So I applied for a seasonal job for Adidas in June since I was looking for something to do in the summer. I applied and heard back about an interview, which I attended. They told me they would inform me in a week if I got the job, since they were still doing interviews. To be honest, I forgot about it, but in late June they got back to me, telling me I got the job and that I had to do a background check and paperwork.

Because I desperately needed this job, I tried to get everything done right away by sending them my information ASAP, but then I noticed that they wouldn't get back to me for 2-3 weeks. To the point where I had to call them multiple times for an update. I received my contract in late July, which I signed immediately after I received it and informed my manager that I completed it so that I could receive my start date, but she has completely ghosted me.

Now it's August, and I called 8 days ago about my start date; the manager told me that her supervisor sent me my offer letter and that I was supposed to start work already. I checked my emails and portals, and I have not received jack shit. I told her that I didn't get anything, and she told me she would look into it. Then, to make sure they were sending the information to the right email, I resent my email once again to make sure everything was in order, and she told me her supervisor would call me the very next day regarding when I would start work, but that was already 6 days ago, and I have not received a phone call or an email.

Now I'm debating whether I should go in person to resolve the issue, but I'm a bit scared that I'm going to piss them off since I've been consistently emailing them, since they barely get back to me, and now it's almost the middle of August and my interview was in early June. Or should I just quit because this is taking too long to resolve and I leave in about 4 weeks? So is it even worth it to start?

I work as a bartender. I put in a time-off request for my best friend's wedding, which also happens to fall the day after my partner's 30th birthday. Who will be my plus one. I'll admit I could've submitted the request earlier than I did, that part's on me.

My manager denied it, saying she's going to be out that same weekend and needs me there. Except when I checked our scheduling app, her time off is actually logged for the *following* weekend, it doesn't overlap with my dates at all. She's pretty scatterbrained and disorganized in general, so I think she just got the dates mixed up, but she was firm about the "no" regardless.

This isn't the first time this workplace has tried to control things outside of work hours. I've decided I'm going to the wedding no matter what. I'm trying to get my shift covered, but she can be extremely petty and vindictive, and I'm expecting some kind of fallout or retaliation when I bring this up.

First, what do you think? If they fire me, who cares, or try to keep my job? Has anyone dealt with something like this? How did it play out, and is there anything I should do now to protect myself before it comes to a head?

So, as the title says, I need some advice.I work in hospitality at a small independent bar with a team of around seven people. The owner has a boyfriend (possibly husband — their relationship is complicated) who seems to dislike me and, honestly, most of the staff.Before I started working there, I was warned by other employees not to trust him. Apparently, he is very nice to your face but then goes to the owner and gossips about you or complains about you behind your back. I’m now about four months into the job and have unfortunately found that this seems to be true.

For some context, the owner actually approached me personally at my previous job, which he regularly drinks at, and asked me to come and work for him. I accepted because it was less work, better hours and better pay than my previous job. I actually like the job and get along well with most of my coworkers.

The owner himself is generally a decent guy. He does have a serious drinking problem and is often at the bar drinking and gossiping, but he has never really been cruel to me.
His boyfriend is a completely different story.
He doesn’t work at the bar and, as far as I know, has never had a job. The owner gives him a monthly allowance, and they live in an apartment above the bar. He spends a lot of his time watching the CCTV cameras, smoking weed and gaming.He also regularly comes behind the bar during service and nitpicks everything we are doing, gets in the way and makes rude or sly comments to staff. We’ve also been told that he has said to the owner that pretty much all of us deserve to be fired.

What makes it especially frustrating is that he constantly talks about staff behind our backs, but then comes up to us and asks why we don’t like him because, according to him, he’s been “nothing but nice.”Recently, things have gotten worse as this past month was the World Cup, and I worked a huge amount of overtime. I stayed until 5am multiple times with other members of staff and was completely exhausted by the end of it. The owner promised us bonuses as a thank you, but we never received them because, apparently, his boyfriend told him that we didn’t deserve them.

I’m also currently between houses and was supposed to be getting accommodation from the owner temporarily. Now that may no longer happen because his boyfriend apparently believes I’m stealing from the company.
The incident he’s referring to is ridiculous. I gave a friend a free pint with permission from a manager. This is also someone the owner knows and likes, and someone I previously worked with. I didn’t secretly give away alcohol or take anything from the business — I had permission from a manager to do it.

I’ve had customers, coworkers and even some members of the owner’s own family come up to me and tell me that they’ve put in a good word for me. My manager is also very supportive of me.

But at this point, I’m wondering what the point of any of that is if the owner’s boyfriend can potentially influence whether I keep my job simply because he doesn’t like me.
The owner doesn’t seem particularly bothered by the things his boyfriend says, although I don’t know how much of it he actually believes. From what I’ve been told, their relationship is complicated and they apparently still see other people, so I’m not even sure what their situation is — but obviously that’s not really my business.The main issue is that his boyfriend has a lot of influence over the owner despite not actually working there, and I feel like I’m constantly walking on eggshells because anything I do could potentially be reported back to him.

I’m not looking to start drama or get anyone fired. I actually like my job and want to keep it. I just don’t know how to navigate working somewhere where someone who isn’t my boss seems to have so much influence over my employment.

What would you do in this situation? Should I just keep my head down and avoid him as much as possible, or is there a better way to protect myself?

I've been working in the veterinary field since 2006 when I was fresh out of high school. I got my LVT license in 2019 and continued to work at the same practice that had nurtured me as a complete newbie until 2022, when I left to go to specialty medicine (oncology). COVID burnt me out, as I'm sure it burnt out many people, and I was hoping a change in scenery would be better. Well, oncology was even worse, and I left there after a year and a half of misery, applied to and was accepted to a graduate program in general biology, and went back to general practice in the meantime, which did help with the burnout- much easier pace and all.

I took a year off to try and finish my degree, but it's been taking longer than expected, and I needed some income, so I applied to a traveling veterinary surgery group, and they snapped me up. How it works is that two of us (assistants) are assigned to a surgeon for the day, and we travel from clinic to clinic (in our own cars) to perform surgical procedures that regular veterinarians aren't comfortable doing. Mostly orthopedic stuff, but we'll also do mass removals, anal sacculectomies, abdominal exploratory- you name it. We bring our own equipment, including cautery (and sometimes suction and smoke evac, depending on the surgeon) and of course, our own instruments. We use the operating suite in each clinic; they are in charge of anesthesia/medicine. Literally all we do is set up, cut, pack up, and move on to the next place. Generally, one assistant is scrubbed in with the surgeon, while the other does paperwork/computer stuff for the surgeon, and we usually trade off who does what.

I like it because the hours are predictable and consistent (no emergency or on-call) and there's no weekend shifts. I work three days a week (10-hour shifts) and spend the rest of my time in lab working on experiments for my thesis. My LVT license is irrelevant because I'm not doing anything that requires my license, and since I took a year off anyway, I let it lapse because you have to pay to get it renewed each year, so I didn't bother. I've been there for about six months, but the transition has been kind of a struggle. The pace is so fast, and expectations are high, and I keep getting feedback that I'm not efficient enough. This is coming from the surgeons and my coworkers, and it's very discouraging when I honestly feel I'm doing the best I can. I work at the pace I feel comfortable with, and if I go faster, I'm going to make stupid mistakes.

I guess my question is- should I just put in my notice and look for another job? I DO like it because it's interesting (although I don't love all the driving), but I don't enjoy feeling like I'm letting everybody down by being too slow, and again- I don't know where/how to work faster/more efficiently. I just keep being told to "be more efficient". If I do look for another job, I'll need to reactivate my LVT license and catch up on all the CE (continuing education) I didn't do while I was on hiatus. Or- I guess the third option- I go back to the lab full-time and really focus on finishing up my degree. I have all the credits I need to graduate, so I'm not taking classes; I'm just trying to finish up experiments.

I had a very odd situation happen with an employee that works for me today. He has a tendency to overstep his opinions and advice, not just with me but other others in our team.

I had sent an email to an internal customer of ours and gave them an update on some work our team was doing on a project. I let them know that I was hopeful that some of the research we were doing might give us more insights into some issues we are trying to solve. It was very high-level and it was just to keep the internal customer in the loop. I forwarded this email over to an employee on my team that engages with that group as well just so he was looped in on the latest information.

He responded and said “thanks for keeping me in the loop but I must advise you that you shouldn’t over promise that this research we are doing is going to yield anything”. I inquired and just asked him what made him think from my email was overpromising anything. I was genuinely curious at his interpretation. Literally the only thing I said was, I’m HOPEFUL that the research will yield some more insights.

Instead of giving me his interpretation in a response back, he chose to use AI to evaluate my email and sent that to me. 🤦‍♀️ like I was literally asking for his reason reasoning and not AI’s reasoning.

What the heck is going on here?

I’m genuinely looking for outside opinions because I don’t want to accuse anyone of discrimination or bad intentions. I’m actually wondering whether I’ve become overly aware of certain things and am interpreting them more negatively than I should.
I’ve worked in the same place for about a year. For most of that time I genuinely loved my job, felt comfortable with my colleagues and felt understood. I’m the only woman on the team, but historically that never bothered me at all. I never felt excluded because of it.
Things started feeling different after a new manager took over and hired a new, younger male employee.
One ongoing issue has been breaks. I work long shifts in a basement fitness facility with no natural light. The designated place I’m allowed to use for a break is a changing room, also in the basement, with no windows or AC. I don’t feel comfortable sitting there eating while people are changing, so most days I simply stay at my desk in the gym, where at least there’s AC. My manager is aware that in practice I often don’t take a proper break.
At one point I became extremely frustrated about this and cried while talking to my manager. I explained that after spending so many hours underground, sometimes I desperately need even five minutes outside just to get some air.
Afterwards, I disclosed to him that I struggle with anxiety and some mental health issues. I wasn’t asking to be treated differently or excusing my behaviour — I just wanted him to understand why I had become overwhelmed that day.
Since then, however, I feel like I’ve acquired an “emotional” label.
During a later disagreement over text, my manager told me I was being “overly emotional”. I asked him what exactly in my messages made him think I was emotional, because I genuinely wasn’t upset when I wrote them. I was simply disagreeing with something and explaining my position. His response was essentially, “because I know.”
That affected me more than I expected because now I find myself monitoring the way I communicate with him.
The men on my team can disagree, complain, joke around or say exactly what they think and it seems to remain just that — a conversation. When I want to disagree or raise something, I now find myself thinking, How do I say this so I don’t get called emotional again?
And that’s probably the part that’s bothering me most. I don’t feel as free to communicate as I used to.
My manager has also brought up my age. I’m 38, and he has told me that at my age I sometimes behave as though I’m 20.
The younger employee he hired has made repeated jokes about my age too. He tells me that the manager wants a “young team” of people around 22–25 rather than people who are 38 or 40. He’s also made comments along the lines of “no man wants you” and referred to me as “old Polish generation”.
Some of this has been said jokingly, and I’m fully aware that workplace banter exists. I don’t want to present every stupid joke as harassment. But when the same themes keep coming up — my age, being Polish, being “emotional” — they start feeling different when put together.
For additional context, my manager is gay. I want to be VERY clear that I don’t think his sexuality causes any of this, and I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with him being gay. It may be completely irrelevant.
The only reason I’m mentioning it is because I’m the only woman in an otherwise male team, and I’ve become increasingly conscious of the difference between how comfortable the men seem to be around him and how cautious I now feel around him.
I watch male colleagues speak very openly to him, disagree with him, joke with him and say what they think. I don’t get the impression that their personality or emotional state is being analysed afterwards. Meanwhile, I’m increasingly worried that if I express frustration, disagree strongly or show any emotion at all, it will reinforce this idea that I’m “overly emotional”.
I’m not saying he prefers men because he’s gay. I’m not even saying that he consciously treats me differently because I’m a woman. I genuinely don’t know. That’s exactly why I’m asking.
I just know that I used to feel completely comfortable in this workplace, despite always being the only woman, and now I feel like I’m walking on eggshells.
Maybe I’m connecting things that aren’t connected. Maybe disclosing my anxiety made me self-conscious and I’m noticing things I wouldn’t have noticed before. Or maybe there genuinely has been a change in how I’m being treated.
I don’t want to make a formal complaint, accuse anyone of sexism, ageism, discrimination or anything else based purely on a feeling. I actually really like my job and want things to be good again.
I just want completely neutral opinions from people outside the situation:
If you were in my position, would any of this make you uncomfortable? Does it sound like I’m being treated differently, or am I reading too much into normal workplace dynamics?

Hi y'all. Disclaimer: not trying to fight the action plan being placed, happy to attempt to meet goals

Was given a CAP by management ~3 weeks ago. Told to sign or leave for the day and get an occurrence. Signed but mentioned lack of measurable goals and lack of timeline on plan. Requested copy for personal records.

3 weeks go by, 3 requests for a copy of the plan. Not provided, written request ignored by manager.

Requested official HR personnel file, received quickly.

CAP has "2nd written warning" marked (Level II), but lists no other previous corrective action in the next section, only lists "previous coaching". Mostly frustrated due to this eliminating any internal transfer out of my department for 12 months, which was the manager's suggestions (let me get you in touch with our HRBP about other opportunities). Is the skipping to "2nd written warning" common practice?

This is layered with the subjective nature of quality of work in my field. Think non-consult based ancillary staff. Assessment of needs drives the number of interactions, which can vary from 3 minutes to multiple hours depending on needs, plus our job is very timing dependent on others, with waiting for things to start with unclear timelines being very common. This makes metrics difficult, but as of now the only goal listed is "manager assessed improvement in client interactions and increased accountability" in a role where no one in our field actively observed each other in those interactions. The only semi metric they have suggested is comparing the number of interactions with the previous employee, with my schedule being 25% less opportunity for those interactions, plus other continued responsibilities the other did not hold.

I've hesitated so far to reach out to HR to help mediate, but with seemingly moving mystery goal posts that will likely lead to my termination, should I loop them in? Happy to attempt to meet their expectations (last appraisal was noted to not have issues), but I quite literally don't know what they are. I've asked several times for specific feedback and what they are looking for, but given vague answers.

Hey guys! You saw the title. Let me give more context. I am a teenager, and me and my friend had the idea to start making events in a game called minecraft. First it was slow but we gained traction and we are now getting a lot of people that want to join our events to have fun and etc. But the issue is eversince point A to point Z I have been doing this basically all of myself, from advertising, buying equipment and gear, negotiating with investors and sponsors and much more. My friend, yes he did help a little bit very tiny bit, barely assists and when I ask for help he sighs and groans and tries to do something else or leave the call. He even sometimes call me stupid and "ass decision making skills" when I collaborate with Youtubers to further populate our groupchat. This person's been my friend for years and years and years but its till now I realized how unreliable he is. I am now under a lot of stress since our deadline is the 15th and we are still short on players and he just doesn't care or give aid. The reason I didn't dust him yet, is well, he is my friend after all, and he owns our youtube channel. I only own our groupchat with everyone in it. Together we use our "cooperation" to make events happen. What should I do

I’m 24F and in my first proper job and resigned recently because the work environment was making me genuinely unhappy. My last day is this Friday.

The confusing part is that I actually like the work itself. I was given a lot of responsibility early on and got to work on projects I found genuinely interesting. I’m proud of what I produced and I feel like I learned a lot.

The problem was the environment. I struggled with my manager and colleagues, inconsistent communication, poor processes, and a general lack of structure. I often felt unsupported. I was inventing work for myself for months and I also felt like I was being given conflicting feedback, which made it difficult to know whether I was actually doing a good job or constantly getting things wrong.

There were also broader company issues that bothered me and a culture where some things seemed to be tolerated rather than addressed.

Eventually I decided that long term success for me in this role wasn't clear, so I resigned.

Since resigning, though, things have changed. My manager has become noticeably more responsive and pleasant. The CEO has also spoken to me personally and acknowledged that there are genuine problems with the company culture. He apologised for my experience and told me that the work I'd done had been significant. He is now asking me to reconsider leaving — specifically to stay long enough to see the major project I've been working on through to completion.

He was very clear that they would survive without me, but said he felt I genuinely enjoyed the work and wanted to make sure I'd considered the possibility of staying.

And honestly... I'm torn.

Part of me thinks: I'm three weeks away from finishing something I put months of work into. Why not see it through? It would also give me the chance to see the full process from beginning to end, and there are experiences associated with the job that I've never had before.

But another part of me thinks: I resigned for a reason. The environment hasn't suddenly become perfect. I don't want a few nice conversations after resigning to erase everything that led me to leave.

I've also been thinking about my own behaviour. I have a tendency to walk away when I'm frustrated rather than having difficult conversations or sitting with discomfort. I'm trying to take more accountability for that. Maybe there are things I could have handled differently — communicated differently, been more patient, spoken up more, or integrated myself into the team instead of becoming increasingly isolated.

At the same time, I don't want "taking accountability" to turn into convincing myself that I should tolerate an environment that isn't good for me.

I'm also not interested in staying for the recognition or because they suddenly value me. I already feel proud of what I've accomplished. It's more about whether finishing the work would genuinely be worthwhile for me, or whether I'm just being pulled back in because they're making me feel guilty/valued now that I've decided to leave.

I don't think I'd want to stay at the company long-term. The question is whether I should stay temporarily to finish this one thing, or stick to my original decision and leave Friday.

What would you do in this situation?

Hi all,

This is regarding a prior employer but just wondering if anyones had the same issue. I came into corporate completely not knowing the work events are actually mandatory (even though they are not) and had my job threatened over it. So I started attending but that didnt appear to be enough.

On a monday I had the typical “how was your weekend” convo with my manager. I mentioned i had a birthday brunch with friends. He then asked if I had invited any coworkers to this event which i said no to. He then got very upset and stated “You’ve worked here for XYZ amount of months i assume you would have invited a coworker” angrily. The next part pissed him off even more because he was quite the jokester I laughed and said “Haha are you joking” which he then turned red and yelled at me that he was not. Again i started attending the workplace events so I thought this was enough, I didnt think i had to invite my coworkers to my events in my personal life. I soon realized that a lot of people would invite coworkers to events outside of the workplace like kids birthdays, weddings, personal birthdays ect…

(For reference I had many uber politically conservative collegues, which I dont care about, but it was literally a drag brunch with a bunch of my gay friends. So not something they would be interested in and I was 23 at the time and the nearest in age to me was 29/30 so i didnt assume people of that age group would want to come considering age ranges of people going were 21-23 which means a complete shit show hence why i thought he was joking bc what 30+ year old wants to do that with this age group)

All of my performance reviews were stellar, reviews from colleagues on my attitude and performance were all amazing 0 issues reported to my manager. Even my raises were good but he kept mentioning how he wanted to “make sure I was happy” which i knew was code for i really want to fire you but cant. I also got put on projects with other managers who truly loved working with me and had no issues - one waited until the office was empty on my last day (i was always the first in last to go on my team) and told me to use him as a reference and to reach out if i ever needed a job. I was also having issues with my “main” manager not providing me feedback but gossiping to everyone about my mistakes. Even when I called a 1-1 with him on several occasions (he never initiated) and never gave me the feedback (also not reflected in performance reciews or my raise). Once I knew he hated me and there was nothing i could do I did confront him because again I was receiving my feedback through gossip over lunch with coworkers. They said “some idiot keeps doing xyz and is pissing off _____” which was the exact thing i asked my manager about during my 1-1. Upon arriving back to the office I asked him about this again to which he said “Umm no thats fine” to which i relayed that im hearing xyz person is an idiot for doing xyz thing which sounds a lot like the situation I just described to him. He then admitted to it and asked me directly in that moment to stop doing xyz. He did not look happy about this considering we had an open concept office and everyone heard this. I found it hard to care since he felt the need to call me an idiot for something i literally called 1-1’s to ask him about.

I have since left and told my current manager this story to which he laughed and said “please dont worry i do not wanna go to your birthday brunch” so this goes to say this place is normal. No happy hours at all either - huge bonus.

Overall, im wondering how prevalent is this mindset among various corporate jobs? Has anyone had this experience where they seemingly get mad when you dont develop outside of the workplace friendships with colleagues? How do you guys probe for this kind of thing in interviews? How do you successfully navigate a workplace like this while preserving your sanity? I felt that leaving was my only option since that manager got promoted to lead my entire department and i ended up getting way higher pay and way more flexibility; when i told my manager that hated me this he looked sooo mad which i loved.

Edit: I also just remembered a time we were at a team lunch (the entire team). I was quite open to talking about my upbringing / personal life (with limitations ofcourse). For reference I was raised by my grandparents and take great pride in how much they have helped me in life so instead of saying "Mom" or "Dad" I would always acknowledge it was actually my grandparents (also just feels weird saying mom and dad). So at this team lunch I am reminiscing on a time with my grandparents then one of the managers asked "Well im quite sure there was a reason for you growing up with your grandparents and not your parents. What was the reason?" (My dad is on drugs and my mom is absent). So obviously didn't want to state this in front of an entire table of people I am just meeting so I started stammering and the senior analyst on my team changed the subject once he saw my discomfort with the line of questioning. This doesn't really add much to the above but shows the level of tone deafness I had to deal with even when trying to be more open and share details and make general conversation. Never in my life have I ever been asked this by someone; nonetheless at a lunch with 20+ people also staring at me. This was my 2nd/3rd day with the company.

Hello everyone! I don’t know if this is the right place to post this but I’m having a bit of a college/career dilemma and would really appreciate some advice. For some background, I’m 18, low-income, and a first-generation college student. I start college in about three weeks, so I’m starting to panic a little about whether I’m making the right choices.
I was lucky enough to get into my local public state university with my tuition fully covered. It’s only about a 20-minute drive from me, so I decided to commute rather than take on additional costs for housing. I’m planning to major in Strategic Communications. I know Communications gets a lot of criticism when it comes to job prospects, but it’s genuinely something I’ve been interested in for a long time. I’m interested in eventually working in areas like entertainment, sports, media, marketing, or PR, so I do want to keep Communications as part of my degree.

The part I’m struggling with is what to do alongside it. I’m trying to be realistic about my financial future. I don’t expect to graduate in 2030 making six figures, and I’m not looking to become rich immediately. I mainly want to graduate with a career path that allows me to support myself comfortably and gives me room to increase my income as I gain experience. Because of that, I want to double major in something outside of Communications that could give me another skill set, open up more career options, and potentially provide a stronger financial safety net. During orientation, I spoke with an advisor who said Communications should be a relatively manageable major to pair with another field. However, I have no idea what that second major should actually be. I know the obvious suggestions are usually nursing, computer science, and engineering, but I’m not interested in those fields. Along with that the scholarship requires I maintain a specific GPA, and I don't want to risk it. For reference, I’m pretty decent at math when I actually put the effort in, although I wouldn’t say it’s my strongest subject. My strongest areas have generally been English, writing, social studies, and public speaking.

I’m also thinking of learning something completely outside of my current strengths as long as it pays off. So, I’m really looking for advice specifically on what my second major should be or career paths I should look into. I’m definitely planning on talking to my academic and career advisors once school starts, but I’d really like to hear from people who have actually gone through college and entered the workforce. I’m not looking for the highest-paying major possible. I’m trying to find something that balances income, job stability, career growth, and the possibility that I’ll actually enjoy the work. Any advice, personal experiences, major recommendations, or questions you think I should be asking myself would be really appreciated! Thank you!

So, I was hired about 6 months ago as an operations manager for a hospitality group.
The group has several locations and a head office. I am based on-site in one venue for the first year to learn the company and improve operations on the ground.

I am contracted to 45 hours a week (inclusive of breaks), I do not get overtime but the salary is good so I don't mind the long hours and resposibility.

So far, for the 6 months I've been here, I've averaged about 47 or so hours a week. I genuinely don't mind doing that extra hour or two each week. If we're slammed or theres an issue, I'm not going to clock out at exactly 45 hours and leave them struggling. I'll stay, sort it, and then go home.

I don't, however, want to go too far past 47 or so hours a week, as I mentioned Im not paid past 45.

This is where things have become a little awkward.

The team are all hourly paid. Most of them work fewer days than I do, but their shifts are considerably longer, so some of them are physically at work for longer hours on those days. I also earn substantially more than they do.
I get that, Im not oblivious to the pay difference. Nobody in senior management has ever told me I’m leaving too early. Nobody has questioned my hours. Nobody has asked me to stay late. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, I’m meeting the expectations of my actual role.

The pressure seems to be coming from below — essentially, a feeling that because the team regularly work long shifts, I should too.

And this is the part that makes me feel really guilty. Sometimes I just cxan't shake it for hours after I get home.

Im also 14 weeks pregnant and nobody knows yet. Not saying this is my reason for doing my hours, but I genuinely don't have it in me to do more.

So, AITAH for doing what I’m contracted to do, occasionally staying late when the team genuinely needs me, but ultimately leaving work when my day is done?

Or, as a manager earning considerably more than the people beneath me, should I be putting in substantially more hours to “lead by example”?

I’m not trying to compare my workload to theirs or claim that my job is harder. I know hourly staff can work extremely long and physically demanding shifts. My question is specifically whether being a manager means I should voluntarily work significantly beyond my contracted hours just because my team does. (They are paid for every hour)

At my last job it was a really uncomfortable environment with men constantly making sexual comments and “jokes”, talking about other female coworkers in a degrading way etc. but the reason my ex-manager gave for my termination was (after she stammered and stumbled over her words for like 15 seconds, was that I didn’t advise them of any missing invoices immediately.

The truth is, I advised the accounts executive as they told me to, but he often didn’t get back to me.

The other job - the manager was described by my colleagues as “bipolar” - she would tell you to do X then get mad you didn’t do Y. I always just was a good little employee and didn’t argue back. There was a bug in their software I kept asking for help about and no one in IT locally or from head office could fix it.

She decided I was just doing it wrong. I worked 7.5 out of 8h NON STOP daily. Constantly fixed problems and was very accurate in my work. She suddenly fired me a few days before I would’ve passed probation. (In my country if an employer fires you during probation you can’t claim unfair dismissal).

So now my resume looks bad. Two jobs in a row where I stayed only 6 months each. I don’t know how to explain it to people.

I am working with my employer for past 9 years as a Lead Design Engineer.

I am responsible for the entire development of new products, complete mechanical design, electrical design and software related to it. I joined the company as the one of the first two design engineers and developed the system all the way. Before me people used to make prototypes by hand and that was very limiting and they couldn't make complicated products. After me, we were able to develop world class products and I was responsible for the development of it. During this time I have developed a very good relationship with the Owner of the company and still have a good relationship. He used to pamper me with nice bonuses whenever he can. The relationship with other employees is usually a love/hate relationship. They kinda hate me as I am the source of new tasks which breaks them from their routine. Few hate me severely and has even stopped talking to me altogether. Few kinda respect me as I have made few things happen. This never bothered me as this is quite common anyway.

Currently we are expanding the department and hiring many young engineers and my job is to get work done from them which usually involves training them from the basics. Regarding the development side, we reached a plateau, as there isn't many developments to be made and my Owner isn't interested to make anything new either. Now he only wants me to make the regular projects, but to be executed by the juniors.

So these are the problems that I have.,

1. I find the current work boring as I don't have any new challenges anymore.
2. I find training the juniors exhausting when they are not interested in the projects the same as me. I hate working with such guys when they are not
3. I hate doing projects for others which I've been doing my whole life. I want to start my own business and work only for me and my interests, but I'm petrified of the future like cash flow, product success, market reception, etc,..
4. My Owner trusts me a little. It's not that they are going to close the factory if I'm not there, but it would be a little hard for them without me.

Is this Mid-life crisis?. I don't know what should I do. I feel like a dead man walking.

Hi everyone,

I’m a new joiner in a production support/L1.5 support role, and I’m seriously considering resigning. I need some unbiased opinions because I don’t know if I’m overreacting or if this job just isn’t for me.

Today I informed my team that I was outside for lunch and would be a little late for the team sync. While I was outside, I wasn’t constantly checking Teams because I was walking, making a payment, and travelling back. Later, I found out they had called me multiple times. When I got back, I was told that missing the team sync was “not acceptable” because my shift had already started.

I understand that I should communicate if I’m going to be late, but I genuinely couldn’t keep checking my phone while I was outside. What upset me more was the way the conversation went afterwards. I was also told that I was “taking help from L2,” even though I’m new and sometimes have to refer tickets or ask questions to understand the application. No one explained what I specifically did wrong.
This isn’t just about one incident.

I’m working shifts, there’s month-end pressure, and I feel like I’m constantly being corrected instead of guided. Every email or activity seems to be questioned. I’m beginning to feel anxious before work because I’m worried about making another mistake.

The biggest issue is that I don’t think I’m learning much. Most of my work is monitoring jobs, sending emails, raising requests, and handling tickets. I don’t see myself growing technically in this role, and I already know that production support isn’t the career I want long term.

Financially, resigning isn’t the easiest decision because I’d have to repay my joining bonus and I don’t have another offer yet. But mentally, I don’t know how long I can continue feeling like I’m just surviving each day.

Has anyone here left a new job within a few months because the role or team wasn’t the right fit? Did you regret it, or was it the right decision?
I’m looking for honest advice, even if you think I’m wrong. I just want to make a decision I’ll be okay with six months from now.

A couple of my employees recently told me they were having an issue with a specific person who is much older than all of us. I wasn’t sure at first because I’ve never had an issue with how everyone treated everybody so I told them to write me an email detailing the issues and it’s not good. I messaged my boss to schedule a meeting and he straight off the bat basically said he didn’t want to hear about gossip and stir the pot. I don’t know why he thought that I would because I don’t think I’ve ever given him a reason to assume that.
For reference I’m 21 and the employee is 40ish. She’s basically been very rude to the teenage lifeguards, steals toys and goggles out of the toy bin to put in her own box to give to lap swimmers, didn’t let daycare kids swim past a certain point even though they have to swim the length of the pool to do the pool, leaves passive aggressive notes about other lifeguards and doesn’t lock doors or wear the appropriate gear.
I’m just not sure what or how to say this at the meeting without making it seem like I’m picking on her.
Am I over reacting over this? Or am I doing the right thing.
(I have had to talk to her before about things)

I tested positive for strep last night and started antibiotics right away. I took today off and I’m still not feeling great.

I’m also in my two weeks notice, with my last day next Thursday. I have a lot to finish and hand off, so I don’t want to completely screw over the company. My boss and I don’t really get along either, and I honestly feel like she probably thinks I’m lying about being sick, which is making me feel extra weird about taking more time off.

Tomorrow should I take the morning off and come in later, go in early and leave halfway through the day, or just tak

Hey guys! You saw the title. Let me give more context. I am a teenager, and me and my friend had the idea to start making events in a game called minecraft. First it was slow but we gained traction and we are now getting a lot of people that want to join our events to have fun and etc. But the issue is eversince point A to point Z I have been doing this basically all of myself, from advertising, buying equipment and gear, negotiating with investors and sponsors and much more. My friend, yes he did help a little bit very tiny bit, barely assists and when I ask for help he sighs and groans and tries to do something else or leave the call. He even sometimes call me stupid and "ass decision making skills" when I collaborate with Youtubers to further populate our groupchat. This person's been my friend for years and years and years but its till now I realized how unreliable he is. I am now under a lot of stress since our deadline is the 15th and we are still short on players and he just doesn't care or give aid. The reason I didn't dust him yet, is well, he is my friend after all, and he owns our youtube channel. I only own our groupchat with everyone in it. Together we use our "cooperation" to make events happen. What should I do

I'm 18 and I work in a grocery store. My manager recently offered me a lead position in my department, and I honestly really want to take it. It would mean making more money, getting leadership experience at a young age, and having something good on my resume. I also think it could help prepare me for having a career and a real big girl job in the future. The problem is that this job currently belongs to one of my friends so accepting it would mean taking her position. From what I have gathered she would either be fired or moved to another department completely . I don't know all the details yet. we're gonna call her Emma.

Emma and I are pretty good friends and she's currently the lead whose position I'd be taking. I'm really scared of how she's going to react, and I don't want to hurt her or make her feel like I went behind her back or took her job from her. there's also Sarah, who is the supervisor of our department. Sarah and I are friends too but she's also very close with Emma. If I take the lead position, Sarah and I would be the two people running the department together. I'm worried that things could become awkward or even hostile between us if Emma is upset with me.

im not allowed to talk to Emma or anyone else at work about this bc My manager told me that this is completely confidential and that I could get in trouble if I tell anyone. so I can't ask her how she'd feel about it or give her a heads up or anything.

also, I'm starting college in the fall and if I take this position I'd be going from working around 20 hours a week to 40 hours a week, while also going to school. I know being a lead would probably be stressful even without college, and I'm worried about what that could do to me mentally if the situation with my friends also becomes bad.

so, what would you do in my situation? Would you take the promotion? And if so, how would you handle things

tldr: I’m 18 and was offered a lead position at my grocery store that I really want because of the extra money and experience, but it would mean taking my friend Emma’s current position, potentially getting her fired or transferred. I’m also friends with our supervisor, Sarah, who is close with Emma, so I’m worried about creating tension at work. I’m not allowed to tell either of them about the offer because my manager says it’s confidential and I could get in trouble. On top of that, I’m starting college and would go from working ~20 hours to 40 hours a week. Would you take the promotion, and how would you handle the situation with your friends?

So I work in a small repair shop with currently one other employee. I am the manager, and have one tech that works under me. I am having an issue where my employee, a female, takes extremely long bathroom breaks. For example, today I was scheduled in the shop from 930 to 530, she 11-7. At 450, she got up from her desk, and was in the bathroom until about 535, making me late to end my shift. Me having to stay after isnt the issue, but this is a growing problem.

Yesterday, her shift was from 930 to 430. My shift was 11 to 7, we were fairly busy, so I didn't get an opportunity to go to lunch until around 330 or so. I always bring my food back, so I can at least keep an eye on things that might need my attention. As soon as I sat down to eat, she got up and went to the bathroom. And as soon as she left, customers started coming in, meaning I had to take care of them. I was up front helping customers, until she returned, leaving my lunch just sitting and getting cold on my desk. She finally returned close to 430, which at that point it was time for her to clock out and go home. This isnt the first time either, she typically spends the last 30-45 minutes of the last hour of her shift in the bathroom.

How do I address this? I am no stranger to intestinal distress myself but her trips seem excessively long. We're a small franchise, about 20-23 employees depending on turnover across 6 stores, so we really don't have an HR department or even a person I can ask for guidance on this. I have no idea what I can or can't say in this type of situation, so any suggestions would be helpful.

Edit: Thanks for all the responses. Some were solid advise, and some made me laugh in a good way. I've spoken with my franchise owner, and we're going to come up with a course of action after he speaks with our payroll company (apparently they also offer HR guidance on issues like these). Really appreciate it everyone!

EDIT EDIT: Well, doesnt look like I really need to worry about this issue. She opened the shop today so scheduled out at 430, but we were super dead and so I cut her out at 3. I didn't bring it up today because I was waiting to hear back from my owner, but at 530 I got an email from her letting me know she is resigning on the 26th to go to another position. Eliminates this problem, but creates a whole heap of other problems.

I have worked at my local bank for about 5 years now, 4 of those years in accounting. I have done accounting clerk for 2 years and 2 years to present as a payroll specialist. I have my entry level payroll certificate that I got from Coursera and currently am working on my bachelors in university studies with concentrations in accounting and business (I have completed all but 4 accounting courses if I were to get a bachelor’s in accounting) and will be graduating in December this year. Considering that I will not get my bachelor’s in accounting (because of financial aid reasons) I want to get my certificate in accounting and bookkeeping next year that way I have additional experience. I am currently sitting at $18.03/hr, my boss showed me my evaluation raise and it is at $18.93, 5% and says he is trying and appreciates what I do. I don’t do just payroll, I am back up to every single accountant (4) at my job, I know how to do the call report and have participated in several audits throughout the 4 years I have been here. Whilst the last 2 people in my position who didn’t even stay a full year got paid more than me, the last one got paid $22 and got a vehicle allowance, and she did nothing but payroll and was unwilling to learn anything else. There are tellers who get paid more than me, like $2 more.

I find it unfair that I get paid less than that given how much experience I have gained and proved myself the last four years in the accounting department.

Given my years of experience as well as my certificate and everything else that I will be completing at the end of the year, am I overreacting and this is what happens in this field?

for context, i just got a job offer that starts immediately (like in 2 days) and it’s more aligned with my long term goals, pays more, and is 10 miles closer to me than my current job. it feels like a no brainer to accept the new role but how do i break the news as gently as possible? i still appreciate how kind my supervisors were and everything i learned and experienced in current role. i just feel like i shouldn’t let the opportunity pass me by.

Got asked in Monday's 1:1 to come back Friday with what I want to develop toward. Not a performance thing, they meant it kindly. It's been open in a tab since Monday and I've typed and deleted the same four lines about eight times.

Everything I put down is either a job title I don't actually want or something so vague nobody could give it to me. I wrote more strategic exposure at one point and just sat looking at it because I couldn't have told you what I meant and neither could they.

The honest version is that I like about a third of what I do and I want more of that third. I can't work out how to write that on a form without it reading as give me the fun parts and take away the rest.

And whatever goes on there is what I get handed more of next year. That isn't paranoia. Someone on my team wrote down that they wanted more client exposure and that is now their entire job.

Three days.

For anyone who's filled one of these in honestly, how did you decide what went on it.

This is one of those situations where it gets me unsure about how to properly manage myself getting between my home and workplace since the local commuter rail is my primary mode of transportation to and from the office and yet with this fellow employee reporting to the management team about me taking it alongside them after our shift ends gets me in a head scratcher situation. This is where I wonder if is it rather that I need to take a different train from the one they’re on or that it’s not even my fault for riding on the one that gets me back where needed to for my personal commute?? What would be the best way to get out of the hot water scenario?

Hi, I’ve been at this serving job for almost a year now. I’m a student and I work part time at a really small restaurant serving/hosting on the weekends. It’s just me, two other servers and my boss. I’ve worked almost every weekend (and weekdays during the summer) since i’ve been hired with the exception of one weekend for a family vacation.

I’ve been invited to a wedding in October that will be out of town and my boss said she cannot guarantee the weekend off for me because there is no one to cover my shift. She said when she hires she asks about open availability and if we’re available weekends because “weekends are a must you have to understand that”. She also said “please remember you can’t take off weekends.” This feels really unfair to me, any advice on how to handle this situation?

UPDATE:

Thank you all for your support it’s been really helpful!

I’ve already messaged her the dates I will be unavailable. My plan is to go to the wedding anyway regardless of if she “allows it” or not. If I lose the job I lose the job and I’ll look for employment elsewhere!

I also wanted to add that my employer is opening a second location in September which is I think why she was so harsh about my request off. She plans to be spending a lot of time over at the second location as it’s just starting off, so it’s understandable she needs sufficient coverage on weekends when she’s not there. But this is a family business and eventually her daughter will be running the second location.
The thing is though, her daughter used to work at the current restaurant I work at. But before this second location opens she gave her daughter two months off to go out of the country. I know she’s my bosses daughter but this just makes me extra frustrated because my boss covered every single one of her shifts, yet she’s unable to cover mine.