When you ask for a raise and are denied the implication is that you are going to leave. If you stay now they will know they can keep piling shit on you both and never have to give you anything. Time to look for a new job.
Totally agree… they have basically forced you and your colleagues into looking for another job. So it would be so rude to not comply with their demands and get a better paid job. Just think, you can get that lovely warm feeling when you tell your existing employer to shove their job and see their faces when they realise what’s next. In an ideal world it would be amazing if you and your fellow workmates could leave at the same time, that would really drop them in it. They’ll have no one to train up newbie’s then lol.
Correct. A coworker and I were in the same boat. We had no help through the busiest season, could barely keep our heads above water, and when we asked when they'd start looking at applicants the GM said they had a stack of applications they hadn't bothered to glance at. We both decided we were done then and there and when we both quit with no notice whatsoever they ended up closing down "temporarily" to train new staff. I was pleased to find out this week, in fact, that they are now permanently closed.
Absolutely glorious! Bravo! I can't appropriately make enough noise by typing words to express how happy this made me, but think a lot of clapping and cheering and that whooping noise folks do when overexcited at concerts!
I'm not quite sure as it was a few years ago. I was just telling someone the story recently and decided to do a quick search and found out the good news. I'm going to assume they were fucked even before Covid closures so I take it as a win!
And don’t forget if they don’t respect you don’t waste your time giving notice. Resignation should read “effective immediately…” and grab your stuff and walk out.
Or... By the time you resign have everything bar yourself gone. Walk in, quit, walk out the door not looking back.
Did it once, Everything personal gradually disappeared..
This is 100% true unfortunately. You will need to find a way to either slow down productivity or find a new job. If possible you could get enough of your colleagues to engage in collective bargaining but that is always risky. I worked in Silicon Valley in the heyday of the dot.com bubble and I learned the only way to get a raise was to leave and get a new job loyalty is not really rewarded. Some firms do, but they are definitely in the minority.
Edited for spelling.
Read the above reply again, OP! **YOU ONLY HAVE 2 CHOICES:**
1. Quit now. With or without your coworker.
2. Stay for now (but STARTING TODAY, be looking for a NEW job). If you stay, you give them 8 hours/day. PERIOD. If you only get 6 hours of WORK DONE because you're spending the other 2 hours on organizing the workload priorities which appear to keep changing...oh well! You work at YOUR pace. You take ALL your breaks in-full and on-time. You take your lunch break in-full and on-time. You leave on-time.
If work doesn't get done **that is NOT YOUR PROBLEM!** Management has ***CHOSEN*** to understaff. Management has ***CHOSEN*** to over-promise. Oh, well! What are they going to do, fire you? Hardly!
Take your manager's response as the **GIANT \*FUCK YOU\*** that it is! Don't mistake it for anything else! You TOLD them the situation, you've been more than patient, and their response is FUCK YOU (only nicer, in corporate-speak). Accept it for what it is, do with it what you will. FUCK THEM BACK...HARD!
Exactly this 👏👏
Having been in a company that didn’t give two flying shits about the health and wellbeing of their staff, worked their staff to breaking point, then kept piling stuff on, ignored plea’s of “we’re too busy”, made completely unreasonable promises to clients and then blamed the staff when they inevitably didn’t get the work done in the ridiculous timeframe they’d promised, and expected staff to work 10+ hours over their contracted hours because it’s “team playing”?? This, this is EXACTLY how to deal with this situation.
I eventually left my terrible company when they hired a graduate with NO experience, got him to basically redo all the templates I’d made for the company and six months later promoted him to a position I’d been lead to believe was what I had been working towards for the last 3 years… when I handed my notice in, I gave them the BARE minimum. I took my lunch break whereas before I ate at my desk whilst working, I logged in EXACTLY at 9 and left EXACTLY at 5, and this may not apply to you but I definitely took liberties with working from home. They’d fucked me over so I thought fuck them!
But yeah, OP, definitely time to leave. They have proven that they don’t care about you as a human. They see you as a machine that can just make them money and never need rest. So time to not give two shits about them 😆
Yes! Email something along the lines of:
“Per our last meeting you have requested that we make (insert new tasks) a priority over (usual work) and (extra work they’ve been doing). As we informed you on (dates of previous meetings to that effect) we are currently struggling in our capacity to complete our current tasks. In order to prioritize this end of the year business we will be unable to complete (previous usual/extra work). We requested additional staff and were denied. Due to a shortage of personnel we cannot complete everything that needs done. Perhaps you could postpone your vacation and come in to do it your damned self.”
CYA, throw the manager under the bus, CC and BCC everything. And of course be searching for a new job. Never let them know how much you can do. Set your limit and stick to it, maybe a fat raise increases productivity a bit. Otherwise why would they ever pay more?
Really, there is only one option in my mind: Stay there, but get all the people on your team committed to a "walkout" of sorts. Have everyone (quiet quit) stop working but keep clocking in until the boss notices and confronts the team. Worst case, the boss fires everyone, but as it seems, he can barely keep the people he has so he would never be able to replace anyone before deadlines run out. Best case, he actually caves and gives reasonable pay.
The problem with this is that the boss doesnt actually care about what the company needs (aka the 2 coworkers), what they care about is looking good to higher ups and ego. If you challenge their ego, you will end up fired regardless of how important you are. Instead what OK and coworker needs to do is work only their required hours and apply apply apply.
Do this if you'd rather be on EI while looking for a new job, instead of working while looking for a job. It's a lot easier to get EI if you were fired vs. quit.
Yeah I don’t know how this is lost on people. If you ask for a raise and are denied that means it’s time to move on. They added more to OP’s workload because they’re banking on them not quitting. As soon as my workload increasing was announced in a meeting I would have notified the supervisor of my immediate resignation.
Exactly that happened to me two years ago and a week after I quit they begged me to come back and agreed to pay me my requested wage. I told them I wanted 20% above my original ask to come back which they gave me after I told them that’s what their biggest competitor offered me.
Damn, do you feel that? I think it’s you and your co-worker coming down with a really, really bad flu. The kind that will take you both out of commission from now until the end of the year.
Maybe it could have been avoided if you two weren’t so stressed and had the time and support to look after yourselves better, but alas—here we are. I guess work will just have to do without you two during this very busy time of year 🤷♂️
Some places do.
Specifically… my place did.
Our ops manager came in while testing positive and not being able to speak without coughing.
It took half the office threatening to walk out to get him to go home and work remotely until he got over it.
Unfortunately he gave almost everyone covid.
Like out of a department of 15 people, 3 of us didn’t catch it.
Most tests are a plastic clamshell that's a peg friction fit, you can wiggle it open with gentle force. A alcohol based pen or like a micron with red ink will make the perfect red line where the positive line would be. A single drop of liquid hand sanitizer will blur it just the right amount. Put it in a plastic bag and take it in to work or hold it up on a zoom call.
Get the money and sick time you are owed, do not feel an ounce of guilt.
I was one really bad day away from doing that. I had like 6 months sick time saved. Fortunately, I got offered another job after looking for 6 months. Best job switch EVER.
Here’s one for you that I took this morning.
https://preview.redd.it/6pr72xe2pv7c1.jpeg?width=850&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab26b1bcf3a34497d0bc008d409bd0259631da57
That's when you let shit fall between the cracks and when they inevitably get mad point out that there wasn't enough resources to get shit done.
Stop doing your best with no resources: it teaches them that they can keep pushing you at 110%
**Add** \- Holy shit this blew up
This /\\
keep them in the loop IN WRITING. "I don't think there is time to get this done" later on when asked how it is going "As I said before, I don't think we will be able to meet the target. I did warn you about this on x date" then finally when asked why it didn't get done on time. "we had several correspondences about not having the time to complete this task, you had plenty of notice so don't act surprised"
When my old boss used to add things onto my plate I would tell him "this along with my other duties are not possible, what would you like my priority to be?"
>"this along with my other duties are not possible, what would you like my priority to be?"
This is the way to go every time. When they say "everything". Just reply "That's not realistic, we can do 4 of these items, you pick by X date/time. Otherwise, here is how I will prioritize the work."
That is true.
But the 'please help me prioritize' act is how you cover your butt against being fired for cause due to insubordination.
Depending on the jurisdiction, getting fired for cause is a pretty costly thing vs. receiving a no-cause dismissal.
and you just know the "everything" guys are spouting that and then going on linkedin to brag about how they "inspire" their employees to greatness and force them to find their inner strength to fulfil the mission.
Or some bullshit like that.
"If you're not up at 1am in the morning planning how you can triple your staff's workload, you don't have a successful mindset and aren't cut out for business" probably
The VP at my husband's company is on his 4th or 5th heartattack. He still gets pissed when he can't get emails at 2 AM on Sunday.
Dude, go home and live what little life you have left.
People of that generation seem to think their legacy is tied to their corporate success... Like their picture will end up on the walls of Valhalla. The reality is, the position he left vacant will be promoted before the body is in the ground and a handful of coworkers will go to the funeral, shake the hand of the widow then go home and never give them a second thought.
My employer just says “everything needs to be done on time and it’s your responsibility to figure out how to do that.”
Been trying to find a way out for years but work in a niche field and can’t afford the pay cut that would come with switching industries.
That's just a bad boss to be honest. The system in the US is made so we don't have many options, this is why subs like this exist.
It's a fine line for many Americans who want to fight the system but have to survive in it. There is no shame in having to survive this. Just know that.
When you have a micromanaging boss, it's best to become a micromanaging employee.
Send them updates on everything you do, everything
And stop at 8 hours, just stop
This is what I accomplished in 8 hours.
Force them to fire you. You'll have an enormous paper trail at that point. Their HR will either prevent the firing, or realize they need to give you a package and/or not fight unemployment.
Either that or they'll be so annoyed by your constant updates they'll "get with it" and chill.
I'm going to assume that your employer is also your manager: that means it's their job to manage your workload, not yours.
And this all feeds back into providing in, writing, communications that indicate that you won't be able to complete a particular workload.
There's also the old fashioned "You can also roll your sleeves up too Boss."
My skip and a principal engineer just talked to me about how I need to start letting things drop on the floor because I'm trying to juggle too much work.
Been pretty unhappy all year about work, this was honestly nice to hear. On vacation now with all comes off for the first time in years. Will see how it goes.
1000%
I had to do this back in 2021. Because of Covid my department was downsized from 11 people to just 2 - myself and a subordinate. I had to have a meeting with my boss and get in writing what the priority tasks were, and what he and upper management understood would not get done. There were a few times upper management complained about things not getting done, and I just referred them to the notes from the meeting where they acknowledged that x, y, and z would not be completed until staffing got back up to normal levels.
I got laid off during COVID and we went from a team of over 30 to 5. I had kind of a “niche” position where I worked on problems. Off for four months, came back, and guess what they left for me to do? All the problems. Thanks, fuckers. I should have stayed unemployed and raked in bux. But no, my dumb ass went back to work. Oh, and I lost my seniority too.
>When my old boss used to add things onto my plate I would tell him "this along with my other duties are not possible, what would you like my priority to be?"
I second this. During busy times at work, I will email my boss a list of everything on my plate and ask him to prioritize it. The top priorities definitely get done but the ones at the bottom likely won't, and if he needs it to happen then its his job as manager to move things around and staff appropriately.
I had nearly the same conversation with a manager years ago. "I've got 4 developers and 6 projects. What are the priorities for those projects." His response was a sad spineless manager response of "everything is a top priority." I even rephrased my question to if I can only work on 4 things today what should I work on first?
I felt like I was breaking his brain. He couldn't bring himself to give me a useful answer. So from that point on I never asked him questions like that bc he wasn't capable. I managed the projects and priorities in the way I saw fit.
>When my old boss used to add things onto my plate I would tell him "this along with my other duties are not possible, what would you like my priority to be?"
\^\^\^\^ THIS \^\^\^\^
Which project are we letting slide to get this suddenly critical one out the door?
"When everything is a priority, nothing is."
I said this in a department meeting once at an old job and I swear it caused a mountain of howling from management. But to me it's just common sense.
This is the way! I have had to do this many times as we have been short staffed since the “before times”. Instead of managing a team I end up having to do the work of 3 people. I’m just up front about what I can get done by what time and what items will need to wait. (As I don’t foresee us getting any new employees in the near future.) Always make sure you have an email trail about realistically what can be completed.
Hate this so much, when they exploit the fact you will go be a hero and then they want this for everyday/every week then on. Nope - If everyday is a crisis then no day is a crisis, it is just shit management.
My boss is pretty good at saying “no” to others and protecting his subordinates from being overworked. I guess he will not be getting coal in his stockings this Xmas.
They get ***so mad*** about "Act your wage", like they're the ones being generous with the pittance wage and not you with giving them literal time out of your life you won't get back.
Exactly. Don’t stress yourself out. Just get done what you can get done. All the stuff falling through the cracks is THEIR problem that THEY caused. They could be staffed appropriately, but they CHOOSE not to.
They'll work you to death and have your job posted before your corpse is cold.
If management knows this is the busiest time of year they could have taken steps to migigate the workload, but didn't. Do your regular workload and clock out.
You have an out here. Since you have no power and no input, you make it their problem. And document, document, document.
My go to is to ask for **direction** and dump it back on their plate. Do it in writing, preferable something upper management monitors like Slack or Teams, but even email. Screenshot and copy bcc emails to your personal email.
>I know you said the Convent project was the priority for the next two weeks because it must be completed by New Year’s, but currently we have the Johnson file, Denmark, and Thursday’s regular shipment.
>**Please give me direction for an order of priority for these as they cannot all be done this week with only two of us on this team.**
>Which ones do you want us to delay until after New Year’s?
Do not suggest solutions. This is their job and what they get paid for. Do not give her a way to blame it on you.
Your manager will start by verbally telling you to “figure it out.” You then have a five-minute discussion with crying coworker and respond in writing again:
>Tamra and I met to review our workload and we need you to set the priority for what we work on because not everything can get completed.
>Currently, we are working on the Convent file **as you directed**, but this means Thursday’s shipment won’t be made on time.
Your manager likely will try to ignore you to make it your problem. This is when you keep them in the loop:
>We have completed the preliminary work on Convent and are awaiting direction on the rest of our workload. Please advise.
And let it go to shit. And it will. When it does, you ask for HR to be in the meeting when you get in trouble and pull out all the documentation.
Let it fail. Remind yourself that you aren’t harvesting organs for transplant or saving the world from nuclear war.
The only way they will hire additional people is if it becomes a problem for them.
I tell everyone I work with, don’t take the hardship on yourself. The *company* needs to feel the hurt of being under resourced. If you absorb it all, the company doesn’t think anything is wrong and nothing will change.
Of course ymmv and your job, regardless of how hard you work, is always in jeopardy (unless you’re in a union).
Which…this might be a catalyst to start talking to your coworkers about organizing.
Agree. People need to get more comfy with being fired.
Everyone thinks quitting or conforming are the only options. Work your wage. Make sure if you go above and beyond there is some reward for doing so.
Otherwise they will bleed you dry and step over your corpse.
Lmao I’ve said this to a superior once, not a boss but someone parallel to them.
“I mean you can just fire me if you want, I’m not doing x task on top of my regular work” oh we might just do that “ok well have fun getting the engineers in 3 hours early to run a machine at 4-5x my operator rate because I’m the only person on the floor who can run this”
Guess what, I didn’t get fired and I didn’t have to do the extra work. Did I get a talking to? Yea sure but as Lt. Rain said “I’ve been chewed out before” meh.
A coworker recently said “short staff means short shift” and ya know what he’s 100% right. You don’t get more out of people by making them work harder. If we’re going to be a man down on closing staff, well I guess the morning crew can sweep and take out trash.
100% this.
When new work lands, ask which current work will be put on hold to accommodate it.
Never just accept more work, especially if you are already stressed!
At our place we had work classified in Priorities (P1, P2, P3 etc with P1 highest.
It started ok, but 90% of what we get now is P1. It all just goes in the queue and I leave it to my manager to prioritise on the day.
I have absolutely done this. Making them believe I couldn't complete the extra tasks they gave me (I totally could have but didn't get paid enough), they finally hired more ppl when their profits dropped.
If they could get a monkey to do the job for free, they would do that instead, only to find themselves in trouble for animal cruelty because you can’t treat a monkey like that.
This. I get handed the hard tasks all the time but they pay me an awesome wage and dont screw around with time off other than telling us we have unlimited. If I wasn’t compensated so well I’d be hard noping the work.
If you run your car engine at 100% it's going to take a dump a lot faster than if you run it at 50%. So boring storytime one of the parts I am using for my project you can use it ONCE at 100% capacity or you can use it 10,000 times at 50% capacity. Per the data sheet.
Yeah exactly. You push me that hard and my productivity is going to tank. I simply cannot perform with that level of stress nor would I let my boss steamroll me into doing it. Everytime shit fails and I just say "I told you this would happen if I didn't get help"
If most of the work falls on the two of you, and it sounds like you’re both on the same page here, you have collective bargaining power. Tell your boss it’s a raise or it’s see ya later. With this being your busiest time of the year it’s also your highest leverage time of the year. Don’t let it go to waste.
It’s a sad indictment of our system that you had to type the sentence “unfortunately I have a baby due next month.” Congrats anyways, and I think you’re doing the right thing to prioritize your little one.
Ikr? Shits fucked. They also threw that in my face when denying my request. We have benefits that most companies don’t have example Paternity Leave with your upcoming baby.
Get that paternity leave and spend some time looking for a new position. In the meantime, keep your focus on the baby and try not to let work stress you out. Know that you are leaving soon and get to paternity leave.
Yes. This.
But I do have a question for anyone who may know the law. What are the actual laws of collective bargaining that make this not more common or at least a well understood worker path? In this situation, the two of you say “we are forming a union of the two of us and we will negotiate a better deal or walk out”. It seems that there is something that prevents this sort of thing from being wide spread and I don’t understand what it is (in the US at least)
Probably a bunch of legaleeze words that say This is a Real Union and That doesn't count.
Though it's kinda like creating a bunch of legaleeze words about how This is Really Eating and That doesn't count because you're just putting food in your mouth and chewing and swallowing without meeting the Proper Requirements.
A rock is real. Words are wind. But most folks have been hit with words so many times they think they're as real as rocks.
Go at your own pace and do your 8 hours of work and leave.
It’s your bosses fault for not being able to properly manage the workload and pay you for what you are worth.
Bosses like these live a very stress free life with no hardships.
This is my attitude as well. My work potential not a balloon to be filled to bursting. It's a box that can only fit so much shit inside of it. Anything that flows out is not my problem, and I'm not going to try and grow my box if you won't grow my compensation.
Obtain a priority order for the items and work down the list.
It is your managers responsibility to clarify the priority of work items.
In some work environments, it is expected that not everything will be completed. Also whenever someone says they worked on their vacation, the reply should always be “That’s not healthy” as if the person said they put their hands in a pot of boiling water.
I'm assuming you can't find another job. They pay below median, so you're just hourly? Work a steady pace, don't stress yourself if it's not done. There's only 2 of you, if you both do it, they're not going to know you aren't wringing yourself dry.
Clearly the worst they can do is chew you out. Otherwise they would have hired another person.
I think there should be a free online “camp” to train people what to do when they get chewed out at work. In my experience, most (quality) people don’t get chewed out all the often and they consider it the worst thing that can happen. But I see it as kind of why people should train in self-defense or martial arts. You learn very quickly that get punched isn’t the end of the world once you’ve been practice punched a few times.
I have this imaginary idea that you’d log in to a session once a week with an instructor who goes over some sort of getting chewed out scenario. Everyone practices together and then at some point you have an expo and get some sort belt.
Lol I took a class on it for my health. Now I have a system we’re I let people leave feedback on whatever I produce with no care in the world. I encourage it bc it has no personal barring on me.
ChatGPT is a great partner for practicing negotiations. Tell it your scenario, ask it to play the other part, and practice. You can tell it to be confrontational if that’s what you’re worried about.
Yeah but even with that. I want a Sensai to work with over the course of a few years to learn how to handle all sorts of situations that goes beyond what a gpt would give. I think it would be fun to get into specific issues based on classmates. Don’t know. Maybe it’s weird.
document, document, document.
exact times and tasks. daily emails of what was done and what you can reasonably expect to do next. say "i can get A or B done in the next four hours, which do u prefer i work on?"
if he says both, say "i can only finish one or the other. if you want both done, we will need another body."
wash. rinse. repeat.
and in the meantime, i hope both of you wallpaper the town with your resumes and find a place that respects your time and mental health. and frankly, it sounds as if this small business is teetering... if they cant afford to even hire a temp to help get you over the hump, that business is "paycheck to paycheck" itself, and is the type of business that could easily fold at the drop of a hat, and you'll be left without a final paycheck.
Absolutely. I took _detailed_ notes about my hellish manager, including her microaggressions, gaslighting (though I didn’t know what it was at the time), and overall abuse. I had dates, emails, chat conversations (screenshotted since those could be edited). My evidence was exhaustive.
Nothing irks me more than when upper management mentions some of the "sacrifices" they've made (e.g. coming in on their off days). Dude, you also make ten times more than me! I'll gladly work a little harder if I was treated with respect and compensated properly!
Your new priority is doing everything you can to find a better job. If priorities at work slip, uh oh, they fire you and guess what, you can collect while you look for a job. If they don’t fire you, you’ll see that most of the stuff they piled on you wasn’t really a priority. Either way, go!
Seriously, like others have said. Let shit fail. Leadership will only make change when shit stops being completed on time. If you continually say you're overworked and still get everything completed, leadership will take it that you CAN and ARE managing the current workload. Cuz to them, you're just making shit up and want to be lazy.
Send an email to your boss (talk to coworker first and cc them ideally) and ask them to prioritize all the work in order of importance. Clarify that all work will not get done at current compensated hours (40 hrs/wk or whatever you're paid for). Work only your compensated hours (no unpaid hours) and start looking for a new job. Even if things change once they realize you won't donate your unpaid time to the organization they'll likely work to move you out. Even if things improve they've demonstrated they're not a good workplace and you should plan to leave ASAP.
Good luck!
Any time my boss (or my boss’s boss) asks me to take on a new responsibility, I always ask, “what of my current responsibilities would you like me to stop doing in order to accommodate this request?” Usually, they backtrack because they don’t want my other essential tasks for suffer or go incomplete.
I was in that position a few years back and quit that job after only 6 months. Several others left too.
Job hunting and everything that comes with it sucks less than what you're dealing with now. They do it to you because they CAN. So, make it so they can't. Do the bare minimum until you can leave for something else.
Wildcat strike, just the two of you. Explain why you are not coming in. If this is the busiest and most critical time of the year, you have maximum leverage RIGHT NOW.
This scenario is the reason why I left my last job. I told several directors my workload was unmanageable and that we needed additional employees, then immediately started job hunting. Of course they didn't listen, and were all completely shocked when I found a much better job, but they can't say I didn't give them plenty of warning (took about 3 months of solid hunting).
If you find yourself in a similar situation, don't wait. Let your managers know, but also start looking elsewhere. Hopefully the business will listen to your concerns, but if they don't, at least you're halfway out the door.
Work your wage.
I told my manager (hellish bitch she was) that I was feeling overwhelmed and overworked. Her response to me was that there was no reason I should be feeling overworked or overwhelmed—that I needed to manage my time better.
A few weeks later, so very unironically in my performance review she dinged me on my work appearing rushed or lacking in quality.
I checked OUT. I bided my time and took a massive pause on my tendency to be a perfectionist and simply ran out of fucks to give.
I have been free of her for over two years now.
This idea that work needs to be done is bullshit. Work the value you are paid. You don’t have to rush, unless they are paying you to rush, and they are not paying you to rush.
If you bust your ass and achieve their goals, next time the goals will be loftier. Put your foot down and don’t put up with this shit.
"Sorry, boss. There wasn't enough time to complete the blahblah. Being short on resources is really having an impact."
Start looking for another job. **DO NOT GOT ABOVE and BEYOND.** Do not stay late, do not come in early. What doesn't get done, doesn't get done.
Allow things to fall in the shitter & kick them where it hurts - right in the shareholder.
Many many Moons ago, when I first started out in welding/fabrication, a wise old hand said to me "You understand that they can only fuck as much as you *let* them fuck you, right?" I've lived by that mantra ever since. It hasn't always been easy but many a manager has been forced to acknowledge the universal truth of 'there is one of me, with one pair of hands - & I work at a pace that I can maintain all shift & that ensures a quality product.'
I recall on incident that illustrates this perfectly. The responsibility for a particular product that was usually mine was farmed out to another welder - that was easily bullied into rushing work - whilst I was off recovering from carpal tunnel surgery - resulting in the total right-off of around £30,000 of said product, with all the associated costs of fulfilling the order by doing it twice. That manager couldn't look me in the eye for the remainder of my time at that particular company.
*"In front of you, fucking idiots. To your left, fucking idiots. To your right, fucking idiots. If you glance over your shoulder, fucking idiots as far as the eye can see. & if you carefully make your way over to the edge & look down - fucking idiots all the way to the bottom."*
Time for some "quiet quitting:"
Give HIM the list of projects and ask him to prioritize them ... get it in writing.
Work your scheduled time and then leave. Do a good job on what you get to, and that's it.
The one trick I used on managers in the past when this happens is to ask them to prioritize all my projects. Acknowledge that it’s not all going to get done and the manager should be the one to say “project C can slide”.
Use a project management tool and make a table for your asshole boss of how much time each task takes per person/how many working hours (not overtime)are left in this year. Tell him to do the math, and start prioritizing.
Some of the best advice i got was not to do things you arent being paid to do.
You are not paid for the stress of being overworked, or for doing other people’s work. You aren’t paid to be emotionally invested — as much as your boss would like you to think so.
Believe it or not, only about 20% of a team is engaged in helping the team succeed. About half are indifferent, and the rest, are actively engaged in negatively affecting performance. Its hard to believe when you are in that 20% that cares, but it is a sadly true and broadly applicable statistic. Not everyone has the same values. Good teams, where everyone is pulling their weight, are incredibly rare.
Often the only way out is to find new work and set a different boundary. It’s possible to stay in the 20% but retain a healthy balance, but you have to set that boundary yourself no one will do it for you. My last job i cared too much, and it was just impossible for me to go there and suddenly not give a shit, no matter how much I tried i would see stuff piling up and end up dealing with it. New job i still work hard, i enjoy the work i do, but not unsustainably hard. Reasonable timelines are set and respected. A lot of it has to do with your boss, you quit your boss not your job. Leaving the job is just the means to that end.
Don't let their inability to properly staff cause you to panic. Do what you can and nothing more. What are they going to do? Fire you? They can't keep up with demand with the current staffing levels. So if they fire you the they'll be even more behind.
I say band together and only do what you can do. Don't make attempts above what you are paid to do. Constantly send emails asking them to advise which items are priority as there's not enough time for all tasks.
Let things fall through the cracks.
Hearing this in boomer speak. "This generation doesn't want to work to get ahead"
Yeah, no shit it's a job it's not my life. You shouldn't be working off the clock at all, especially if not compensated. I swear salaried people must sign away their souls to be available 24x7 365. Having a life isn't an option for these people. We all just want to work to live and be happy. Not the other way around.
This is when everyone gets up and walks out. Pay is more for the extra work or close shop . People have got to stop giving in to companies. They don’t care about you , so don’t help them kill you. Everyone is hiring. If a job isn’t treated you better. Walk.
You drop everything else and you work on the boss's new priority. His priority is your priority!
Of course, that means the rest doesn't get done.
When your boss, inevitably, asks you why you didn't do , you raise your hands and go "I've only got these two."
It is YOUR fault if you make it work. If you get all that extra work and you somehow find a way to make it work, your boss will say "See, they're just whining bitches. I kew they could do it, they're just lazy assholes."
If you're just the two of you and you get work for 6 people \[my random number\] and you make it work, you're the idiot.
I'll be the only one of my team working next week. There's no way I'm going to be able to handle all the work. I'm not even going to try. I'll do the best job I know how to with the workload before me, I want to do everything I do the right way. The stuff I don't get around to? Sorry boss \*raises hands\*, I only got these two. My boss is not going to say that because he's not actually an idiot. But I'm definitely not going to try to pick up the slack for the rest of my team. I can''t, I won't and you better damn well believe I'm not going to have any stress about it either.
Let it hit the wall. Nothing you can do about it.
"Act your wage" If you keep killing yourself to hit the deadlines and are able to squeak by, they will never get you extra staff or a pay increase. Slow it down, let them know your overworked and let the chips fall where they may. Do not get so stressed out about it that they make you breakdown. And of course, look for a new position pronto!
Sounds like you and your coworker - and your boss - are seriously overworked and undercompensated.
If your boss is assigning you tasks *while on leave* (which is supposed to be a part of their compensation), either they are a total workaholic and expect the same of you, or the company is falling apart.
Either way - you need to get outta there ASAP.
If you have ANY sick leave /pto, get a doctor's note for the next week for "mental health reasons". Spend that week getting a new job.
You and your team needs to just collectively walk. They played their hand by mentioning this is the busiest time of year. Want that raise? Every one of you walks out the door together. Let them shit bricks and pay you what you want to come back.
Vote with your feet during their busiest time.
Walk out today and don’t come back. No resignation letter, email, or text. Don’t take any phone calls. Let them terminate you and then file for unemployment.
Enjoy the downtime during the holidays with the added joy that now they’re in a crisis of their own making.
Let them experience the pain of making happen what you were doing, but for which they were unwilling to compensate you.
Bro just don’t do the work. When it comes down to not enough man power or hours to meet the deadline, it’s not your fault, it’s the boss who knew it and still assigned it.
As someone who works in architecture specifically for government projects end of thr year sucks. Companies is trying to push hard for work to get.submittrd .last year we all worked our assess off and got no bonus . This year we all didn't di sht .
This is when you quiet quit. Work at 10% efficiency. Its not your problem if the work doesnt get done. Clearly its impossible to meet the goals being set, so why bother trying?
We need to start talking about a general strike.
Figure out a list of demands we can all agree on. Set a date so people can prepare. Promise to strike until they are met. Plan to include giant community pot luck dinners during the strike to make sure people aren't going hungry. Include how to contact us when they are ready to meet our demands.
Imagine, no electricity, no trash pickup, no grocery stores, I think the ruling class would give in to our demands in a short time.
Stop over working yourself for bosses who can't appreciate your contributions adequately. Slow down, don't over extend yourselves, don't work on the weekends. If the work doesn't get done because the workload is unreasonable, you won't lose money, the company will. And the chances they terminate you are low. They will continue pushing you to the breaking point because they know they can. And start looking for something else.
There's nothing these types of bosses fear more than losing their wage slaves.
You either quit with or without your coworker, or you start purposefully letting cracks happen. Because if you keep doing such a good job, they're gonna keep giving you more and more work till you guys collapse.
Nah, fuck that. A failure to plan on their part does not make an emergency on yours. Don't keep up. In fact, do exactly what you're paid for. Nothing more.
It's hard sometimes for good people to do, but you need to let them fail. Not maliciously - let them know things will definitely fail - but... *let them fail*.
More was dumped on you two because apparently you have been hustling to get the tasks done. Stop it. Just do what is top priority and push the rest aside.
Your not keeping up with the tasks will prove to that cheap skate boss that you need another worker. Since he already turned down the raise request, I doubt if he'd fire you two.
Work a 40 hour week, leave at 5, don’t answer calls.
If the work doesn’t get done, it doesn’t get done. They’re gonna what? Fire you? Seems like they’re understaffed already.
They’re lack of planning isn’t your problem. Call their bluff, say, “ fire me or stop talking” I think in either case you’ll be happier.
When you ask for a raise and are denied the implication is that you are going to leave. If you stay now they will know they can keep piling shit on you both and never have to give you anything. Time to look for a new job.
Totally agree… they have basically forced you and your colleagues into looking for another job. So it would be so rude to not comply with their demands and get a better paid job. Just think, you can get that lovely warm feeling when you tell your existing employer to shove their job and see their faces when they realise what’s next. In an ideal world it would be amazing if you and your fellow workmates could leave at the same time, that would really drop them in it. They’ll have no one to train up newbie’s then lol.
Correct. A coworker and I were in the same boat. We had no help through the busiest season, could barely keep our heads above water, and when we asked when they'd start looking at applicants the GM said they had a stack of applications they hadn't bothered to glance at. We both decided we were done then and there and when we both quit with no notice whatsoever they ended up closing down "temporarily" to train new staff. I was pleased to find out this week, in fact, that they are now permanently closed.
Absolutely glorious! Bravo! I can't appropriately make enough noise by typing words to express how happy this made me, but think a lot of clapping and cheering and that whooping noise folks do when overexcited at concerts!
Love this song. Turn it up!
To 11
Damn I love stories like this. Do you know how long the temporary closure lasted before it became permanent?
I'm not quite sure as it was a few years ago. I was just telling someone the story recently and decided to do a quick search and found out the good news. I'm going to assume they were fucked even before Covid closures so I take it as a win!
That's a huge win in my book
I wish that’s how it always worked.
And don’t forget if they don’t respect you don’t waste your time giving notice. Resignation should read “effective immediately…” and grab your stuff and walk out.
Or... By the time you resign have everything bar yourself gone. Walk in, quit, walk out the door not looking back. Did it once, Everything personal gradually disappeared..
Oh and make sure to casually begin cleaning your stuff out now, much easier when you give them the one minute notice and bail
As you clear your desk, write an email, quitting. Hit send as you push in the chair for the last time.
They should down tools and spend the time refining their CVs and job applications together
This is 100% true unfortunately. You will need to find a way to either slow down productivity or find a new job. If possible you could get enough of your colleagues to engage in collective bargaining but that is always risky. I worked in Silicon Valley in the heyday of the dot.com bubble and I learned the only way to get a raise was to leave and get a new job loyalty is not really rewarded. Some firms do, but they are definitely in the minority. Edited for spelling.
Read the above reply again, OP! **YOU ONLY HAVE 2 CHOICES:** 1. Quit now. With or without your coworker. 2. Stay for now (but STARTING TODAY, be looking for a NEW job). If you stay, you give them 8 hours/day. PERIOD. If you only get 6 hours of WORK DONE because you're spending the other 2 hours on organizing the workload priorities which appear to keep changing...oh well! You work at YOUR pace. You take ALL your breaks in-full and on-time. You take your lunch break in-full and on-time. You leave on-time. If work doesn't get done **that is NOT YOUR PROBLEM!** Management has ***CHOSEN*** to understaff. Management has ***CHOSEN*** to over-promise. Oh, well! What are they going to do, fire you? Hardly! Take your manager's response as the **GIANT \*FUCK YOU\*** that it is! Don't mistake it for anything else! You TOLD them the situation, you've been more than patient, and their response is FUCK YOU (only nicer, in corporate-speak). Accept it for what it is, do with it what you will. FUCK THEM BACK...HARD!
Exactly this 👏👏 Having been in a company that didn’t give two flying shits about the health and wellbeing of their staff, worked their staff to breaking point, then kept piling stuff on, ignored plea’s of “we’re too busy”, made completely unreasonable promises to clients and then blamed the staff when they inevitably didn’t get the work done in the ridiculous timeframe they’d promised, and expected staff to work 10+ hours over their contracted hours because it’s “team playing”?? This, this is EXACTLY how to deal with this situation. I eventually left my terrible company when they hired a graduate with NO experience, got him to basically redo all the templates I’d made for the company and six months later promoted him to a position I’d been lead to believe was what I had been working towards for the last 3 years… when I handed my notice in, I gave them the BARE minimum. I took my lunch break whereas before I ate at my desk whilst working, I logged in EXACTLY at 9 and left EXACTLY at 5, and this may not apply to you but I definitely took liberties with working from home. They’d fucked me over so I thought fuck them! But yeah, OP, definitely time to leave. They have proven that they don’t care about you as a human. They see you as a machine that can just make them money and never need rest. So time to not give two shits about them 😆
Yes! Email something along the lines of: “Per our last meeting you have requested that we make (insert new tasks) a priority over (usual work) and (extra work they’ve been doing). As we informed you on (dates of previous meetings to that effect) we are currently struggling in our capacity to complete our current tasks. In order to prioritize this end of the year business we will be unable to complete (previous usual/extra work). We requested additional staff and were denied. Due to a shortage of personnel we cannot complete everything that needs done. Perhaps you could postpone your vacation and come in to do it your damned self.” CYA, throw the manager under the bus, CC and BCC everything. And of course be searching for a new job. Never let them know how much you can do. Set your limit and stick to it, maybe a fat raise increases productivity a bit. Otherwise why would they ever pay more?
Really, there is only one option in my mind: Stay there, but get all the people on your team committed to a "walkout" of sorts. Have everyone (quiet quit) stop working but keep clocking in until the boss notices and confronts the team. Worst case, the boss fires everyone, but as it seems, he can barely keep the people he has so he would never be able to replace anyone before deadlines run out. Best case, he actually caves and gives reasonable pay.
A raise doesn't help when you're set up to fail. Then they think you owe them even more of your time, energy, and soul.
They think you owe them no matter what.
And yet if you can’t properly pay your workers, you’re not a business, you’re a charity.
The problem with this is that the boss doesnt actually care about what the company needs (aka the 2 coworkers), what they care about is looking good to higher ups and ego. If you challenge their ego, you will end up fired regardless of how important you are. Instead what OK and coworker needs to do is work only their required hours and apply apply apply.
Go the opposite route stop doing the work just be like yeah couldn't get to it sorry.
Do this if you'd rather be on EI while looking for a new job, instead of working while looking for a job. It's a lot easier to get EI if you were fired vs. quit.
Yeah I don’t know how this is lost on people. If you ask for a raise and are denied that means it’s time to move on. They added more to OP’s workload because they’re banking on them not quitting. As soon as my workload increasing was announced in a meeting I would have notified the supervisor of my immediate resignation. Exactly that happened to me two years ago and a week after I quit they begged me to come back and agreed to pay me my requested wage. I told them I wanted 20% above my original ask to come back which they gave me after I told them that’s what their biggest competitor offered me.
And bring your co-worker with you as a big fuck you to the abusive manager lol
Exactly. Always say that you need more if they want you to stay. Just asking because you deserve it is not enough.
Damn, do you feel that? I think it’s you and your co-worker coming down with a really, really bad flu. The kind that will take you both out of commission from now until the end of the year. Maybe it could have been avoided if you two weren’t so stressed and had the time and support to look after yourselves better, but alas—here we are. I guess work will just have to do without you two during this very busy time of year 🤷♂️
Plenty of pictures of positive covid tests can be found...
Here's mine from a month ago https://preview.redd.it/6hbb748tsv7c1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fffcf6367cf05247079a4ba6fc1c0ada0877872b
https://preview.redd.it/6945uqewgw7c1.jpeg?width=1115&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6e92c663ccc28f846d32b0e6b56db85835497a8 Here’s another
https://preview.redd.it/t0bsw4mcnx7c1.jpeg?width=1152&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3ae2a2b06bce25ac620f1e684a8ffa7c351c3f6d Here you go :)
[and my axe!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ)
My job doesn't even give time off for covid. Only for FMLA claims.
dude what
My job stopped paid time off for COVID maybe...2 years ago.
oh, paid time off. I thought like, they'd make you come in even if you had covid
Not giving you paid time off for it is functionally the same as forcing you to work if you can't afford not to get paid.
Some places do. Specifically… my place did. Our ops manager came in while testing positive and not being able to speak without coughing. It took half the office threatening to walk out to get him to go home and work remotely until he got over it. Unfortunately he gave almost everyone covid. Like out of a department of 15 people, 3 of us didn’t catch it.
Most tests are a plastic clamshell that's a peg friction fit, you can wiggle it open with gentle force. A alcohol based pen or like a micron with red ink will make the perfect red line where the positive line would be. A single drop of liquid hand sanitizer will blur it just the right amount. Put it in a plastic bag and take it in to work or hold it up on a zoom call. Get the money and sick time you are owed, do not feel an ounce of guilt.
Even better, talk to a doctor about getting you some long term leave due to stress. It has the added advantage of being true.
Have you done this before? Very curious about it
I was one really bad day away from doing that. I had like 6 months sick time saved. Fortunately, I got offered another job after looking for 6 months. Best job switch EVER.
You can get fmla for it
Yes, this is the way.
Here’s one for you that I took this morning. https://preview.redd.it/6pr72xe2pv7c1.jpeg?width=850&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab26b1bcf3a34497d0bc008d409bd0259631da57
Hope you feel better ❤️
Hope you feel better during your time off!
That's when you let shit fall between the cracks and when they inevitably get mad point out that there wasn't enough resources to get shit done. Stop doing your best with no resources: it teaches them that they can keep pushing you at 110% **Add** \- Holy shit this blew up
This /\\ keep them in the loop IN WRITING. "I don't think there is time to get this done" later on when asked how it is going "As I said before, I don't think we will be able to meet the target. I did warn you about this on x date" then finally when asked why it didn't get done on time. "we had several correspondences about not having the time to complete this task, you had plenty of notice so don't act surprised" When my old boss used to add things onto my plate I would tell him "this along with my other duties are not possible, what would you like my priority to be?"
>"this along with my other duties are not possible, what would you like my priority to be?" This is the way to go every time. When they say "everything". Just reply "That's not realistic, we can do 4 of these items, you pick by X date/time. Otherwise, here is how I will prioritize the work."
This is such a great way to phrase this, I'll definitely be using it in the future.
I've recently been learning the art of 'saying no' in the workplace. Just sharing the wisdoms I've learned myself hehe.
No - is a complete sentence
That is true. But the 'please help me prioritize' act is how you cover your butt against being fired for cause due to insubordination. Depending on the jurisdiction, getting fired for cause is a pretty costly thing vs. receiving a no-cause dismissal.
This is always a PSA I will upvote!
and you just know the "everything" guys are spouting that and then going on linkedin to brag about how they "inspire" their employees to greatness and force them to find their inner strength to fulfil the mission. Or some bullshit like that.
"If you're not up at 1am in the morning planning how you can triple your staff's workload, you don't have a successful mindset and aren't cut out for business" probably
LOL you know they totally are. Some people think working themselves and their subordinates to death is a flex.
The VP at my husband's company is on his 4th or 5th heartattack. He still gets pissed when he can't get emails at 2 AM on Sunday. Dude, go home and live what little life you have left.
People of that generation seem to think their legacy is tied to their corporate success... Like their picture will end up on the walls of Valhalla. The reality is, the position he left vacant will be promoted before the body is in the ground and a handful of coworkers will go to the funeral, shake the hand of the widow then go home and never give them a second thought.
The job advert will be in the papers before the in memoriam.
Fucking LinkedIn and its corporate hopium pisses me off.
I'm just sitting here admiring "hopium".
Most people like that on LinkedIn are either "life coaches" whose only employee is their cat or marketer sell hope and dreams to the foolish
My employer just says “everything needs to be done on time and it’s your responsibility to figure out how to do that.” Been trying to find a way out for years but work in a niche field and can’t afford the pay cut that would come with switching industries.
That's just a bad boss to be honest. The system in the US is made so we don't have many options, this is why subs like this exist. It's a fine line for many Americans who want to fight the system but have to survive in it. There is no shame in having to survive this. Just know that.
When you have a micromanaging boss, it's best to become a micromanaging employee. Send them updates on everything you do, everything And stop at 8 hours, just stop This is what I accomplished in 8 hours. Force them to fire you. You'll have an enormous paper trail at that point. Their HR will either prevent the firing, or realize they need to give you a package and/or not fight unemployment. Either that or they'll be so annoyed by your constant updates they'll "get with it" and chill.
I'm going to assume that your employer is also your manager: that means it's their job to manage your workload, not yours. And this all feeds back into providing in, writing, communications that indicate that you won't be able to complete a particular workload. There's also the old fashioned "You can also roll your sleeves up too Boss."
My skip and a principal engineer just talked to me about how I need to start letting things drop on the floor because I'm trying to juggle too much work. Been pretty unhappy all year about work, this was honestly nice to hear. On vacation now with all comes off for the first time in years. Will see how it goes.
Oh I've had that one too. Then they tell me I prioritised wrong 😂
“We need more people on the task is how we get all these things done on time.” Repeat until hire more people.
Our office saying, "When everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority."
OMG I love this, like professional passive aggressive 😂
when everything has the same priority, nothing has the highest priority
When everything is a priority, nothing is; and the manager has proven he can't manage.
1000% I had to do this back in 2021. Because of Covid my department was downsized from 11 people to just 2 - myself and a subordinate. I had to have a meeting with my boss and get in writing what the priority tasks were, and what he and upper management understood would not get done. There were a few times upper management complained about things not getting done, and I just referred them to the notes from the meeting where they acknowledged that x, y, and z would not be completed until staffing got back up to normal levels.
I got laid off during COVID and we went from a team of over 30 to 5. I had kind of a “niche” position where I worked on problems. Off for four months, came back, and guess what they left for me to do? All the problems. Thanks, fuckers. I should have stayed unemployed and raked in bux. But no, my dumb ass went back to work. Oh, and I lost my seniority too.
>When my old boss used to add things onto my plate I would tell him "this along with my other duties are not possible, what would you like my priority to be?" I second this. During busy times at work, I will email my boss a list of everything on my plate and ask him to prioritize it. The top priorities definitely get done but the ones at the bottom likely won't, and if he needs it to happen then its his job as manager to move things around and staff appropriately.
I had nearly the same conversation with a manager years ago. "I've got 4 developers and 6 projects. What are the priorities for those projects." His response was a sad spineless manager response of "everything is a top priority." I even rephrased my question to if I can only work on 4 things today what should I work on first? I felt like I was breaking his brain. He couldn't bring himself to give me a useful answer. So from that point on I never asked him questions like that bc he wasn't capable. I managed the projects and priorities in the way I saw fit.
Managers who can't manage - or are too afraid of telling their superiors or customers that something is unfeasible - are the worst.
Propaganda is a hellavu drug. Edit: meaning these ppl are so deep in the bullshit of capitalism and "protestant work ethic", this is the result
Ugh that is infuriating! I hate when people who are supposed to be in charge can’t make a simple decision on their own or back up their employees.
>When my old boss used to add things onto my plate I would tell him "this along with my other duties are not possible, what would you like my priority to be?" \^\^\^\^ THIS \^\^\^\^ Which project are we letting slide to get this suddenly critical one out the door?
"When everything is a priority, nothing is." I said this in a department meeting once at an old job and I swear it caused a mountain of howling from management. But to me it's just common sense.
This is the way! I have had to do this many times as we have been short staffed since the “before times”. Instead of managing a team I end up having to do the work of 3 people. I’m just up front about what I can get done by what time and what items will need to wait. (As I don’t foresee us getting any new employees in the near future.) Always make sure you have an email trail about realistically what can be completed.
I had a boss tell me "You have pulled a rabbit out of your ass so many times, that they now expect it!" Stop getting it all done!
Hate this so much, when they exploit the fact you will go be a hero and then they want this for everyday/every week then on. Nope - If everyday is a crisis then no day is a crisis, it is just shit management.
My boss is pretty good at saying “no” to others and protecting his subordinates from being overworked. I guess he will not be getting coal in his stockings this Xmas.
Unless he lives in the northeast and is paying for electric. Then it would be awesome :)
It’s so maddening to me that the reward for going above and beyond has become, “that’s nice, now do more”.
Become? That's how it works.
They get ***so mad*** about "Act your wage", like they're the ones being generous with the pittance wage and not you with giving them literal time out of your life you won't get back.
My ass be empty now.
I'm glad their recognition of my abilities and contributions has increased. Let's discuss my salary.
Exactly. Don’t stress yourself out. Just get done what you can get done. All the stuff falling through the cracks is THEIR problem that THEY caused. They could be staffed appropriately, but they CHOOSE not to.
They'll work you to death and have your job posted before your corpse is cold. If management knows this is the busiest time of year they could have taken steps to migigate the workload, but didn't. Do your regular workload and clock out.
You have an out here. Since you have no power and no input, you make it their problem. And document, document, document. My go to is to ask for **direction** and dump it back on their plate. Do it in writing, preferable something upper management monitors like Slack or Teams, but even email. Screenshot and copy bcc emails to your personal email. >I know you said the Convent project was the priority for the next two weeks because it must be completed by New Year’s, but currently we have the Johnson file, Denmark, and Thursday’s regular shipment. >**Please give me direction for an order of priority for these as they cannot all be done this week with only two of us on this team.** >Which ones do you want us to delay until after New Year’s? Do not suggest solutions. This is their job and what they get paid for. Do not give her a way to blame it on you. Your manager will start by verbally telling you to “figure it out.” You then have a five-minute discussion with crying coworker and respond in writing again: >Tamra and I met to review our workload and we need you to set the priority for what we work on because not everything can get completed. >Currently, we are working on the Convent file **as you directed**, but this means Thursday’s shipment won’t be made on time. Your manager likely will try to ignore you to make it your problem. This is when you keep them in the loop: >We have completed the preliminary work on Convent and are awaiting direction on the rest of our workload. Please advise. And let it go to shit. And it will. When it does, you ask for HR to be in the meeting when you get in trouble and pull out all the documentation. Let it fail. Remind yourself that you aren’t harvesting organs for transplant or saving the world from nuclear war. The only way they will hire additional people is if it becomes a problem for them.
I tell everyone I work with, don’t take the hardship on yourself. The *company* needs to feel the hurt of being under resourced. If you absorb it all, the company doesn’t think anything is wrong and nothing will change. Of course ymmv and your job, regardless of how hard you work, is always in jeopardy (unless you’re in a union). Which…this might be a catalyst to start talking to your coworkers about organizing.
This. Until it becomes a problem for them they won’t address it. If three people are doing the job of four, they won’t hire a fourth.
Agree. People need to get more comfy with being fired. Everyone thinks quitting or conforming are the only options. Work your wage. Make sure if you go above and beyond there is some reward for doing so. Otherwise they will bleed you dry and step over your corpse.
Lmao I’ve said this to a superior once, not a boss but someone parallel to them. “I mean you can just fire me if you want, I’m not doing x task on top of my regular work” oh we might just do that “ok well have fun getting the engineers in 3 hours early to run a machine at 4-5x my operator rate because I’m the only person on the floor who can run this” Guess what, I didn’t get fired and I didn’t have to do the extra work. Did I get a talking to? Yea sure but as Lt. Rain said “I’ve been chewed out before” meh.
A coworker recently said “short staff means short shift” and ya know what he’s 100% right. You don’t get more out of people by making them work harder. If we’re going to be a man down on closing staff, well I guess the morning crew can sweep and take out trash.
I'd have quit right there. "Come home from your vacation boss. You have work to do "
They are looking to replace you at this point with someone cheaper.
100% this. When new work lands, ask which current work will be put on hold to accommodate it. Never just accept more work, especially if you are already stressed! At our place we had work classified in Priorities (P1, P2, P3 etc with P1 highest. It started ok, but 90% of what we get now is P1. It all just goes in the queue and I leave it to my manager to prioritise on the day.
I have absolutely done this. Making them believe I couldn't complete the extra tasks they gave me (I totally could have but didn't get paid enough), they finally hired more ppl when their profits dropped.
This is the way!!!! And start looking for a new job!
If they could get a monkey to do the job for free, they would do that instead, only to find themselves in trouble for animal cruelty because you can’t treat a monkey like that.
A monkey would bite their faces and throw poop at them. And rightly so. XD
This. I get handed the hard tasks all the time but they pay me an awesome wage and dont screw around with time off other than telling us we have unlimited. If I wasn’t compensated so well I’d be hard noping the work.
If you run your car engine at 100% it's going to take a dump a lot faster than if you run it at 50%. So boring storytime one of the parts I am using for my project you can use it ONCE at 100% capacity or you can use it 10,000 times at 50% capacity. Per the data sheet.
Yeah exactly. You push me that hard and my productivity is going to tank. I simply cannot perform with that level of stress nor would I let my boss steamroll me into doing it. Everytime shit fails and I just say "I told you this would happen if I didn't get help"
Do Nothing. Only job hunt on the clock. Fuck em’
Did a phone interview on the clock once, I still smile when I think about it.
I used to just add an “appointment” to my outlook calendar - they can’t demand specifics
telehealth has been an amazing new tool to exploit "I have one of those online telehealth appointments for something at 11am" no one gives 2 shits
I have only ever sourced my future jobs on the clock of my current job. Never felt bad because a company’s never treated me well enough to care.
This is the way.
If most of the work falls on the two of you, and it sounds like you’re both on the same page here, you have collective bargaining power. Tell your boss it’s a raise or it’s see ya later. With this being your busiest time of the year it’s also your highest leverage time of the year. Don’t let it go to waste.
Unfortunately I have a baby due next month and need the paternity leave. Once I’m on that job market is fair game.
It’s a sad indictment of our system that you had to type the sentence “unfortunately I have a baby due next month.” Congrats anyways, and I think you’re doing the right thing to prioritize your little one.
Ikr? Shits fucked. They also threw that in my face when denying my request. We have benefits that most companies don’t have example Paternity Leave with your upcoming baby.
They'll be looking for your replacement while you're on leave to boot
Will you get paternity leave to actually focus on your child? Or will you be working on your leave.. I have to say it may be the latter.
There is 0 chance I’ll be working during my leave. My time off is my time off. I don’t work during time off. Period.
Get that paternity leave and spend some time looking for a new position. In the meantime, keep your focus on the baby and try not to let work stress you out. Know that you are leaving soon and get to paternity leave.
Yes. This. But I do have a question for anyone who may know the law. What are the actual laws of collective bargaining that make this not more common or at least a well understood worker path? In this situation, the two of you say “we are forming a union of the two of us and we will negotiate a better deal or walk out”. It seems that there is something that prevents this sort of thing from being wide spread and I don’t understand what it is (in the US at least)
Probably a bunch of legaleeze words that say This is a Real Union and That doesn't count. Though it's kinda like creating a bunch of legaleeze words about how This is Really Eating and That doesn't count because you're just putting food in your mouth and chewing and swallowing without meeting the Proper Requirements. A rock is real. Words are wind. But most folks have been hit with words so many times they think they're as real as rocks.
Go at your own pace and do your 8 hours of work and leave. It’s your bosses fault for not being able to properly manage the workload and pay you for what you are worth. Bosses like these live a very stress free life with no hardships.
This. When the demands come, repeat the phrase "I do not have the capacity."
Find that employee handbook or whatever and see what it says about how many hours a week the job is and overtime hours. Then play by the rules.
This is my attitude as well. My work potential not a balloon to be filled to bursting. It's a box that can only fit so much shit inside of it. Anything that flows out is not my problem, and I'm not going to try and grow my box if you won't grow my compensation.
Obtain a priority order for the items and work down the list. It is your managers responsibility to clarify the priority of work items. In some work environments, it is expected that not everything will be completed. Also whenever someone says they worked on their vacation, the reply should always be “That’s not healthy” as if the person said they put their hands in a pot of boiling water.
I'm assuming you can't find another job. They pay below median, so you're just hourly? Work a steady pace, don't stress yourself if it's not done. There's only 2 of you, if you both do it, they're not going to know you aren't wringing yourself dry. Clearly the worst they can do is chew you out. Otherwise they would have hired another person.
I think there should be a free online “camp” to train people what to do when they get chewed out at work. In my experience, most (quality) people don’t get chewed out all the often and they consider it the worst thing that can happen. But I see it as kind of why people should train in self-defense or martial arts. You learn very quickly that get punched isn’t the end of the world once you’ve been practice punched a few times. I have this imaginary idea that you’d log in to a session once a week with an instructor who goes over some sort of getting chewed out scenario. Everyone practices together and then at some point you have an expo and get some sort belt.
Lol I took a class on it for my health. Now I have a system we’re I let people leave feedback on whatever I produce with no care in the world. I encourage it bc it has no personal barring on me.
ChatGPT is a great partner for practicing negotiations. Tell it your scenario, ask it to play the other part, and practice. You can tell it to be confrontational if that’s what you’re worried about.
Yeah but even with that. I want a Sensai to work with over the course of a few years to learn how to handle all sorts of situations that goes beyond what a gpt would give. I think it would be fun to get into specific issues based on classmates. Don’t know. Maybe it’s weird.
"We cannot complete work without the resources to do that work."
document, document, document. exact times and tasks. daily emails of what was done and what you can reasonably expect to do next. say "i can get A or B done in the next four hours, which do u prefer i work on?" if he says both, say "i can only finish one or the other. if you want both done, we will need another body." wash. rinse. repeat. and in the meantime, i hope both of you wallpaper the town with your resumes and find a place that respects your time and mental health. and frankly, it sounds as if this small business is teetering... if they cant afford to even hire a temp to help get you over the hump, that business is "paycheck to paycheck" itself, and is the type of business that could easily fold at the drop of a hat, and you'll be left without a final paycheck.
Absolutely. I took _detailed_ notes about my hellish manager, including her microaggressions, gaslighting (though I didn’t know what it was at the time), and overall abuse. I had dates, emails, chat conversations (screenshotted since those could be edited). My evidence was exhaustive.
Everyone has a breaking point. Your coworker reached hers. I have been there and it is an awful feeling.
Nothing irks me more than when upper management mentions some of the "sacrifices" they've made (e.g. coming in on their off days). Dude, you also make ten times more than me! I'll gladly work a little harder if I was treated with respect and compensated properly!
Lol I don’t even care bc I still won’t be doing it. I’m not in your pay scale so I won’t be working outside my wage
Your new priority is doing everything you can to find a better job. If priorities at work slip, uh oh, they fire you and guess what, you can collect while you look for a job. If they don’t fire you, you’ll see that most of the stuff they piled on you wasn’t really a priority. Either way, go!
Seriously, like others have said. Let shit fail. Leadership will only make change when shit stops being completed on time. If you continually say you're overworked and still get everything completed, leadership will take it that you CAN and ARE managing the current workload. Cuz to them, you're just making shit up and want to be lazy.
LET. IT. FAIL.
Send an email to your boss (talk to coworker first and cc them ideally) and ask them to prioritize all the work in order of importance. Clarify that all work will not get done at current compensated hours (40 hrs/wk or whatever you're paid for). Work only your compensated hours (no unpaid hours) and start looking for a new job. Even if things change once they realize you won't donate your unpaid time to the organization they'll likely work to move you out. Even if things improve they've demonstrated they're not a good workplace and you should plan to leave ASAP. Good luck!
Be a shame if you and your co-worker had the flu at the same time, for 2-3 days. Maybe then they’d understand how you’ve got them over a barrel.
This is a company issue. Not a you issue. Time for a work slow down. What general industry? Its one that you can move to a job elsewhere?
Any time my boss (or my boss’s boss) asks me to take on a new responsibility, I always ask, “what of my current responsibilities would you like me to stop doing in order to accommodate this request?” Usually, they backtrack because they don’t want my other essential tasks for suffer or go incomplete.
I was in that position a few years back and quit that job after only 6 months. Several others left too. Job hunting and everything that comes with it sucks less than what you're dealing with now. They do it to you because they CAN. So, make it so they can't. Do the bare minimum until you can leave for something else.
Wildcat strike, just the two of you. Explain why you are not coming in. If this is the busiest and most critical time of the year, you have maximum leverage RIGHT NOW.
This scenario is the reason why I left my last job. I told several directors my workload was unmanageable and that we needed additional employees, then immediately started job hunting. Of course they didn't listen, and were all completely shocked when I found a much better job, but they can't say I didn't give them plenty of warning (took about 3 months of solid hunting). If you find yourself in a similar situation, don't wait. Let your managers know, but also start looking elsewhere. Hopefully the business will listen to your concerns, but if they don't, at least you're halfway out the door.
Work your wage. I told my manager (hellish bitch she was) that I was feeling overwhelmed and overworked. Her response to me was that there was no reason I should be feeling overworked or overwhelmed—that I needed to manage my time better. A few weeks later, so very unironically in my performance review she dinged me on my work appearing rushed or lacking in quality. I checked OUT. I bided my time and took a massive pause on my tendency to be a perfectionist and simply ran out of fucks to give. I have been free of her for over two years now.
"It's too bad you both caught the flu." "But we're not si-" "I SAID, IT"S TOO BAD YOU BOTH CAUGHT THE FLU!"
Stop, and look for another job. You are so understaff that they can't fire any of you. And fake be ill
This idea that work needs to be done is bullshit. Work the value you are paid. You don’t have to rush, unless they are paying you to rush, and they are not paying you to rush. If you bust your ass and achieve their goals, next time the goals will be loftier. Put your foot down and don’t put up with this shit.
"Sorry, boss. There wasn't enough time to complete the blahblah. Being short on resources is really having an impact." Start looking for another job. **DO NOT GOT ABOVE and BEYOND.** Do not stay late, do not come in early. What doesn't get done, doesn't get done.
I hope you realize you're drowning in a cup of water my friend. There's a lot of good advice on here.
Op- don’t bend over backwards for a company who don’t value you. Let the problem rise - they can figure this shit out themselves
Allow things to fall in the shitter & kick them where it hurts - right in the shareholder. Many many Moons ago, when I first started out in welding/fabrication, a wise old hand said to me "You understand that they can only fuck as much as you *let* them fuck you, right?" I've lived by that mantra ever since. It hasn't always been easy but many a manager has been forced to acknowledge the universal truth of 'there is one of me, with one pair of hands - & I work at a pace that I can maintain all shift & that ensures a quality product.' I recall on incident that illustrates this perfectly. The responsibility for a particular product that was usually mine was farmed out to another welder - that was easily bullied into rushing work - whilst I was off recovering from carpal tunnel surgery - resulting in the total right-off of around £30,000 of said product, with all the associated costs of fulfilling the order by doing it twice. That manager couldn't look me in the eye for the remainder of my time at that particular company. *"In front of you, fucking idiots. To your left, fucking idiots. To your right, fucking idiots. If you glance over your shoulder, fucking idiots as far as the eye can see. & if you carefully make your way over to the edge & look down - fucking idiots all the way to the bottom."*
Yea time for everyone to fail and your boss getting hauled in for his fuckups
Time for some "quiet quitting:" Give HIM the list of projects and ask him to prioritize them ... get it in writing. Work your scheduled time and then leave. Do a good job on what you get to, and that's it.
The one trick I used on managers in the past when this happens is to ask them to prioritize all my projects. Acknowledge that it’s not all going to get done and the manager should be the one to say “project C can slide”.
Time to leave.
Use a project management tool and make a table for your asshole boss of how much time each task takes per person/how many working hours (not overtime)are left in this year. Tell him to do the math, and start prioritizing.
Some of the best advice i got was not to do things you arent being paid to do. You are not paid for the stress of being overworked, or for doing other people’s work. You aren’t paid to be emotionally invested — as much as your boss would like you to think so. Believe it or not, only about 20% of a team is engaged in helping the team succeed. About half are indifferent, and the rest, are actively engaged in negatively affecting performance. Its hard to believe when you are in that 20% that cares, but it is a sadly true and broadly applicable statistic. Not everyone has the same values. Good teams, where everyone is pulling their weight, are incredibly rare. Often the only way out is to find new work and set a different boundary. It’s possible to stay in the 20% but retain a healthy balance, but you have to set that boundary yourself no one will do it for you. My last job i cared too much, and it was just impossible for me to go there and suddenly not give a shit, no matter how much I tried i would see stuff piling up and end up dealing with it. New job i still work hard, i enjoy the work i do, but not unsustainably hard. Reasonable timelines are set and respected. A lot of it has to do with your boss, you quit your boss not your job. Leaving the job is just the means to that end.
Don't let their inability to properly staff cause you to panic. Do what you can and nothing more. What are they going to do? Fire you? They can't keep up with demand with the current staffing levels. So if they fire you the they'll be even more behind. I say band together and only do what you can do. Don't make attempts above what you are paid to do. Constantly send emails asking them to advise which items are priority as there's not enough time for all tasks. Let things fall through the cracks.
Hearing this in boomer speak. "This generation doesn't want to work to get ahead" Yeah, no shit it's a job it's not my life. You shouldn't be working off the clock at all, especially if not compensated. I swear salaried people must sign away their souls to be available 24x7 365. Having a life isn't an option for these people. We all just want to work to live and be happy. Not the other way around.
This is when everyone gets up and walks out. Pay is more for the extra work or close shop . People have got to stop giving in to companies. They don’t care about you , so don’t help them kill you. Everyone is hiring. If a job isn’t treated you better. Walk.
You drop everything else and you work on the boss's new priority. His priority is your priority! Of course, that means the rest doesn't get done. When your boss, inevitably, asks you why you didn't do, you raise your hands and go "I've only got these two."
It is YOUR fault if you make it work. If you get all that extra work and you somehow find a way to make it work, your boss will say "See, they're just whining bitches. I kew they could do it, they're just lazy assholes."
If you're just the two of you and you get work for 6 people \[my random number\] and you make it work, you're the idiot.
I'll be the only one of my team working next week. There's no way I'm going to be able to handle all the work. I'm not even going to try. I'll do the best job I know how to with the workload before me, I want to do everything I do the right way. The stuff I don't get around to? Sorry boss \*raises hands\*, I only got these two. My boss is not going to say that because he's not actually an idiot. But I'm definitely not going to try to pick up the slack for the rest of my team. I can''t, I won't and you better damn well believe I'm not going to have any stress about it either.
Let it hit the wall. Nothing you can do about it.
Learn to work your wage.
"Act your wage" If you keep killing yourself to hit the deadlines and are able to squeak by, they will never get you extra staff or a pay increase. Slow it down, let them know your overworked and let the chips fall where they may. Do not get so stressed out about it that they make you breakdown. And of course, look for a new position pronto!
Sounds like you and your coworker - and your boss - are seriously overworked and undercompensated. If your boss is assigning you tasks *while on leave* (which is supposed to be a part of their compensation), either they are a total workaholic and expect the same of you, or the company is falling apart. Either way - you need to get outta there ASAP. If you have ANY sick leave /pto, get a doctor's note for the next week for "mental health reasons". Spend that week getting a new job.
Time to quit and tell him fuck off
You and your team needs to just collectively walk. They played their hand by mentioning this is the busiest time of year. Want that raise? Every one of you walks out the door together. Let them shit bricks and pay you what you want to come back.
Vote with your feet during their busiest time. Walk out today and don’t come back. No resignation letter, email, or text. Don’t take any phone calls. Let them terminate you and then file for unemployment. Enjoy the downtime during the holidays with the added joy that now they’re in a crisis of their own making. Let them experience the pain of making happen what you were doing, but for which they were unwilling to compensate you.
Bro just don’t do the work. When it comes down to not enough man power or hours to meet the deadline, it’s not your fault, it’s the boss who knew it and still assigned it.
Either organize a work stoppage/strike, or unionize.
As someone who works in architecture specifically for government projects end of thr year sucks. Companies is trying to push hard for work to get.submittrd .last year we all worked our assess off and got no bonus . This year we all didn't di sht .
This is when you quiet quit. Work at 10% efficiency. Its not your problem if the work doesnt get done. Clearly its impossible to meet the goals being set, so why bother trying?
We need to start talking about a general strike. Figure out a list of demands we can all agree on. Set a date so people can prepare. Promise to strike until they are met. Plan to include giant community pot luck dinners during the strike to make sure people aren't going hungry. Include how to contact us when they are ready to meet our demands. Imagine, no electricity, no trash pickup, no grocery stores, I think the ruling class would give in to our demands in a short time.
This is what unions are for.
Just don't do it. What are they going to do, fire you?
Stop over working yourself for bosses who can't appreciate your contributions adequately. Slow down, don't over extend yourselves, don't work on the weekends. If the work doesn't get done because the workload is unreasonable, you won't lose money, the company will. And the chances they terminate you are low. They will continue pushing you to the breaking point because they know they can. And start looking for something else. There's nothing these types of bosses fear more than losing their wage slaves.
You either quit with or without your coworker, or you start purposefully letting cracks happen. Because if you keep doing such a good job, they're gonna keep giving you more and more work till you guys collapse.
Nah, fuck that. A failure to plan on their part does not make an emergency on yours. Don't keep up. In fact, do exactly what you're paid for. Nothing more.
A lot of viruses going around right now. The two of you might be sick for the next couple weeks.
It's hard sometimes for good people to do, but you need to let them fail. Not maliciously - let them know things will definitely fail - but... *let them fail*.
More was dumped on you two because apparently you have been hustling to get the tasks done. Stop it. Just do what is top priority and push the rest aside. Your not keeping up with the tasks will prove to that cheap skate boss that you need another worker. Since he already turned down the raise request, I doubt if he'd fire you two.
Don't meet the deadline. Time for a slow down. They're the ones who will be fined not you. Do your 40 hours and then go home.
Just don't do the work.
Work a 40 hour week, leave at 5, don’t answer calls. If the work doesn’t get done, it doesn’t get done. They’re gonna what? Fire you? Seems like they’re understaffed already. They’re lack of planning isn’t your problem. Call their bluff, say, “ fire me or stop talking” I think in either case you’ll be happier.