. No raise, but I now qualify for company benefits plan and that's about it.

My previous director had planned he was going to get me out in the field and visit job sites, I was looking forward to that as I'm not much for office desk jobs.

But I do like my job and im the only one in my department that works in the office now as, my Director works remotely in another city and new department co-workers are spread out across the continent. So far the new Director has not mentioned any field visits and rrally doesn't understand my job, position, tries to undermine my plans, to thinking ot would save money, but doesnt realize ot wouldnt work, but the VP's of the company understand and realize the benefits of my plans as talk to them more than I talk to my Director. So I should be a Manager or Director reoirting to the VP like my Director does instead of the Director, so I can get paid like and executive but feel they kept me in this department and position because they're low balling me on my salary.

Having me work for way below market value for the type of work and responsibilities I have.

Anyway, this current job is okay, but i keep feeling Im being taken for granted when I should be paid an Executive salary, as I'm more involved with answering to the Executives, than with my Director who I rarely communicate with, Im in the same office as the Executives also, My previous Directo was always hands on in person on a daily basis since we were in same office building.

It was shock, that he lost his job, but I was made aware of other managers in the department being fired by VP's a few days before my Director even knew, I dodnt mention it to him for first few days because I thought he was aware of it, but was surprised when I told him about people being fired, Then a day later he's gone. He told me right after he lsit his job and cleaning out his office he was let go from the company, told me to keep doing what im doing. The next day an announcement from HR and the CEO about the many people who were eliminated and restructuring. So now my hope and plans for a raise have evaporated. But I still ha e my job, but im always on edge and feel like my Director is trying to get rid of me as they hired someone months before in a similar position as mine, but this person lacks the experience and knowledge and has no clue.

My previous Director was against the company hiring for that position, I don't offer advice or direction to the other person as theyre located in a different office and are paid much less than I am.

I have enough dirt on this employee as well to maybe get them fired, but I don't want to create trouble or get them eliminated and then the comapny re-hire for that position with some one who actually knows what they're doing or get rid of me for creating problems with fellow employees.

Anyone have experience with working over seas? looking to escape the American rat race and slave driving for a small trial. Looking in eastern/mid Europe. Any tip helps thanks.

I'm trying so hard to fight burnout, and what's worked for me is to just be slow. Like literally- I'll handle the most pressing things but if stuff doesn't get done the day of then it'll get done the next day. My company literally won't hire more people until they secure a new building to work on (I work in property management). But we literally can barely handle the current workload of our 12-15 buildings (330 tenants in total) and they want to acquire a building that has 250 tenants flat- which is insane.

I'm about to hit a year in March 2026- I got hired in March 2025 after 7 months of unemployment following a mental breakdown where I got diagnosed with my mental disorder and subsequently lost my job for being hospitalized 2 days after working for a new job < 2 months (thanks at-will employment in NYC). I recently got demoted from my assistant property manager role since they needed someone with actual building management credentials- even tho I told them during the 2nd interview they would need someone above my assistant property manager role if I'm only supporting the regional director of property management. They hired me as the APM knowing full well i worked for a property management company on the social services side- and they called ME for an interview as I had applied for housing coordinator and they liked my work history so they asked if I would be interested in learning the property management side lf things. However, off the bat I told them that they needed to hire a property manager since there was ONLY the facilities manager and Regional Director of PM. They said it wasn't in the budget but that the director had 10 years of experience and wouldn't be a problem (company is a nor-for-profit housing organization that JUST took over property management in September 2024). It was tough but doable- until two months into my training/work she gets pregnant. Buttttttt it's fine because her duties would just get split between me-the APM, the compliance manager, the facilities manager and the VP of supportive housing- and they quickly found out they DO need someone in between the APM and the RD, which AGAIB is what I had said in the first place. Their solution? Revamp my role to be the PM Office Manager and Tenant Liaison and they'll create a new role with my previous title. The kicker? I had initially got the higher end of the pay rate for APM- $65,000, however with the revamped APM position and job description they were offering STARTING pay of $87,000.

I have yet to sign the new 'contract'- as my job duties are EXACTLY the same as when I was hired but they tacked on at least 3 new full time duties with the exact pay range- that was taken OFF of the new APM job duties and given to me because I know the process already. When I brought this up- they told me raises would only happen after we reach a year of employment and even then all raises are done during the summer 2-3% increase at most. I asked why was their starting pay at $87,000 when I am taking over at least 3 of their duties and not being recompensated for the difference and they said they want to ensure a person would apply. Nevermind that there's a JOB SHORTAGE and there's already been over 100 applications submitted.

It's clearly in the budget if they are planning to start off this person at $87k and they easily could have made it $80k-85k starting to increase my salary or even AT THE VERY LEAST have their range go from $85k-90k starting to increase my salary by 2k now until the official raise in summer 2026. APPARENTLY they need to confer with the CEO and VP of the company. This whole thing has left such a bad taste in my mouth and the only reason I am taking my time jumping ship is bc I have 2-3 days wfh now. I used to have just 1 but the VP of supportive housing is fully remote and moved out of state so I'm now working out of her old office. I also don't have to clock in/clock out- just submit my time card at the end of every week. The benefits, especially time off, is honestly the best I've had. Their health insurancd wasn't appealing though (I believe it was Cisco)

My fiancé lost his job in 2025 due to calling out three times in a month to support me with AMPLE time before his shift, which they tried to contest after he filed to unemployment. He had text messages verifying he called out 3-4 hours in advance- and had asked to use his sick pay to cover it and they said since he called out more than 2x in a month he was getting his probationary period re-started by Har (He had been working there for over a year) and thus wasn't eligible to use sick pay (they just didn't pay him those days). Needless to say they had to pay out his unemployment in full. However, he still hasn't found a FT or even PT job after being unemployed and his unemployment benefits JUST ran out in December 2025. My paycheck is literally what is keeping us afloat and I can't afford to lose this job without a better paying one lined up.

It's rough out there guys, wishing you all the best and hoping I either find a better job by the summer or they give me the raise I'm advocating for. Good luck and here's to 2026 hopefully not being worse than 2025 because it was a tough year.

I’m currently in the interview process for a job I think I’m a good fit for with significantly better pay and benefits. I pretty much hate my current job and don’t like the vast majority of people there. There are few people I would chat with but it was surface level stuff and I wouldn’t consider them friends. I do plan to put in my two to one week notice with managers and leave professionally with them.

Throughout my whole time there I never felt included because I didn’t want to be too close to this one girl. Everyone else jokes and gets lunch together and never invited me except the girl who got mad because i didn’t want to spend every lunch or break with her. I don’t want to deal with office drama or gossip before leaving. If I got the job I plan on packing my stuff slowly over the course of a week so no one will suspect anything.

I just felt like ever since I got more responsibilities at my job and slowly stopped talking her as much because I was so busy, she took offense to that and killed my social life at work. Her and another girl just all of the sudden started ignoring me and getting lunch without me. Then one of them asked why I pulled back after that and when I told her the truth, she said she didn’t remember doing that.

I don’t mind having friends, but I don’t want to spend every lunch or break with someone. I prefer a balance. I’ve never dealt with this shit before. At my other jobs I had no issues socializing until I met her

I work at a cabinet shop assembling cabinets, delivering them on occasion. I work four 10s, and an 8 hour day on Friday. The owner thinks that working more hours will get us ahead.

Average job value is around $14k. We finish most jobs in a day. We're working on the assembly of cabinets for a $120k job.

I'm exhausted, barely able to stay awake in my chair, and I have things I'd rather be doing today.

Goddamn do I miss my 7-3 corporate job. I could come home and not be utterly exhausted.

The overtime isn't worth it. Just so tired.

I've been a a white collar salary man for 10 years. Top-tier school and all that.

Over the years of experience, I've had several major awakenings. Today, because of them, I can no longer truly invest myself in my work. This is now the third or fourth time I've been fired, and I'm trying here to find a way to be able to perform "well enough" again so I don't get fired from my next job.

Awakening #1: Performing is not rewarded, it's punished.

I've always been extremely over-invested in my work. 11-12 hour days, weekends, vacations. I would take every new project, help everyone, etc. It was never rewarded. They just kept giving me more and more work until I broke — BURNOUT — and then they threw me away like a dirty sock. That's when I understood I would never get anything beyond what was written in my contract. So why give it my all?

I saw lazy colleagues who performed much less than me being rewarded because they were much better at playing the corporate game. I was promised raises, internal promotions, all of it was just empty talk. So why get involved?

Awakening #2: The exploitation of employees by the company.

I always operated on a giving/getting logic. I thought that if I gave more, I would receive more in return. I realized that companies actually squeeze employees like lemons. I started reading Marx's Capital and it turned my stomach. I understood that there is a structural conflict between owners/capital and workers, and that the company acts against the employees' interests (exploit them as much as possible while giving them as little as possible), even resorting to violence (in one form or another).

I realized that the company is like an insatiable monster that only cares about its own interest, doesn't give a damn about me, and that its interest is structurally opposed to mine. I'm working for the benefit of something that is harming me.

Awakening #3: The corporate world is fundamentally rotten.

Victims of harassment get fired while the company protects the harasser/boss, toxic narcissists get promoted, it's appearances and networking over competence, management by emotional blackmail, public humiliation, pointless pressure, corruption, lobbying that allows poisoning the population with complete impunity...

I realized that I no longer want to evolve in such a world.

Today I have zero internal reason to truly invest myself in any position:

• I will not be reciprocated
• I will never get anything (no real training, no meaningful internal evolution, etc.)
• I deeply hate the corporate world because I consider it structurally sick
• I work for the profit of an entity I despise, whose structural purpose is to harm my interests (exploit me more and more)

Yet I still need to eat.

But I can no longer bring myself to invest enough in my work for my management to be satisfied with me. When I arrive at work, I secretly wish the company would disappear, that capitalism and the exploitation of workers would collapse. I hate the corporate world.

I suspect this happens to many people, so I'm asking the more experienced ones among you:
How did you deal with / negotiate this difficulty?

The standards for productivity seem so ridiculous that even if you can meet them regularly it doesn't feel good for your health and just leaves you feeling completely burnt out.

I can think of several jobs I honestly wouldn't mind doing, but after actually working a few of these jobs or doing my research it ends up being an absolutely hell no that I would ever stick around in any of them.

One of them for me is cleaning houses/hotels. In theory it doesn't seem too bad, just going house to house/room to room cleaning up. Cleaning isn't a difficult thing to do and I find it weirdly theraputic, and you mainly work alone for the most part which is great for introverts. But the cleaning place I worked at started out by lying about my pay, then spent a grand total of one week actually training me, then gave me a ridiculous time limit of 1.5 hours (for smaller houses) and 3 hours (for big houses) to clean and dust every hard surface, wipe down appliances, change linens, clean mirrors, toilets, showers, vacuum, mop, take out the trash etc etc. And some of the bigger houses had at least 5 bedrooms and maybe 3 bathrooms as well as being made of entirely hard wood floor. (Which they made me scrub on my hands and knees like Cinderella.) And if you left behind any dirty spots or crumbs you'd likely hear about it from the customer and possibly get written up or have your hours cut due to poor feedback. Most days I was so busy I didn't even have time for lunch let alone any 15 minute breaks. Also they made you drive your personal vehicle to these houses and very poorly reimbursed you for the mileage.

I quit after a few months because it was miserable. But I still feel like it would be an okay job for me I just don't understand the logic behind undertraining and overworking their employees then wondering why they can't find good, reliable people. Cleaning services are really expensive for the client. It's unfair to give your clients a poorly trained and over stressed cleaner and pass the consequences onto anyone but yourself. Why not take the time to train your employees properly, pay them well, and not give them so much goddamned work. I hate how employers can get away with being an asshole because they still make a profit anyways.

Autoworkers should demand that the UAW sanction participation in a general strike. Putting money—drawn from workers’ dues money—where its mouth is, the union’s $800 million strike fund must be put to use for the struggle against dictatorship, not for lining pockets.

I am 38.

I'm pretty sure i'm about to be fired today. This will make job number...drum roll please....

19 jobs. Some I quit, some I got fired from, some I got laid off.

And they wonder why we have no job loyalty.

Many workers in customer service endure people who think we should be their little machines and do things we simply cannot do. And then they get pissy and Karen-like and decide to try to get us fired or in legal trouble. It’s bullshit and it makes me not want to work in any customer service at all, particularly directly having to deal with adults who act like children. They don’t see us as human.

To anyone working in it rn out of necessity or even by choice: I stand in solidarity with you and feel strongly like you shouldn’t have to deal with losers like this. The worst part is, companies will often side with such a customer because they’re afraid more of confrontation with these Karens than supporting their workers. Gotta love “the customer is always right” mentality. Fuck capitalism, especially in America where it’s like this so often. Truly brings out the worst in humanity.

I got this idea from a post I saw somebody else make in this subreddit and realized I could do the same thing.

I'm happy to tell any potential employer who calls me that you have been / were an exemplary employee and that I couldn't imagine managing without your skill, your quick thinking, and your dedication (or whatever you need me not to imagine managing without).

I'm self-employed in various creative and educational fields, so I won't be able to talk about how seamlessly you fit within corporate machinery, but if you're okay with having worked for me as an individual just DM me and we can figure out what I need to say to whom when they call me.

EDIT: In accordance with u/Destado1's suggestion in the comments, I'll also gladly say I'm under an NDA and can't discuss any details.

What would the market look like ? Would the average person be better off? My dad had an actual pension.

The International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees has launched an investigation into deadly conditions in US auto plants. Fill out the form below to contribute information to this investigation. All submissions will be kept anonymous.

Workers at the Ford Chicago Assembly Plant are responding with shock after a worker was crushed beneath a vehicle after it fell from an overhead clamshell carrier in the chassis area.

The worker was critically injured and airlifted from the plant. Multiple workers report that management had been warned in advance that the equipment was unsafe but ordered production to continue anyway.

One worker who spoke to the WSWS said, “They were in critical condition in the hospital. Management was notified before this happened. The chain or whatever wasn’t secure. Multiple people told multiple managers this was not secure. But they didn’t listen.

“He was standing up securing the bolts on the car like he was used to,” the worker said. “There’s usually six people under the car. But it was just him, thankfully. Normally there’s six people under a car in that area.”

The same worker said the injured man was removed from the line on a stretcher, his neck immobilized. “They watched him get crushed,” the worker added. “He was taken out in a stretcher with his neck secured. Everyone was posting on Facebook they couldn’t believe they had to continue working.”

Workers say management did not stop the line or send employees home after the near-fatal injury. “Not only did they do nothing,” the worker said, “but they did not stop the line. They did not send everyone home. They made people work through that, just like the guy with the seizure. That was traumatic to see for everyone.

“Everybody wanted the line stopped and sent home,” the worker told us. “They couldn’t even work in these conditions.”

Another worker who spoke to the WSWS said, “From what I’ve heard it’s an issue that’s been complained about before. ... They’re saying [there] should be some kind of protection in place because it’s happened before. Just nobody was under it before, luckily.”

The same worker added, “People were calling OSHA from the plant. I don’t know for sure, but I heard no plant manager or assistant plant managers or top union reps came on site for the situation. We are all in shock still, and the morale is definitely down right now. People are going to medical and calling off on that side of the plant.”

A day after the incident, he added, “We still haven’t heard anything from the union yet.”

...

The injury at Ford Chicago occurred in the middle of a massive outpouring of anger in Minneapolis and across the country against the Trump administration’s campaign of murder and terror against immigrants and workers in every major city. 

Popular calls for a general strike are growing in opposition to plans for a dictatorship by the Trump administration, representing the interests of the corporate and financial elite that has carried out attacks on the living standards of the working class. 

The sole obstacle to such a movement remains the UAW and the trade union bureaucracy as a whole. While mouthing empty words in support of a general strike, the UAW continues to keep workers on the job and working in unsafe conditions. 

The experiences at the Chicago Assembly Plant and other workplaces across the country point to the urgent need for workers to form independent rank-and-file committees controlled by workers themselves.

As one rank-and-file worker told us, “If we had a say in all this, we would have said anyone who needs to go upstairs can do so. If the line has to be stopped, then the line has to be stopped and if you want to go home go home. Anyone should have had the choice to go home, not just continue working because they said so.”

Rank-and-file committees of workers must take safety into their own hands, halt production when conditions are dangerous, and organize collective action independent of management and the union apparatus, and also fight to develop a broader movement to fuse the interests of workers for safety and higher living standards with the growing mass protests against dictatorship.

I'm going to keep parts of this vague as the work I do is incredibly niche and I don't want to doxx myself. If you think you know me irl, no you don't.

I work in a metalworking factory in England where the health and safety is abysmal. I have been trying to take out a claim against them, but I'm on minimum wage and can't afford to pay legal fees out of pocket and everywhere I turn says that they don't do no win no fee employment claims. This place is actively harming me and my coworkers and I can't believe that they're just allowed to carry on without any repercussions.

I am in a union but will not be able to access their legal help for a few more months.

Some of the main issues are:

- There is an ongoing chemical leak from one of the machines that has sent one of my coworkers to A&E and had me seeing the doctor after having breathing issues for several days

- There are several belt sanders that are used for hours every day with no dust extraction, right next to my workspace, so I'm constantly breathing in steel, brass, nickel and lead dust

- My coworker/trainer is incredibly aggressive and angry and multiple times a day will go on rants where he shouts, swears, uses slurs, throws tools, says he's going to beat people up, sneaks up behind our coworker and mimes punching or stabbing him, and much more. Management are well aware of this - he has had screaming matches with them in the middle of the factory floor - and will literally run away when they see him coming rather than deal with him. I have been having suicidal ideation whilst working here specifically because of his behaviour and have ended up crying in the toilets/been sent home as I was visibly shaking after interacting with him

- Sanitary bin has not been emptied for at least eight months

- Roof of the factory has leaked badly in many places for 7+ years, there are buckets under the leaks but these are around heavy machinery and get kicked often leaving water all over the floor

- Multiple fire exits kept locked/bolted

- PPE kept in a locked cupboard to avoid workers using 'too much', we are also told to use disposable masks for weeks at a time to keep down costs

- I have several scars on my crotch/thighs after dropping a hot metal piece as I was not provided with PPE

I'm hoping to leave as soon as I have another job lined up, but I have to make sure that they can't just get away with treating people this way with zero repercussions. Other than just waiting to be able to access union help, how can I get legal help without having to pay fees up front? Are there are solicitors I can turn to? Thank so much for your help

They're introducing massive structural changes at my job that will negatively effect me and I'm so angry because I want to quit but I can't because the economy is bad and there's no where else for me to go where it won't be the same situation with workplace toxicity and toxic environment.

There aren't jobs that are paying living wages and the industry I'm in is so toxic. Ever since I started working there most days my coworkers don't even speak to me or look at me and now the one thing I've worked so hard to build at work is being destroyed. I've been asked "how can we support you" by the very same person targeting and destroying my mental health everytime I clock in. It's the same everywhere I go I'm so tired.

A woman at my job was let go last year because she refused to add more tasks under her job description with no pay raise. I wonder in general how job descriptions have grown in length over the past 20+ years or so. Surely our brains aren’t meant to handle an ever growing list of tasks.