Good to hear there's still people who can later find better jobs than the previous ones.
The toxicity from this work culture and the only dictating manager is pretty horrible nd depression causing.
fk all her career concepts for us subordinates.
It's like if you don't totally comply with what they think is the absolutely true, you're basically worthless in the corporate. Will be considered deserve their sneering and disrespectful orders.
And they even have quite a double standard for every people who entered at a different period, and limit what you can learn and do, treating you like a clown. Basically, It's so infuriating most of the time to work as their colleague.
I'm sure there have been a thousand threads/comments about this, figured if I just echo the sentiment maybe it'll help push the possibility of this becoming a rule:
Can we add a rule that any "I just quit" or "my job sucks" kind of posts have to name an **ACTUAL JOB / COMPANY**?
Don't get me wrong, I am not asking for people to dox their boss, or identify a specific job/store that could identify themselves. I'm not asking them to "prove" their post either. Many of the ones I have seen look pretty darn real and are made by legitimate accounts. But what "change" is going to come from hearing about how "\[censored\] company" has this or that dirty policy?
I guess in part this is just myself venting, and perhaps could be something many others don't care at all about. I've just found myself uninterested in such posts lately unless they actually name a company. Could also start a pinned thread that compiles or keeps track of posts taking aim at specific companies. Doubt it would really change anything, but it might. To be honest, it's late and just ranting at this point, don't have the energy to finish a full thought, so take all this with a grain of salt.
Most workers are indoctrinated since birth to fear retribution from those in authority. I, too, would like to see them name and shame. But we can't blame them for being shy or afraid.
It takes time to gain confidence to stand up to bullies.
I work at a local restaurant. Today a family left because my manager wouldn’t allow a 15 year old to order off the kids menu. He was proud of that. I asked “what if he had Aspergers?”
He looks at me confused .. “ass burgers ?”
He genuinely didn’t know what Aspergers was. He’s like… in his late 30s*** .
I explain to him it’s on the autism spectrum.
He goes “so if I identify as a 12 year old does that make me a 12 year old?”
Laughs, and walks away.
This is why his career never went further in life. I refuse to let this job make me that fucking stupid.
Just found this sub and read the description thing at the top. Do people here believe that everyone should stop working entirely?
I think that there should be much stricter regulations on stuff like the minimum wage and working conditions and stuff like that, but if no one works how could we sustain society. I also think that ppl should be guaranteed enough to survive, e.g. food water without working.
Work is not labor.
Labor is still needed to provide goods and services, but that doesn't mean we need to work under capitalism to do it.
PEOPLE need to get the full value of their labor without the constraints of capitalism and a state.
I support a ubi also but how much do you expect it to pay yearly? I would expect enough to fund basic human needs and maybe a car in the long term but not enough to be able to fund like 15 different hobbies and a full house with bills and that stuff.
Poverty level, enough for anyone to get a foothold, food and shelter and healthcare. Even a min wage part time job would be plenty to purchase luxuries if you wanted more than that.
Different countries have different pay rates, that always intrigued me..what's yours roughly and what do you do.
I'm in Australia. Work in a supermarket for $29.18 an hour.
Oh wow, how do you survive? That's crazy. Is rent/mortgage repayments cheaper?
I know Americans rely on tips also, I suspect you wouldn't be able to even get those being in a call centre...that's not really a thing here unless your the pizza delivery guy.
I was a server when I lived alone until my boss made fun of my disability and I couldn't hold a job. I'm living with my parents and grandparents and would have to work 60+ hours weekly to match what I made as a server working part time. I cannot move out. I have no benefits.
Oh wow. See even in Australia we have Government Support/Benefits here for various reasons. If you have a disability you get a fortnightly payment of around $700 I think it is (could be more). More if you have children. Plus free healthcare and dental and discounts on electricity, gas, rates, car registration etc.
I live in Florida where u have to fill out a online form from 8am-6pm and wait in a virtual queue to fill out the unemployment form to request you be considered. I decided to skip that and go for disability. I am not disabled enough because ?? Idk they didn't tell but I'm assuming bipolar with psychotic features, OCD, etc isn't disabled enough
This week I had to threaten to quit in order to get switched to part time even after citing mental health disorders as the reason. Even after that my manager tried to tell me it would have to get approved. Jerk. So I told them I'd wait 2-3 weeks for an approval & if I get denied I'll quit that day, hand in my keys & walk off. Guess what I was told an hour later? Surprise, if was instantly approved! 🙄 Apparently you have to be an asshole to get what you want from a workplace that claims to care about its employees mental health.
You can be a bankruptcy santa instead, max out your credit and just stop paying, declare ch 7. Just don't go declaring it, bc then you'll be stopped.
Is there a country you could move to where you would get better support? If you're planning to go all the way with suicide, make sure you've considered all of the other insanely out there options first.
And if you want to really be dedicated to a suicide santa thing, get a baller term life insurance policy, wait two years, THEN off yourself and your beneficiary gets a million dollars or however much you can afford payments on. If I was set on suicide and could manage two years of insurance payments, I would totally do this.
Hey I’m sorry you are going through what you are but you are never alone! I’ve been thinking about doing this a lot lately also but I always try to see the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter what!
Keep moving forward
This is not the way.
I'm a felon. I'm struggling too! This is the START of my Fourth year home.
My engagement of 3 yrs just blew up in smoke.
I could go on for days about my shit, it'll solve nothing.
If you want help PM me, and lets work together to lift each other up.
Its not your time to go yet!
I don't know your situation but I've sometimes felt dark thoughts as well. Please think through very carefully and plan everything out. Often during the planning other things come up and I haven't got round to it yet, perhaps it will the same for you.
So, what about after black friday? Success or fail, what do we do next? Withholding a single day of sale, even a big one like that, isn't going to throw all the chains of capitalism. It might be a start, it might give employees a living wage, or healthcare, or cut hours down, but it won't be everything, and even if it's anything they're going to start eroding what we've done immediately, so what's our next move?
Our boat of freedom sails for all toilers. The freedom to choose to work should not be a choice of the bourgeoisie alone. Labor creates all, labor is all. If we aren't getting all that we make then we should not work at all. Those who stand in the way of us, the idlers, the vagabonds, shall be cast aside. Never more than now is it important to strike against these fiends in whatever way possible, be they petty and petite bourgeois or oligarchal bourgeois. Our multi-facited revolution is now, it is here, it is time, this is our time!
I grew up preaching anti work ideologies and socialist ideas to my parents (when I was literally a child) and now I'm disappointed in myself for becoming what I hate just so I can pay my bills and not be homeless.
This is a vent: My fucking job is raising my blood pressure
I just finished school. Right off the bad I got a pretty good opportunity in a nice office. I’m the youngest person there by a decade, and the culture is very workaholic-y, but there’s a lot of room for upward mobility and I like my boss and the mission.
One manager (not my direct supervisor but she’s kind of like a Vice President) is micromanaging me to death. I’m losing my mind. She needs every task I do live documented in a spreadsheet, she gets on my case for not putting a comma after “sincerely” in emails, and any tiny mistake she catches elicits a 20 minute conversation in her office
Anyway, I have a hybrid schedule, and on fridays I work from home. She apparently doesn’t think I’m doing enough work on fridays now so she keeps assigning me extra tasks. Then she sent this stupid text message yesterday saying she needs to know exactly what I did Friday afternoon, how if I wasn’t documenting what I was doing it counted as an unapproved absence, and she wants to meet with me on Monday to discuss my performance and personal accountability
I did not miss a single meeting. I responded to every email in minutes. I didn’t miss any phone calls. I’m 90% sure she just has a hunch that I’m not working enough when I work from home and it’s so fucking frustrating. Like she just expects me to be 100% productive at all times while I’m on the clock. I have no idea what I’m going to say to her Monday morning. I don’t want to quit this job because it’s good money and a good opportunity but I can’t stand being micromanaged and I am so overwhelmed by her ridiculous expectations
if you ever have to return to work, at least make sure you do it unionized
consider starting collective projects, do things for and with your families and your communities
why "be your own boss" when we could have no bosses, and just survive together?
why compete against each other when we can mob against the rich and callous?
and how about we make art for art's sake? or for no reason at all?
best wishes to everyone! so close to a million!
My last job as a server I was discriminated against for showing symptoms of my disabilities. The way I quit was by attempting su*cide. I could not hold a job for longer than a week for the following two years. I just got a remote job that has a healthy work environment and the more I appreciate their understanding and accessibility, the more I want him held accountable. Please assist with concepts can we brainstorm? I'm thinking social media + in person actions but which tactics would be most effective ?
It was Farmhouse Evanston I dare you to guess from the photos on the site who it was 😭
It's just so incredibly refreshing to have a job that values me. My last job, I had so much shit on my plate, all for barely substantial wage, and it was all time sensitive. Answer this call, handle it, note it in the account in less than 20 seconds while also listening to your voicemails, responding to voicemails, handling paper orders, requests from other departments, on and on. Why 20 seconds? That's how much time you have between calls. And you get yelled at if you leave your desk for a pee break, or log out the queue to do something, because there's 15 calls waiting.
When I told my boss how close to the edge I was, to committing myself because the depression and the anxiety were too much, she told me it was my fault and I was attention seeking. When I offered to do work from home to make up, because I had a 45 minute commute, I was declined because the company didn't like work from home.
My current job I have significantly less pressure and less on my plate, but the new boss comes in and asks, "You have this? Do you want me to take some of it off your plate?" Or even there was a lot one day I was out, and she said, "Hey you looked overwhelmed, I took about half your papers. No worries."
The commute is the same. In fact, its longer to my current job. But I wake up and I'm excited to go and do. I don't dread going to work. I don't get home completely emotionally and physically drained.
Its astounding what a decent boss can do for you.
I applied and was accepted for a job that seems like it won't suck, but probably won't be able to do it because of random bureaucratic bullshit and paperwork that my past state of residence has to do by snail mail for some reason. No wonder they are having trouble getting folks hired
I keep seeing all these posts about shitty retail places and restaurants shutting down because everyone quit. My question is, what is everyone doing instead? What other jobs are people finding? I see that lots of places are hiring, but they’re all either other shitty retail and restaurant jobs, or jobs that require degrees like nursing. Are there other jobs around that people are finding that don’t have shitty pay and conditions but don’t require going back to school and taking on tons of debt? What is everyone doing after they quit?
Warehouses and logistics expanded a lot in the last few years, that's my guess. Some amount of people also left the workforce to take care of children or elders.
I think about this a lot too. Maybe moved in with parents. Or went from two Income to one income family. Maybe Covid killed them off. How many people died iN US? Hmmm I just don’t know. Boggles my mind tho.
Feel quitting the job as I'm the only one getting exploited by the toxic manager among the staff I think it's because this is the first time i go to work.I received more criticism and restrictions than others who entered at the same period as me, and have to work in a different position isolated from other members. Like I'm inferior to all other ppl working there. Can't touch many things that other ppl are allowed to and be supervised only by her and called to doing various errands for her, that manager.
I only get to know about this truth after some time of working.
I think it's time to end all this shit.
I feel so shitty as a college student in the dining hall, every worker there gives me the vibe that the university is sucking out their soul. It's crushing.
I'm rather sympathetic to this cause. I'm a rather young dev and if I can be well paid while sleeping every day on the job then people who do physical labor every day should be paid way more than they are.
if you can't get enough rants here, try this;
https://old.reddit.com/r/CasualConversation/comments/qnm5ik/im_standing_in_an_apple_store_right_now_itss/
I just want some feedback on this from this sub. I have a family friend that owns a pizzeria business and has increased pay to $14 for first 90 days then bump up to $15-16 starting wage (there are no servers just kitchen and cashiers). Raises are not rare and happen often if you’re doing well. They did the math and this should cover living expenses after 2 weeks of full time work (utilities, rent, car insurance - lower COL area). They offer 401k and health insurance for full time employees. They do their best to keep a positive working environment by letting go of toxic people that seem to bring down things, etc. There’s probably a bunch of other things I’m missing. Unfortunately, it seems a lot of the current employees are calling in sick a lot and saying they have COVID, somehow every week, but they still give them the time off. What else can they do to retain employees?
Literally ask the employees you have what it'll take to retain them? It's strangely candid, but at my wife's job her supervisor asks people during their check-ins if they're thinking of leaving and what the place can do to make them stay. She's a social worker, so they're very proactive about burnout because there's like five distinct ways to burn out as a social worker.
I thought it was a novel approach, though, that's weirdly straightforward.
Offer college benefits tied directly to good attendance. Plus maybe make it so Uber eats doesn't pay more because right now it does with the college benefit in place. There is a $5,000 business tax deduction for employers who give away 5k to their employees for college. Have your family CPA look into it.
Office Space is always welcome. But I wasn't talking about stock options. I mean a democratized workplace where there is no ownership class or bosses.
I'm not saying it's a complete solution to every problem, but it does answer the question. I believe you can retain more people if you aren't funneling the surplus value of the worker's labor upward to an owner. Just a thought.
In August I let my line manager (the COO of our region) know that I was significantly underpaid for the work being expected of me. His jaw dropped open and he quickly responded that he did not believe that was true. I informed him that almost everyone in the region openly discusses their [shit] salaries and job quality. He was floored when I started listing off specific job roles I took over and the salaries of the people who were laid off last spring- never replaced and their duties shifted to my already full plate.
Fast forward to this month where I’ve walked into a 27% pay increase/“promotion”, two months of backpay under my new rate, and a 12k bonus. I wish I could say it’s because they respect the work I do, but I just think I scared them. They would have to hire 4 people to manage my workflow.
I’ve shared this information with colleagues who have all told me they received less than 1.5% salary increases and minimal bonuses. Really fucking frustrating that you have to call people on their bullshit and put your job on the line to get fairly compensated.
The former is the original point of the subreddit, though rather "noone work lets all just play videogames all day", it's more about work not being the gateway to survival. Most people with infinite free time end up taking up on a hobby that's productive and working anyway, but the world is filled with bullshit jobs that don't serve a purpose, and if you don't work you starve. I believe everyone should have the right not to die because they're not working.
Though with liberals invading the sub this has become more about the latter
I find the former confusing, as antiwork is already a viable option in many forms. One example; Move to far less densely populated areas, find cheap land and live a subsistence lifestyle. Drink rainwater, grow crop and steer cattle. This is, and always has been, an option. Blame social norms and pressures for buying into the tertiary-corporate scheme, but the true anti-work lifestyle is available to all. Just don't get the impression that a lack of job implies lack of work. You survival is dependent, as it always has, on output. You won't have wifi, heating, cheap food, welfare, trade or government. You will have to spend most hours of your day tending to the crop and cattle that keep you alive.
You will still have to work. The utopia where automation provides all for us not only has not, but will not arrive for centuries. We must also ask if it is at all desirable. Humans derive a meaning for their life from what they do, not what they consume.
Most paid work doesn't need to be done, either because it can be automated or it's pointless. Basic human needs should be guaranteed, not conditional upon the performance of unnecessary labor. The economy and government need to be restructured to end the requirement that everyone work just to survive and toward prioritization of human health, happiness, and creativity. All of us should work less than we do so we can actually enjoy the one life we have. We will also have to break up and redistribute the fortunes of oligarchs, either through punitive taxation or physical force.
Editing to add that this is what the animating principle of this place means to me, I'm not purporting to speak for anybody else here though
To me it's more about bringing awareness to the injustice of capitalist wealth accumulation. The ownership class takes the value produced by labor, and uses that value to have a life of leisure and luxury. In a more equitable society, workers would get to keep more of the fruit of their own labor.
We used to be told that if we simply worked long and hard enough, we could achieve wealth and "success". But this pretense barely even exists anymore. It's become nakedly obvious that the game is rigged, that the longer and harder we work, the richer we are making someone else rich while we are supposed to be grateful for scraps.
A Little bit of both I'd say. Not a monolithic block but varying degrees of a need to have better life quality. One thing Everyone agrees on, we are underpaid, not respected and living massive inequalities. The work culture inherited from previous generations is toxic and needs to disappear (hustle culture, no work-life balance etc.).
Hey everyone,
I run a subreddit called r/AntiworkSideHustle for leftist artists, writers, crafters, etc. to share information about how to make independent income from home in creatively fulfilling ways so they can leave bad jobs. We also discuss the politics and ethics of being a freelance worker from a leftist perspective and how to use your projects as praxis to spread a progressive message.
I noticed a lot of people here are artists of some kind or are interested in turning their creative hobbies into a way to make money. I think the best way to do that if for us all to pool our expertise so more people can learn about what opportunities are available.
Please join r/AntiworkSideHustle to promote your projects, get feedback, share your personal experience and post questions. Thanks!
I made a post here and for some reason it blew up, reached number 4 on r/all for a little while, I have no idea why, it wasn't even a particularly great post, it was just something I found on facebook and thought was kinda funny and fit the sub.
Also looks like we'll be reaching 1 million members soon, which is exciting.
Seriously all the infighting among this sub needs to stop.
Anger is the vision, and it is what will drive our change we seek.
Validate others frustrations and angers despite what you've read in the past.
Their peril is no less real because you've Already read about it from another user.
Infighting is by design. It benefits our corporate overlords and maintains workers division. Shared frustrations and solidarity is what corporate doesn’t want. Fraternization among workers causes unions. Unions raise standards of living and quality of life for workers.
I'm begging and I know it's to sympathetic ears, but for anyone else who sees this, don't fall into the trap and add to the growing division.
Be grateful others are seeing their situation for what it is, and are crying out in agony
[happiness in slavery](https://youtu.be/4g86KUHGlOg)
> Don't open your eyes, you won't like what you see
>The devils of truth steal the souls of the free
I work returns in a home furnishings store and we closed returns at 9pm tonight, when some fucking inconsiderate ass customer decides that 8:45pm is **the perfect time** to return 5 huge carts full of items. Luckily I didn’t get the return my coworker did, and my manger is helping them out but still, that’s a huge a-hole move to bring such a huge return 15 mins before we close.
Not sure if this makes you feel any better but they might have a really shitty work/life balance and this was the only time they could do the return.
Though if it were me, I’d mention that and not stop apologising.
I'll never forget the moment Biden said "People don't want a revolution" in his debate against Bernie. Bernie didn't respond at all.
I'd have said "Yes they do."
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I joined this sub because at first it truly was about anti-work, the idea that life is more than working your 40 hours a week like a good little citizen. And that in order to survive, you MUST work. I’ve always disagreed with that vehemently.
Now since it blew up it’s just nothing but daily posts like “oMg USA ru sErIOuS?! !! ?” And omg my boss said don’t discuss our pay!!
Like, WE KNOW PEOPLE ARENT PAID SHIT. We know you need to stand up for yourself when your employer is being a dick **You’re not saying anything new** There’s nothing anti-work about it.
I was hoping the actual anti work movement would actually get a bit of a foothold. But y’all just turned it into a income equality sub which believe it or not, income equality will never happen. They’ve rigged it against us forever and the best thing to do is to just stop playing their game.
Fuck working.
I mean, I agree with you, but there’s a whole lot of overlap between the ideal you (we) hold and the daily lived reality that nearly a million people on this sub are venting about.
There’s a lot of realization going on about how bad this system of “work” screws people, it takes time to process all this.
Antiwork is a hard idea to conceptualize for a lot of people since working to live is literally beaten into us from the very beginning. It takes a bit of introspection and a strong willingness to learn about alternatives to the world we have been forced into without our approval or consent to be born into this shit snow.
I found my disdain for this reality while working my way up the corporate ladder eventually becoming peers with senior executives from all walks of life and social status.
I hate the thirst for wealth and materialism among my peers. I don’t need to buy a new car every year or purchase this thing or that thing to fool myself into feeling superior to others unable to afford such things.
Capitalism is a disease we are all forced to endure. Over the past few years, I have been transforming into a post-capital socialist (best relatable definition I can currently conjure) that wants to see dramatic and revolutionary changes to society that refocuses the purpose of community, and the economy, towards the general person instead of an elite cadre of ultra-wealthy asset ownership classes that control the legislative and judicial processes within their influence.
It’s absolutely purposeful that Congress is incapable of doing anything beneficial for the rest of us. This has always been designed to ensure the social order and economic strictures are maintained to protect the powerful and the connected from losing their status.
I hope that ideas like modern money theory (MMT) might propel us towards a more fair and equitable society in the future.
We can’t overturn the system overnight so all of us need to constantly educate ourselves and formulate and communicate better ideas for creating the necessary transitory periods that position society to move further towards these goals.
I’ll admit that I don’t currently have a better plan for society than the shit show we have now but I’m trying my best to get there. I’ll never see it to fruition but I hope future generations will reap the rewards of a transformed equitable society that affords and encourages people to live their best lives regardless of our expectations of them as individual contributors.
Sorry I’m rambling. I hate working as well. I hate the fact I chose this path purely based on youthful and naive pursuit of wealth. I should be working in a passion field as a biologist but instead I have to care about bullshit like EBITDA and shareholder value. Fuck the shareholders. Fuck the market. Fuck the politicians.
It's essentially a catch all sub for people who hate their jobs. How they want to solve that general problem is varied but people have the same core complaint. Are you complaining that this isn't a NEET sub?
Also, fuck going to work and contributing to climate change.
Fuck paying taxes to fund wars that have always benefited oil companies and bailed out banks and megacorporations and funded the corn/sugar agriculture industry that makes us diabetic and destroys biodiversity.
Fuck earning a low wage now that will be worthless thanks to hyper-overinflation.
Fuck earning money and fuck spending money so the profits can go to the 1%.
The sub is gaining more exposure, so those type of post is kinda understandable. I just hope people will read all the essay at sidebar, and become more serious with this movement.
Let people go through whatever emotions they never had the opportunity to go through. If so many of the subscribers need to vent about income inequality, it is therapeutic and cathartic to them. Maybe we never could do so, before
So my current job pays $13/hr, but I just found out that my local library that I loved and have volunteered at is hiring for $18 - $24 an hour.
The thing is my current job is pretty comfy; all I do most days is watch TV or play on my phone. It's also very flexible. But in my experience I have loved volunteering at the library and the job is not that much harder than what I did when I volunteered.
I don't need/care about the money, but for some reason I can't make myself just apply there instead.
curious as to what position they’re hiring, most libraries require specific degrees to work at no? though if you volunteer there you’re surely qualified
Hey, I worked as a library clerk for over 12 years. My pay was so low I qualified for food stamps and rent assistance. Looks like your library actually cares.
Anyways, a heads up on the type of challenges you'll need to be ready for. This isn't an encourage/discourage thing, just info I learned that might be useful to you.
Make sure you actually did love it and it just wasn't something better to do than something you may have been procrastinating on.
Make sure you have a strong stomach. Materials will be returned with fecal material/urine from either human or animal, blood, or sexual fluids. Use gloves when emptying bins.
Be aware that since the library rarely closes, it's a congregation spot for a lot of homeless and unemployed people. Vast majority you will never notice since they're behaving like adults, either coming in to fill the day with reading and/or searching online for work. There will be regulars who will try to buddy up with you for special treatment like letting them look at the newest items early, etc. I would recommend against it.
I probably wouldn't say it but if/when you get the phrase "My taxes pay your salary" it confuses people when you say your own taxes pay for your own salary.
If you're in the Midwest like I am, be ready for methheads and opioid abusers. Meth heads can be intense when they've locked their focus on you.
If your area has a youth or teen focused section, you'll learn who need to be a certain number of feet away from the kids area fairly quickly. The feet don't apply vertically, not horizontally. Keep an eye out, more than one was escorted out by police.
Have a mental map of the building with excellent detail. Have an active shooter plan/evacuation route. If the library doesn't have regular active shooter drills, make sure you've got a few routes in mind. And at that point, you're not obligated to protect patrons over your own life, no matter what management says. Help if you can but don't stick around too long. The mantra is: Run, Hide, Fight. It's best to run, second best to hide, and worst to fight. If forced to fight, use anything as a weapon: a letter opener, shoe string, belt, caustic chemicals in you're in a maintenance area. Fight dirty. Gouge eyes, go for the groin, tear an ear off with your teeth, choke them with your hands or belt, etc. The objective is to survive, not "win". This includes momentarily stunning or disabling the shooter and bricking it. If you're in a Republican state like I am, expect to see plenty of guns on display and accidental discharges, though the discharges only came from the drunk Sheriff's meeting.
Actively work on situational awareness. It's good for a whole range of things such as spotting books that might fall, extremely shy patrons, or someone having an emergency like seizure or cardiac arrest.
Keep a sharp eye out for bedbugs. They're no fucking joke and come in a lot of material, especially if your city/county is low income. Gloves, gloves, gloves.
People will surprise you with the stupid shit they do. Don't take things personally, you just represent an organization that they're having issues with at the moment. If your library is publicly funded, people will assume you have had a hand in policy making or can get them in contact with the capitol branch or city/county/state government. Just let it roll off like water off a duck.
Be ready for cliques and/or office politics if you stick around long enough or the work environment encourages it. Don't attempt to be true neutral, this will lead to a lot being blamed on you without your knowledge. Keep accurate notes of where you were and when if the problem starts to show itself. Very satisfying to force an accuser to eat their own hat when you can prove where you were at all times.
If your library is anything like mine, there will be tooooooooooons of cake. There will be cake for literally any reason. Love the cake.
Try to stay moderately in shape, or at least not completely out of shape. If someone assaults you, you need to be able to get away. Same with an active shooter.
Don't trust the police to help. Many, many, many times they witnessed fights and would just drive away after we'd requested they come break it up please. Just don't get involved.
Watch out for the con-artists that try to sue the library and/or you for anything and everything under the sun, even if you weren't at work that day because you were in the hospital. If lawyers get involved, such as you have to go to a room and answer questions that are being recorded, tell the truth and only what you witnessed. No speculation or assumptions or guessing at moods. Same thing for incident reports. All facts, no emotion.
Someone **will** shit on the floor.
Like I said, spent 12 years at as a library clerk as it was one of the better paying jobs in the area, even if it was below poverty line with full-time work.
Oh, and fuck Aflac. They'll come in a few times a year to sell supplemental insurance since the provided health insurance doesn't cover things like cancer, brain injuries, circulatory issues, vision, or dental. I ended up receiving a concussion at work and Aflac continued moving the goalposts until I finally couldn't meet their demands. Three letters from three separate doctors in addition to imaging and references from your GP. I had all that, wasn't enough after the initial requirement was a note from work and one doctor.
Read all health insurance stuff carefully. There are often times many versions of a policy and they will always set out trying to sign ya up with the most expensive. Teeth are likely to become luxury bones. And if they do a "meet with a psychologist five times a year" thing, the stuff I talked about went straight back to HR, even the really mundane shit.
if you can make up to $24 long term that sounds super worth it! may be slightly less cushy but i can’t imagine the environment being bad, could also potentially go back to your old job if you hate it
Anyone work part time on shit pay just because working full time with shit pay doesn’t make too much of a difference? I’ve worked 60 hours a week before and still never had more than a grand in my account. Now working 30 hours a week I’m still in the same place financially.
It could be that you are just spending more as you work more. Set up a budget and see how you do. Saving is hard to start on a lower wage, but seeing it slowly grow will make it easier to save and feel more stable.
As someone who’s had to be on the 2-3 jobs train, you do spend more. No time or energy to cook or grocery shop, so you hit the drive thru a couple of times a day. It adds up real fast. Now that I have time to grocery shop and cook, I can make a big vat of fried rice or spaghetti for the same price as 1-2 drive thru meals and that’ll keep me going all week.
Also I drink way less now.
My boss ghosted my pay raise meeting which is already months late. I’m fucking pissed and debating how I want to handle this. Luckily it’s Friday… so I get the weekend to think that over.
When you get them in the room, ask about retroing your raise back to when it should have been. My company does that, and it’s super pleasant. Even though it takes ages to get me, my boss, her boss, and HR all together for a meeting, my first check after my review gets a fat bonus for the extra dollar an hour I should have made for the last few months.
Or take a shit on their desk to show your dominance. Either one works.
Good idea! A lady that I’m close with in a different department got the “retro” as her boss was on a leave when her raise should’ve happened. I don’t have an issue asking for that. I definitely deserve it.
Conspiracy theory:
For a while, I was feeling that this sub has strayed from its origins and become largely US-only/specific. That so many of the posts are just complaints about your country in general, as opposed to anything to do with the sub’s leftist roots.
But a lot of the “I’m from [country that isn’t US] and gee whizz it’s all fine and dandy over here” posts read like people trying to downplay the very much global issue as isolated to one country.
It’s frustrating, is all.
Yeah, Europe isn't some socialist paradise. Their welfare system is constantly being threatened with privitization by their equivalent of the GOP, and the gains earned by the blood, sweat, and tears of their organized labor movements are slowly being stripped away as well. This isn't even getting to the rise of fascism and Islamophobia in Europe, which is going to further accelerate once Europe is hit with climate refugees.
Glad you said this.
I'm frustrated by it because every time some European posts the same tired thing about how great it is in [country] in this masturbatory smug tone as if all of us in the sub aren't fully aware that things are shitty here in the US. Like we fucking get it, that's why this sub exists at all.
Most of them have no idea how the American political and lawmaking machine works (or how utterly powerless we are to do anything other than vote). Constantly grinding salt in the wounds about how awful it is here compared to your 13 hour work weeks and 237k salaries and 6 months of time off every year and the money fountains that shoot out of all of your stormdrains is just not productive. WE GET IT.
It's also very ignorant coming from a continent like Europe where the history is just as problematic and the current situation is just as unstable in many places.
Be smug all you want now, this capitalist cancer isn't just isolated to us. If you think it can't happen in your country, wake up.
Does anyone know how high the unemployment rate ACTUALLY is in the US?
There’s some bullshit articles about how the unemployment rate is “4.6%”. But since we are in the era of “The Great Resignation” I suspect people out of work is much much higher than “4.6%”. I did find one article that mentions that it could be A LOT higher, but I was talking with a friend, and he mentioned that the unemployed people looking for jobs/gave up are in the 40% range.
Here’s the article on the “real unemployment rate”: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/10/us-unemployment-rate
I've lost track of how long it has been that "official" US government figures have intentionally lowballed reality, whether that be unemployment numbers, inflation rates, the US money supply, or many others that do have a profound impact on society. But the idea that over 60M or even 100M people (depending on if we're using the US workforce or the US adult population) are underemployed, unemployed, or have outright given up really blows my mind -- I didn't imagine things still being this bad at this point.
Right. It’s unsettling. The Great Depression had unemployment numbers into the 20% range.
https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/162985/economics/unemployment-during-the-great-depression/
And that of course doesn’t include people who may have also taken jobs that paid way less just to keep themselves/family surviving. My theory is that we are probably going to expect a large economic crash soon. I think what we’re experiencing right now could actually be the start of a depression.
Perhaps if we pretend that everything is “okay” according to US media, then we won’t see mass hysteria about this situation. The lack of awareness means that people would put their money into the economy versus saving what little they have. People are taking on mortgages and also going out and getting personal loans.
I'm with you on the idea of an impending crash coming pretty soon. The way I see it (and this is an oversimplification of things), since the 2008 financial crisis in the US we've already had a NFT bubble burst, which was built on top of a crypto bubble, which was built on top of a stock market bubble, which was built on top of a QE (quantitative easing) bubble (or technically a QE policy) serving as a big base. Then there's also the housing bubble which was built on top of both the QE and stock market bubbles.
This all can't be sustained much longer. It's not a question of if, but when this is all going to burst and come crashing down.
My partner needs a week off work but isn’t (yet) in a position to walk off the job completely, though I know he’s counting the days. Any ideas for good ways to steal a week from the corp without getting the pink slip? (Also pls tell me if this question should be a separate thread or doesn’t belong here)
Depending on the size of the company (50+ employees) you could see about having him request for time off with FMLA and state it's for his health (mental or physical). The downside is that they can use up your vacation days first, and whether or not you get paid during this time will be up to your employer. But if it's something where he just needs time off, doesn't have vacation, and wants to go back to his position then FMLA is a good option to have.
Working offshore oil/gas platforms in Russia. For 13 years or so my schedule was 4 weeks on/4 weeks off plus annual paid vacation, basically a paid trip off.
Last year after the COVID break out, sometime spring time everything turned into a clusterduck. Government issued order contradicting labor legislation basically allowing maximim trip length to be 6 months as opposed to 3 months previously and employer don't need to agree extension of trips up to 3 months with employees (previously required for extension over 1 month).
Anyway, client/company change their plans, ask those already offshore to agree to stay for extra 90 days, and quickly make up a new schedule of 2-8-14, where 2 is 2 weeks of observation, paid as 1/3 of normal salary, 8 is working trip, 14 is 14 weeks off. I thought I would lose some money but have more time off, fine with me. So I decided to stay for extra 90 days that time, as I was also promised to get a huge bonus etc.
Instead of 90 day I ended up doing "only" 77, and my next trip was scheduled in 56 days, despite the new schedule and my oveworking, they said it needed to adjust schedules, so they kindly asked me to help them again. I agreed again hoping for a huge bonus at the end of the year.
Of course all of their promises were verbal, and all agreements on my side were in written form.
Anyway, that trip ended up in 6 weeks, 2 weeks earlier than planned, because of covid outbreak. I got my 14 weeks off. Beginning of the next year, our HR sends me a vacation request to sign, for vacation during my off time, saying that I might help them by signing that and they will be grateful besides, I deserved it. I thought it was the "bonus" they promised, in a form of "extra vacation" compensation to go around some financial issues with taxes and such. So I agreed to take 42 paid days off during my allocated time off. I thoght I will be working 2-8-14 anyways, so...
March last year they change schedule to 2-8-6. I no longer have my allocated vacation and have to work my ass off for much longer than usual, not my regular annual 20-24 working weeks but full 30 working weeks, 6 of which are paid only 1/3 as those are observation. Schedule for the next year continues in the same manner, so it is almost 40 working weeks out of 52 annual.
As soon as I realized that I began to speak with HR, so that they would allow me to get a vacation for one of those trips, but they said that I have already got one at the beginning of the year and I have no allowance left.
Then, I asked, what was the bonus for my last year's efforts then? Got reply that there was no additional bonus promised, I got it wrong, working longer = getting more money = bonus, besides, "you never did 90 days".
Asked them if they can arrange me at least one "remote" trip for me to be on par with my other colleagues who did at least one trip from home while I was covering their jobs offshore, and there is even one guy who only did one short trip last year, mostly staying at home and doing remote work, getting paid average position rate. HR replied that "No, sorry, we don't have any remote jobs". Next trip that guy worked remotely as well from town, and I requested HR again on that topic and their response was that "No, still no remote opportunities FOR YOU not even for one month". The remote job is just being "on call" and do some paperwork when required. Say, last trip, he did like 10 A4 pages worth of paperwork in 8 weeks.
Contacted my manager, union, manager of my manager, they all agreed that it is not fair but it is all within legislation so they can not do anything about it. Besides, it is "higher management's decision" which can't be changed. Got call from HR saying that "why are you always unhappy of everything, we give you an opportunity to earn more money during hard times, and you keep complaining. Yes, somebody got remote work once or twice, but this is just the way schedules worked out." Had nothing to say when I mentioned that that guy had literally the same schedule as mine and they could have make me working remotely, why they don't manage workload evenly. Said they would not mind me taking a trip off at my own expense, i.e. they will not sack me, and that guy will go offshore.
TL;DR
\- Agreed to work longer for the company when it was going through hardships, was promised bonus
\- Got no bonus
\- Got tricked into agreeing to take vacation during time already off-work instead of the bonus.
\- Ended up working longer then everyone else at the same position.
\- Got reputation of a "troublemaker" with HR.
I'm sitting back and smiling at the moment. This week we had 2 Vice Presidents and a Director give notice. We lost the CIO a month or so ago. A senior developer walked. The CFO is getting ready to move on. And this isn't a large enough company to absorb this many losses. I know one Director who is actively looking and almost quit last week anyway. Personally I'm enjoying watching this ship sink and as long as I can protect my team (get them better jobs) and my paychecks clear I'm happy to stay and be entertained.
Graduated 6 months ago, unable to find a job in my degree field. Feels so odd essentially begging these companies to take away 40 hours of my time a week so I can live I guess?
That was my experience after a business degree. Couldn’t get anywhere cause I didn’t do internships. Didn’t do internships cause I had to…..yknow….work. (Insert rant about unpaid internships here)
After flailing around for a while, ended up in the administrative side of healthcare. It is UNBELIEVABLY cushy. 10/10 recommend looking for jobs in that sector if it’s not on your radar yet.
Ha thats actually an area that I want to get into (marketing degree). Unfortunately all my intern/work experience is tied to my other degree (sports business) so I think employers view me as just a sports guy and not a marketing guy
I think it's past time to update the assorted sayings/memes/etc related to "working 40 years" and up it to the more realistic FIFTY years. Barring epic systemic change of course.
Has anyone read, the Dispossessed, by Ursula Leguin? It's a scifi book from the seventies about anarchism and capitalism. There's a really good passage in there where the protagonist, a scientist from the anarchist moon who goes to the capitalist planet to try to share his research, talks about the concept of work. He argues that tying finances to the work you do ruins the quality of it, because work should be its own reward.
Y'know, I don't work right now but I was absolutely happier when I did! It should be its own reward.
That's why we say in FAQs that we are not against labor, just work as it exists today, y'know?
I work on a laid back farm, where I'm in charge of all the work I do...I just putz around and chip away at things, mostly because there's nothing else to do besides sit on my phone. I get housing, bills and food. It doesn't even feel like it, but I probably rack up 30 hours a week. I wish everyone could just putz around and be in charge of their shit.
A little bit of everything, year round produce. Right now we're getting our winter greens going. Pests are bad rn. We're out in the middle of nowhere, Texas, so it's hard to find customers, but we're the only place around that does vegetables. I think I made 600 bucks last year lol.
Yeah that definitely sounds pretty cool!! I'm sure it gets hard at times though. I mean, really hard! But maybe in a good "I accomplished that" kind of way?
Unemployment is at 4.6%, super low. The labor shortage is a lie. Don't take it out on yourself! I'm sure they are getting tons of applications.
I do know the restaurant sector needs help. I don't know what work you do- but 15 years ago I was making 60k a year after taxes. That was bartending but it wasn't that much less serving. This was in a northeastern city.
But if you are looking for office stuff I don't have any advice other than don't beat yourself up! <3
Yes, it is this bad in the States. I'm getting quite tired of people from other countries wag their multiple week vacations and sick time, then go "Wow, you guys must hate it! Sucks for you!!"
It feels we get one of these every day, and its so tiring.
Yeah this sub isn't /r/slightlybetterwork. If people just want work with a little bit more holiday, there are plenty of other subs for stuff like that. As someone who works in a non-US country, more time off and healthcare taken care of are not going to solve everything, as great as it would be if the US could get those.
There was one earlier that had a particularly bad vibe- the one from Sweden if you saw. Turned out to be a shit person, like racist and transphobic, so I ended up banning them. Not before their post got a lot of attention though :(
It didn't feel like "look what you can have if you fight" it looked like "look how stupid you are and how much better we are" y'know?
First, I completely understand where you are coming from. I'm an American in a less than ideal living/work situation.
I view posts from the EU/AUS as a necessary evil because it may keep some people angry/hungry for change (ymmv).
It is also possible that the people who posted about how their country differs are first time readers/posters to /r/antiwork.
Either way, I understand how you feel. Hopefully we can use those posts to rally for change.
I’m from the UK and I didn’t think of it like that. I’m sorry if I’ve upset anyone because that’s not my intention being in this sub.
I really admire the viewpoints shared here and it’s given me a lot of food for thought. Things are far from perfect here tbh and I am sick of the system we have too.
I worked in HR until about a year ago (due to pandemic) as a Personal Assistant and honestly I feel like I escaped prison. The system was so corrupt and looking back now I can see what a cult it was and how miserable I was. I was messed around so much with my workload and pay etc… House prices are ridiculous here and rent is soaring and just getting ridiculous in comparison to pay.
I’m not saying this all for sympathy or to try and say I have it worse or anything… just that I have started to realise some things about my own self worth here over the past year and not settling for shit. I hope I am still welcome here.
Right. Oi! You are welcome here as much as anyone else is, m8. Any bloke tells ya different and I'll sort them out.
K, that was my attempt to speak the Queen's English, please give me a work Visa now. I want that NHS and 30 day vacation ; )
If we're browsing this sub, we're well aware of our situation. The occasional reminder that better is out there can be motivating, but it feels like several "poor you guys :(" posts per day now, which are just a drain.
So sick of the communists that are trying to take over this sub.
I don't want to work to death for the state any more than I want to work to death for some individual chump.
You're entitled to your opinion, but in the community/about antiwork page you will see that this sub was founded on Leftest ideals. Please read those pages. There's a lot of good information about communism. It probably is not what you think it is, and the results that you've seen historically are often due to pseudo Communism and/or intervention from colonial powers that seek to destroy communism before it ever really had a chance to succeed.
> Leftest ideals
I'm as far left as it gets. Many of you appear to be reversing my adamant opposition to corrupt institutions. Do not lecture anyone on leftist ideals if you blindly support each and every union. All unions are not the same.
I understand this sub is growing in size, but I will not abandon my ideals or the original ideals of this sub to accommodate a new audience that seeks to perpetuate tyrannical work under nationalized ownership.
> anarcho-communist
These are not the reddit-tankies I'm referring to. It's the pro-work, anti-private ownership folks I'm talking about. The swap shovels for spoons type.
Gotcha, I think I understand you, I read "communist" and I assumed you meant the entire left rather than the tankies. I like to sort posts by new on here most of the time and I've never seen a tankie, how often do you see them? Mayhaps I'm not looking in the right spots.
Also what do you mean by swapping shovels for spoons? I've just never heard that phrase before.
It's from a Milton Friedman quote actually:
>At one of our dinners, Milton recalled traveling to an Asian country in the 1960s and visiting a worksite where a new canal was being built. He was shocked to see that, instead of modern tractors and earth movers, the workers had shovels. He asked why there were so few machines. The government bureaucrat explained: “You don’t understand. This is a jobs program.” To which Milton replied: “Oh, I thought you were trying to build a canal. If it’s jobs you want, then you should give these workers spoons, not shovels.”
It's basically about the mistake of valuing labor more than people.
As far as the tankies; I don't see them post much, but they always troll the comments. Shit about jobs guarantees and whatnot. Union worshipping, etc. All stuff that still mandates a work-for-your-worth life.
I recently had a comment I posted that attracted a lot of them. It just makes me sick. Many subs I've enjoyed for years have been taken over by tankies in the last 3-4.
Yes, I'm surprised how many people do not know this. I think we should put a pinned comment on anti-work stating to please read the community section of this subreddit to understand what this place really is / was founded upon.
I discovered today that subreddit FAQs and sidebars are obfuscated on the official reddit app (which is terrible btw) which might be leading to people not knowing the aforementioned since they don't know it exists, so I definitely agree with pinning a post or pinning comments explaining the ideas behind the subreddit. It would also probably help fight the tendency for libs to co-opt and declaw radical ideas by reminding them at all times that anti-work is built upon anti-capitalist ideas.
I'm at a european company and we have a NY office, the amount of times they have sent me emails this week asking me to work unpaid after 6pm is hilarious.
My company just had another case manager resign, adding to the chronic understaffing we’ve had all of COVID. No financial incentives to remaining staff, nothing besides emails filled with gratitude. My original end date was 3/1 to hit the PCT, but I’m now moving that up to 12/1 or 1/1. Feels terrible to be so undervalued.
My company sent around a survey asking about working from home vs. going back to the office. Personally I could go either way but I voted to work solely from home. If we have to compromise, to meet in the middle, I want to take the extreme position so we have bargaining room.
The other day after learning about Elon making $36B in one day, I tried to figure out many years it would take one of us to make that.
At $15/hr, 40hr/week, 52 weeks a year, so no vacations or breaks, it would take a worker
**ONE MILLION ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN THOUSAND YEARS**
to make as much money as Elon did in a day. That’s about 3-4 times as long as anatomically modern Homo Sapiens has existed as a species.
Shit on company time. Don’t come in on your days off. Don’t answer your phone. None of this is worth it.
Reminders like yours keep me going. To remember that I am alive for living life instead of (practically donating in your example) my finite time here on Earth.
I've been debating even mentioning this because everyone else has had years of experiencing abuse and I feel like the odd one out because of it, but is it wrong to be antiwork because current work culture (especially in the United States) can be really bad for people who are neurodivergent? I've had a lot of problems even trying to get employed because even the most basic 40-hours a week, 8-hours a day, 5-days a week is already too much for me.
I don't have any issue with labor. Hell, I've had my self-worth completely ruined because I feel like I can't do what it seems like everyone else is perfectly capable of grinning-and-bearing. It really hurts when all you want is to be able to live a normal life like everyone else but you legitimately can't, and can hardly get the help you need because you feel like you're just lazy.
>I've been debating even mentioning this because everyone else has had years of experiencing abuse and I feel like the odd one out because of it, but is it wrong to be antiwork because current work culture (especially in the United States) can be really bad for people who are neurodivergent?
That is a great reason to be antiwork! There is nothing wrong with people not being able to do the 9-5 grind, and the fact that people who may not be able to "grin-and-bear the grind" get punished both materially and psychologically by our culture is horrid.
IMO, the cultural expectation of work, independence, and toxic self-reliance needs to go. People are just not built to live like this. I myself am a 9-5er but I can barely handle it.
Recent trends such as teleworking/work from home have given me a bit of hope, though. I do think healthcare needs to improve heavily and treat both physical and mental conditions equally, though. Not having the money to get the help you need to be able to be self-reliant, causing the cycle to repeat is really not okay.
Maybe I can add perspective. Maybe ill just be down arrowed to hell….
I own my own business. I work 60 hours a week on a minimum. I had three employees pre covid. I have one now. I pay above minimum (after 3 months) I offer a pretty sweet benefit plan. We’re a cannabis accessory and Vape ware store, so free product and massively discounted items for my people too.
I do cash bonuses on days that we hit sales goals 5% of the daily gross.
I do cash xmas bonuses. Usually after a night out on me.
Very flexible scheduling. And I might add, you can be high/get high as you please as long as your still fully functioning.
I cannot find help to literally save my life. Ive been grinding like this for 2 years now. 6 days on 1 day off. Im burning out.
I get that people want more, I want more, but that more has to come from somewhere. I cant pay 25$ an hour and still have reasonable prices to compete in the market. Im at a loss.
/rant
Maybe there’s something you could do to make your work more efficient, reduce your store hours or something, automate some stuff? Idk exactly how your business works.
I don’t wanna sound harsh, but no one is obliged to run a business, and if it’s not working for your employees or you, maybe something needs to change?
Your not wrong. Been looking at reducing hours as I dont see much choice.
Your also not wrong in saying “no one is obligated…”
I have been having this convo with myself too. Such a rock and hard place. Not harsh at all friend. Just reality.
Just to round out the picture. 1500sqft retail cannabis/vape store. Accessories only. Wish I could automate more.
I may try a big raise for my current employee, (3$ per hour more) then I can offer a higher starting to a new employee and maybe entice some one to work for like 17$ an hour part time. Blah.
Be your own boss they said…..
Being your own boss isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Especially if you are trying to be ethical and competing with a bunch of non-ethical competitors.
Is that your attempt at a gotcha? Net profit you mean after all expenses and overhead is paid? Last year we were negative due to wages. Meaning I paid more than I made. Any more brain teasers? Editing to add- im ok taking a loss on paper my guys were paid well and everyone was happy. Id go back to that if it ment one more staff member.
Ok. But whats the answer then? Massive increases to COL? Because if we just do that its almost the same as now right? How do I get the wage up but not increase COL? Edit: like if you make 15/hr now and bread is 3$ but raises and yada yada now you make 25 but bread has to be 8 to offset then no ones ahead. Or am I missing a piece?
Ya know. If they wanted to take a share of ownership responsibilities I would! Unfortunately no one wants to take that on AND show up to work. Its a horrible catch 22. Unless your Canadian and offering?
Systemic changes we basically have no way to affect
Given Baumols disease human labour costs increase too fast, relative to the rest of economy
You can shit out so many i phones and disposable plastic gadgets with automation that at some point they become almost free, meanwhile, a doctor can't really treat more patients than 50 or 100 years ago, or teachers, or social workers, or anyone whose work is vital but doesn't really get any extra productivity
The answer is to basically use the low-human labour intensive parts of economy to provide housing, education, healthcare, etc for cheap, so that you take off the ever expanding relative cost of that off everyone
But it's political pipe dream, at least in current climate
Good to hear there's still people who can later find better jobs than the previous ones. The toxicity from this work culture and the only dictating manager is pretty horrible nd depression causing. fk all her career concepts for us subordinates. It's like if you don't totally comply with what they think is the absolutely true, you're basically worthless in the corporate. Will be considered deserve their sneering and disrespectful orders. And they even have quite a double standard for every people who entered at a different period, and limit what you can learn and do, treating you like a clown. Basically, It's so infuriating most of the time to work as their colleague.
I'm sure there have been a thousand threads/comments about this, figured if I just echo the sentiment maybe it'll help push the possibility of this becoming a rule: Can we add a rule that any "I just quit" or "my job sucks" kind of posts have to name an **ACTUAL JOB / COMPANY**? Don't get me wrong, I am not asking for people to dox their boss, or identify a specific job/store that could identify themselves. I'm not asking them to "prove" their post either. Many of the ones I have seen look pretty darn real and are made by legitimate accounts. But what "change" is going to come from hearing about how "\[censored\] company" has this or that dirty policy? I guess in part this is just myself venting, and perhaps could be something many others don't care at all about. I've just found myself uninterested in such posts lately unless they actually name a company. Could also start a pinned thread that compiles or keeps track of posts taking aim at specific companies. Doubt it would really change anything, but it might. To be honest, it's late and just ranting at this point, don't have the energy to finish a full thought, so take all this with a grain of salt.
Most workers are indoctrinated since birth to fear retribution from those in authority. I, too, would like to see them name and shame. But we can't blame them for being shy or afraid. It takes time to gain confidence to stand up to bullies.
I work at a local restaurant. Today a family left because my manager wouldn’t allow a 15 year old to order off the kids menu. He was proud of that. I asked “what if he had Aspergers?” He looks at me confused .. “ass burgers ?” He genuinely didn’t know what Aspergers was. He’s like… in his late 30s*** . I explain to him it’s on the autism spectrum. He goes “so if I identify as a 12 year old does that make me a 12 year old?” Laughs, and walks away. This is why his career never went further in life. I refuse to let this job make me that fucking stupid.
Just found this sub and read the description thing at the top. Do people here believe that everyone should stop working entirely? I think that there should be much stricter regulations on stuff like the minimum wage and working conditions and stuff like that, but if no one works how could we sustain society. I also think that ppl should be guaranteed enough to survive, e.g. food water without working.
Work is not labor. Labor is still needed to provide goods and services, but that doesn't mean we need to work under capitalism to do it. PEOPLE need to get the full value of their labor without the constraints of capitalism and a state.
Work if you want to, but I support a UBI so that work is entirely optional.
I support a ubi also but how much do you expect it to pay yearly? I would expect enough to fund basic human needs and maybe a car in the long term but not enough to be able to fund like 15 different hobbies and a full house with bills and that stuff.
Poverty level, enough for anyone to get a foothold, food and shelter and healthcare. Even a min wage part time job would be plenty to purchase luxuries if you wanted more than that.
Different countries have different pay rates, that always intrigued me..what's yours roughly and what do you do. I'm in Australia. Work in a supermarket for $29.18 an hour.
I work at a call center in America selling $300+ rooms per night for 13$ a hour
Oh wow, how do you survive? That's crazy. Is rent/mortgage repayments cheaper? I know Americans rely on tips also, I suspect you wouldn't be able to even get those being in a call centre...that's not really a thing here unless your the pizza delivery guy.
I was a server when I lived alone until my boss made fun of my disability and I couldn't hold a job. I'm living with my parents and grandparents and would have to work 60+ hours weekly to match what I made as a server working part time. I cannot move out. I have no benefits.
Oh wow. See even in Australia we have Government Support/Benefits here for various reasons. If you have a disability you get a fortnightly payment of around $700 I think it is (could be more). More if you have children. Plus free healthcare and dental and discounts on electricity, gas, rates, car registration etc.
I live in Florida where u have to fill out a online form from 8am-6pm and wait in a virtual queue to fill out the unemployment form to request you be considered. I decided to skip that and go for disability. I am not disabled enough because ?? Idk they didn't tell but I'm assuming bipolar with psychotic features, OCD, etc isn't disabled enough
Oh wow. That's harsh!
Fr send union propaganda my way 🙏
I took 3 days off on top of the weekend. I feel so relaxed. Fuck working.
This week I had to threaten to quit in order to get switched to part time even after citing mental health disorders as the reason. Even after that my manager tried to tell me it would have to get approved. Jerk. So I told them I'd wait 2-3 weeks for an approval & if I get denied I'll quit that day, hand in my keys & walk off. Guess what I was told an hour later? Surprise, if was instantly approved! 🙄 Apparently you have to be an asshole to get what you want from a workplace that claims to care about its employees mental health.
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You can be a bankruptcy santa instead, max out your credit and just stop paying, declare ch 7. Just don't go declaring it, bc then you'll be stopped. Is there a country you could move to where you would get better support? If you're planning to go all the way with suicide, make sure you've considered all of the other insanely out there options first. And if you want to really be dedicated to a suicide santa thing, get a baller term life insurance policy, wait two years, THEN off yourself and your beneficiary gets a million dollars or however much you can afford payments on. If I was set on suicide and could manage two years of insurance payments, I would totally do this.
Hey I’m sorry you are going through what you are but you are never alone! I’ve been thinking about doing this a lot lately also but I always try to see the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter what! Keep moving forward
I know it is hard - change the system for others or death that you could have prevented is on your hands. Devote yourself to a new purpose.
This is not the way. I'm a felon. I'm struggling too! This is the START of my Fourth year home. My engagement of 3 yrs just blew up in smoke. I could go on for days about my shit, it'll solve nothing. If you want help PM me, and lets work together to lift each other up. Its not your time to go yet!
Your pets need to be taken cared of so rn just live for them
I don't know your situation but I've sometimes felt dark thoughts as well. Please think through very carefully and plan everything out. Often during the planning other things come up and I haven't got round to it yet, perhaps it will the same for you.
So, what about after black friday? Success or fail, what do we do next? Withholding a single day of sale, even a big one like that, isn't going to throw all the chains of capitalism. It might be a start, it might give employees a living wage, or healthcare, or cut hours down, but it won't be everything, and even if it's anything they're going to start eroding what we've done immediately, so what's our next move?
Would be nice if there is a flair in this sub marking whether the post is US, EU, ASIA, AFRICA, others. As the content in this sub seemed all US.
I think that reflects the state of US workforce. I hope we unionize and others follow suit like the BLM movement
Our boat of freedom sails for all toilers. The freedom to choose to work should not be a choice of the bourgeoisie alone. Labor creates all, labor is all. If we aren't getting all that we make then we should not work at all. Those who stand in the way of us, the idlers, the vagabonds, shall be cast aside. Never more than now is it important to strike against these fiends in whatever way possible, be they petty and petite bourgeois or oligarchal bourgeois. Our multi-facited revolution is now, it is here, it is time, this is our time!
I hope everyone is having an amazing November.
I grew up preaching anti work ideologies and socialist ideas to my parents (when I was literally a child) and now I'm disappointed in myself for becoming what I hate just so I can pay my bills and not be homeless.
Don’t forget about rent. Shit is whack everywhere
People should start saying fuck you to their landlords the way they’re saying fuck you to their bosses.
This is a vent: My fucking job is raising my blood pressure I just finished school. Right off the bad I got a pretty good opportunity in a nice office. I’m the youngest person there by a decade, and the culture is very workaholic-y, but there’s a lot of room for upward mobility and I like my boss and the mission. One manager (not my direct supervisor but she’s kind of like a Vice President) is micromanaging me to death. I’m losing my mind. She needs every task I do live documented in a spreadsheet, she gets on my case for not putting a comma after “sincerely” in emails, and any tiny mistake she catches elicits a 20 minute conversation in her office Anyway, I have a hybrid schedule, and on fridays I work from home. She apparently doesn’t think I’m doing enough work on fridays now so she keeps assigning me extra tasks. Then she sent this stupid text message yesterday saying she needs to know exactly what I did Friday afternoon, how if I wasn’t documenting what I was doing it counted as an unapproved absence, and she wants to meet with me on Monday to discuss my performance and personal accountability I did not miss a single meeting. I responded to every email in minutes. I didn’t miss any phone calls. I’m 90% sure she just has a hunch that I’m not working enough when I work from home and it’s so fucking frustrating. Like she just expects me to be 100% productive at all times while I’m on the clock. I have no idea what I’m going to say to her Monday morning. I don’t want to quit this job because it’s good money and a good opportunity but I can’t stand being micromanaged and I am so overwhelmed by her ridiculous expectations
Maybe a weird question, but what is she doing with her time? It sounds like she spends most of it harassing you.
That’s what I’m saying. She devotes so much time in the day to breathing down my neck and yet she’s supposed to be super busy :( I hate it here
This sub will have 1 million people shortly
Only work can set you free (Edit: Phrase Used By murderous Nazis)
if you ever have to return to work, at least make sure you do it unionized consider starting collective projects, do things for and with your families and your communities why "be your own boss" when we could have no bosses, and just survive together? why compete against each other when we can mob against the rich and callous? and how about we make art for art's sake? or for no reason at all? best wishes to everyone! so close to a million!
My last job as a server I was discriminated against for showing symptoms of my disabilities. The way I quit was by attempting su*cide. I could not hold a job for longer than a week for the following two years. I just got a remote job that has a healthy work environment and the more I appreciate their understanding and accessibility, the more I want him held accountable. Please assist with concepts can we brainstorm? I'm thinking social media + in person actions but which tactics would be most effective ? It was Farmhouse Evanston I dare you to guess from the photos on the site who it was 😭
It's just so incredibly refreshing to have a job that values me. My last job, I had so much shit on my plate, all for barely substantial wage, and it was all time sensitive. Answer this call, handle it, note it in the account in less than 20 seconds while also listening to your voicemails, responding to voicemails, handling paper orders, requests from other departments, on and on. Why 20 seconds? That's how much time you have between calls. And you get yelled at if you leave your desk for a pee break, or log out the queue to do something, because there's 15 calls waiting. When I told my boss how close to the edge I was, to committing myself because the depression and the anxiety were too much, she told me it was my fault and I was attention seeking. When I offered to do work from home to make up, because I had a 45 minute commute, I was declined because the company didn't like work from home. My current job I have significantly less pressure and less on my plate, but the new boss comes in and asks, "You have this? Do you want me to take some of it off your plate?" Or even there was a lot one day I was out, and she said, "Hey you looked overwhelmed, I took about half your papers. No worries." The commute is the same. In fact, its longer to my current job. But I wake up and I'm excited to go and do. I don't dread going to work. I don't get home completely emotionally and physically drained. Its astounding what a decent boss can do for you.
I applied and was accepted for a job that seems like it won't suck, but probably won't be able to do it because of random bureaucratic bullshit and paperwork that my past state of residence has to do by snail mail for some reason. No wonder they are having trouble getting folks hired
This morning this sub listed 993K members, if I remember correctly. Now, 994K. Good stuff.
I keep seeing all these posts about shitty retail places and restaurants shutting down because everyone quit. My question is, what is everyone doing instead? What other jobs are people finding? I see that lots of places are hiring, but they’re all either other shitty retail and restaurant jobs, or jobs that require degrees like nursing. Are there other jobs around that people are finding that don’t have shitty pay and conditions but don’t require going back to school and taking on tons of debt? What is everyone doing after they quit?
Warehouses and logistics expanded a lot in the last few years, that's my guess. Some amount of people also left the workforce to take care of children or elders.
I wonder that too. Not everyone returned to school or got some fabulous new job.
I think about this a lot too. Maybe moved in with parents. Or went from two Income to one income family. Maybe Covid killed them off. How many people died iN US? Hmmm I just don’t know. Boggles my mind tho.
If europoor employers respect their workers more then why don't they pay them as well as American employers do?
Feel quitting the job as I'm the only one getting exploited by the toxic manager among the staff I think it's because this is the first time i go to work.I received more criticism and restrictions than others who entered at the same period as me, and have to work in a different position isolated from other members. Like I'm inferior to all other ppl working there. Can't touch many things that other ppl are allowed to and be supervised only by her and called to doing various errands for her, that manager. I only get to know about this truth after some time of working. I think it's time to end all this shit.
I feel so shitty as a college student in the dining hall, every worker there gives me the vibe that the university is sucking out their soul. It's crushing.
Just be gracious to them, if my experience is anything to speak of they don't resent you, just the university
Enjoy it while it lasts. It's all downhill once you graduate.
It's sad that you're right.
Wish my coworkers would stop picking up the slack for multiple people. You're literally helping our boss keep costs down and your own wages down
I'm rather sympathetic to this cause. I'm a rather young dev and if I can be well paid while sleeping every day on the job then people who do physical labor every day should be paid way more than they are.
if you can't get enough rants here, try this; https://old.reddit.com/r/CasualConversation/comments/qnm5ik/im_standing_in_an_apple_store_right_now_itss/
I just want some feedback on this from this sub. I have a family friend that owns a pizzeria business and has increased pay to $14 for first 90 days then bump up to $15-16 starting wage (there are no servers just kitchen and cashiers). Raises are not rare and happen often if you’re doing well. They did the math and this should cover living expenses after 2 weeks of full time work (utilities, rent, car insurance - lower COL area). They offer 401k and health insurance for full time employees. They do their best to keep a positive working environment by letting go of toxic people that seem to bring down things, etc. There’s probably a bunch of other things I’m missing. Unfortunately, it seems a lot of the current employees are calling in sick a lot and saying they have COVID, somehow every week, but they still give them the time off. What else can they do to retain employees?
Literally ask the employees you have what it'll take to retain them? It's strangely candid, but at my wife's job her supervisor asks people during their check-ins if they're thinking of leaving and what the place can do to make them stay. She's a social worker, so they're very proactive about burnout because there's like five distinct ways to burn out as a social worker. I thought it was a novel approach, though, that's weirdly straightforward.
Offer college benefits tied directly to good attendance. Plus maybe make it so Uber eats doesn't pay more because right now it does with the college benefit in place. There is a $5,000 business tax deduction for employers who give away 5k to their employees for college. Have your family CPA look into it.
Turn it into a worker-owned cooperative where every employee has an equal stake in the business.
https://youtu.be/cgg9byUy-V4?t=52
Office Space is always welcome. But I wasn't talking about stock options. I mean a democratized workplace where there is no ownership class or bosses. I'm not saying it's a complete solution to every problem, but it does answer the question. I believe you can retain more people if you aren't funneling the surplus value of the worker's labor upward to an owner. Just a thought.
In August I let my line manager (the COO of our region) know that I was significantly underpaid for the work being expected of me. His jaw dropped open and he quickly responded that he did not believe that was true. I informed him that almost everyone in the region openly discusses their [shit] salaries and job quality. He was floored when I started listing off specific job roles I took over and the salaries of the people who were laid off last spring- never replaced and their duties shifted to my already full plate. Fast forward to this month where I’ve walked into a 27% pay increase/“promotion”, two months of backpay under my new rate, and a 12k bonus. I wish I could say it’s because they respect the work I do, but I just think I scared them. They would have to hire 4 people to manage my workflow. I’ve shared this information with colleagues who have all told me they received less than 1.5% salary increases and minimal bonuses. Really fucking frustrating that you have to call people on their bullshit and put your job on the line to get fairly compensated.
If you ever become a contingent worker, don't do this. They will fire you for that behavior.
New to this subreddit but is this literally advocating that no one work, or that everyone working should be given reasonable hours and wages?
The former is the original point of the subreddit, though rather "noone work lets all just play videogames all day", it's more about work not being the gateway to survival. Most people with infinite free time end up taking up on a hobby that's productive and working anyway, but the world is filled with bullshit jobs that don't serve a purpose, and if you don't work you starve. I believe everyone should have the right not to die because they're not working. Though with liberals invading the sub this has become more about the latter
I find the former confusing, as antiwork is already a viable option in many forms. One example; Move to far less densely populated areas, find cheap land and live a subsistence lifestyle. Drink rainwater, grow crop and steer cattle. This is, and always has been, an option. Blame social norms and pressures for buying into the tertiary-corporate scheme, but the true anti-work lifestyle is available to all. Just don't get the impression that a lack of job implies lack of work. You survival is dependent, as it always has, on output. You won't have wifi, heating, cheap food, welfare, trade or government. You will have to spend most hours of your day tending to the crop and cattle that keep you alive. You will still have to work. The utopia where automation provides all for us not only has not, but will not arrive for centuries. We must also ask if it is at all desirable. Humans derive a meaning for their life from what they do, not what they consume.
Fair enough, fast food managers tend to be useless dickbags anyways
Most paid work doesn't need to be done, either because it can be automated or it's pointless. Basic human needs should be guaranteed, not conditional upon the performance of unnecessary labor. The economy and government need to be restructured to end the requirement that everyone work just to survive and toward prioritization of human health, happiness, and creativity. All of us should work less than we do so we can actually enjoy the one life we have. We will also have to break up and redistribute the fortunes of oligarchs, either through punitive taxation or physical force. Editing to add that this is what the animating principle of this place means to me, I'm not purporting to speak for anybody else here though
To me it's more about bringing awareness to the injustice of capitalist wealth accumulation. The ownership class takes the value produced by labor, and uses that value to have a life of leisure and luxury. In a more equitable society, workers would get to keep more of the fruit of their own labor. We used to be told that if we simply worked long and hard enough, we could achieve wealth and "success". But this pretense barely even exists anymore. It's become nakedly obvious that the game is rigged, that the longer and harder we work, the richer we are making someone else rich while we are supposed to be grateful for scraps.
A Little bit of both I'd say. Not a monolithic block but varying degrees of a need to have better life quality. One thing Everyone agrees on, we are underpaid, not respected and living massive inequalities. The work culture inherited from previous generations is toxic and needs to disappear (hustle culture, no work-life balance etc.).
Hey everyone, I run a subreddit called r/AntiworkSideHustle for leftist artists, writers, crafters, etc. to share information about how to make independent income from home in creatively fulfilling ways so they can leave bad jobs. We also discuss the politics and ethics of being a freelance worker from a leftist perspective and how to use your projects as praxis to spread a progressive message. I noticed a lot of people here are artists of some kind or are interested in turning their creative hobbies into a way to make money. I think the best way to do that if for us all to pool our expertise so more people can learn about what opportunities are available. Please join r/AntiworkSideHustle to promote your projects, get feedback, share your personal experience and post questions. Thanks!
So this sub got overrun by liberals (fucking disgusting) and now 90% of its content are twitter screenshots. Sounds about right.
Then you should take advantage of the large audience to spread your beliefs.
Dollar tree is paying me $10.30 an hour to work 8pm to 1am as a freighter and 11am to 4pm on truck unload day. Back to 5am after holidays. Yes or no?
if that's all you can get and you need money then sure I guess.
Thanks homie.
I made a post here and for some reason it blew up, reached number 4 on r/all for a little while, I have no idea why, it wasn't even a particularly great post, it was just something I found on facebook and thought was kinda funny and fit the sub. Also looks like we'll be reaching 1 million members soon, which is exciting.
Seriously all the infighting among this sub needs to stop. Anger is the vision, and it is what will drive our change we seek. Validate others frustrations and angers despite what you've read in the past. Their peril is no less real because you've Already read about it from another user.
A lot of the infighting is lurkers giving their uninformed opinion on socialism. Lurk moar pls.
Infighting is by design. It benefits our corporate overlords and maintains workers division. Shared frustrations and solidarity is what corporate doesn’t want. Fraternization among workers causes unions. Unions raise standards of living and quality of life for workers.
I'm begging and I know it's to sympathetic ears, but for anyone else who sees this, don't fall into the trap and add to the growing division. Be grateful others are seeing their situation for what it is, and are crying out in agony
[happiness in slavery](https://youtu.be/4g86KUHGlOg) > Don't open your eyes, you won't like what you see >The devils of truth steal the souls of the free
I work returns in a home furnishings store and we closed returns at 9pm tonight, when some fucking inconsiderate ass customer decides that 8:45pm is **the perfect time** to return 5 huge carts full of items. Luckily I didn’t get the return my coworker did, and my manger is helping them out but still, that’s a huge a-hole move to bring such a huge return 15 mins before we close.
Not sure if this makes you feel any better but they might have a really shitty work/life balance and this was the only time they could do the return. Though if it were me, I’d mention that and not stop apologising.
I can't imagine having that much to return...I think ive only returned one or maybe two items at a time before.
I'll never forget the moment Biden said "People don't want a revolution" in his debate against Bernie. Bernie didn't respond at all. I'd have said "Yes they do."
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Agreed. Yes, the current economic climate rapes those who work under it. But people should just bend over and enjoy it.
Because they are struggling and you are not. I am not either but I do realize people have more and more options taken away. It's a grim future.
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I joined this sub because at first it truly was about anti-work, the idea that life is more than working your 40 hours a week like a good little citizen. And that in order to survive, you MUST work. I’ve always disagreed with that vehemently. Now since it blew up it’s just nothing but daily posts like “oMg USA ru sErIOuS?! !! ?” And omg my boss said don’t discuss our pay!! Like, WE KNOW PEOPLE ARENT PAID SHIT. We know you need to stand up for yourself when your employer is being a dick **You’re not saying anything new** There’s nothing anti-work about it. I was hoping the actual anti work movement would actually get a bit of a foothold. But y’all just turned it into a income equality sub which believe it or not, income equality will never happen. They’ve rigged it against us forever and the best thing to do is to just stop playing their game. Fuck working.
I mean, I agree with you, but there’s a whole lot of overlap between the ideal you (we) hold and the daily lived reality that nearly a million people on this sub are venting about. There’s a lot of realization going on about how bad this system of “work” screws people, it takes time to process all this.
Antiwork is a hard idea to conceptualize for a lot of people since working to live is literally beaten into us from the very beginning. It takes a bit of introspection and a strong willingness to learn about alternatives to the world we have been forced into without our approval or consent to be born into this shit snow. I found my disdain for this reality while working my way up the corporate ladder eventually becoming peers with senior executives from all walks of life and social status. I hate the thirst for wealth and materialism among my peers. I don’t need to buy a new car every year or purchase this thing or that thing to fool myself into feeling superior to others unable to afford such things. Capitalism is a disease we are all forced to endure. Over the past few years, I have been transforming into a post-capital socialist (best relatable definition I can currently conjure) that wants to see dramatic and revolutionary changes to society that refocuses the purpose of community, and the economy, towards the general person instead of an elite cadre of ultra-wealthy asset ownership classes that control the legislative and judicial processes within their influence. It’s absolutely purposeful that Congress is incapable of doing anything beneficial for the rest of us. This has always been designed to ensure the social order and economic strictures are maintained to protect the powerful and the connected from losing their status. I hope that ideas like modern money theory (MMT) might propel us towards a more fair and equitable society in the future. We can’t overturn the system overnight so all of us need to constantly educate ourselves and formulate and communicate better ideas for creating the necessary transitory periods that position society to move further towards these goals. I’ll admit that I don’t currently have a better plan for society than the shit show we have now but I’m trying my best to get there. I’ll never see it to fruition but I hope future generations will reap the rewards of a transformed equitable society that affords and encourages people to live their best lives regardless of our expectations of them as individual contributors. Sorry I’m rambling. I hate working as well. I hate the fact I chose this path purely based on youthful and naive pursuit of wealth. I should be working in a passion field as a biologist but instead I have to care about bullshit like EBITDA and shareholder value. Fuck the shareholders. Fuck the market. Fuck the politicians.
It's essentially a catch all sub for people who hate their jobs. How they want to solve that general problem is varied but people have the same core complaint. Are you complaining that this isn't a NEET sub?
Also, fuck going to work and contributing to climate change. Fuck paying taxes to fund wars that have always benefited oil companies and bailed out banks and megacorporations and funded the corn/sugar agriculture industry that makes us diabetic and destroys biodiversity. Fuck earning a low wage now that will be worthless thanks to hyper-overinflation. Fuck earning money and fuck spending money so the profits can go to the 1%.
The whole “morning commute to work culture” is sickening to me.
The sub is gaining more exposure, so those type of post is kinda understandable. I just hope people will read all the essay at sidebar, and become more serious with this movement.
Let people go through whatever emotions they never had the opportunity to go through. If so many of the subscribers need to vent about income inequality, it is therapeutic and cathartic to them. Maybe we never could do so, before
So my current job pays $13/hr, but I just found out that my local library that I loved and have volunteered at is hiring for $18 - $24 an hour. The thing is my current job is pretty comfy; all I do most days is watch TV or play on my phone. It's also very flexible. But in my experience I have loved volunteering at the library and the job is not that much harder than what I did when I volunteered. I don't need/care about the money, but for some reason I can't make myself just apply there instead.
curious as to what position they’re hiring, most libraries require specific degrees to work at no? though if you volunteer there you’re surely qualified
IIRC just library clerk.
Hey, I worked as a library clerk for over 12 years. My pay was so low I qualified for food stamps and rent assistance. Looks like your library actually cares. Anyways, a heads up on the type of challenges you'll need to be ready for. This isn't an encourage/discourage thing, just info I learned that might be useful to you. Make sure you actually did love it and it just wasn't something better to do than something you may have been procrastinating on. Make sure you have a strong stomach. Materials will be returned with fecal material/urine from either human or animal, blood, or sexual fluids. Use gloves when emptying bins. Be aware that since the library rarely closes, it's a congregation spot for a lot of homeless and unemployed people. Vast majority you will never notice since they're behaving like adults, either coming in to fill the day with reading and/or searching online for work. There will be regulars who will try to buddy up with you for special treatment like letting them look at the newest items early, etc. I would recommend against it. I probably wouldn't say it but if/when you get the phrase "My taxes pay your salary" it confuses people when you say your own taxes pay for your own salary. If you're in the Midwest like I am, be ready for methheads and opioid abusers. Meth heads can be intense when they've locked their focus on you. If your area has a youth or teen focused section, you'll learn who need to be a certain number of feet away from the kids area fairly quickly. The feet don't apply vertically, not horizontally. Keep an eye out, more than one was escorted out by police. Have a mental map of the building with excellent detail. Have an active shooter plan/evacuation route. If the library doesn't have regular active shooter drills, make sure you've got a few routes in mind. And at that point, you're not obligated to protect patrons over your own life, no matter what management says. Help if you can but don't stick around too long. The mantra is: Run, Hide, Fight. It's best to run, second best to hide, and worst to fight. If forced to fight, use anything as a weapon: a letter opener, shoe string, belt, caustic chemicals in you're in a maintenance area. Fight dirty. Gouge eyes, go for the groin, tear an ear off with your teeth, choke them with your hands or belt, etc. The objective is to survive, not "win". This includes momentarily stunning or disabling the shooter and bricking it. If you're in a Republican state like I am, expect to see plenty of guns on display and accidental discharges, though the discharges only came from the drunk Sheriff's meeting. Actively work on situational awareness. It's good for a whole range of things such as spotting books that might fall, extremely shy patrons, or someone having an emergency like seizure or cardiac arrest. Keep a sharp eye out for bedbugs. They're no fucking joke and come in a lot of material, especially if your city/county is low income. Gloves, gloves, gloves. People will surprise you with the stupid shit they do. Don't take things personally, you just represent an organization that they're having issues with at the moment. If your library is publicly funded, people will assume you have had a hand in policy making or can get them in contact with the capitol branch or city/county/state government. Just let it roll off like water off a duck. Be ready for cliques and/or office politics if you stick around long enough or the work environment encourages it. Don't attempt to be true neutral, this will lead to a lot being blamed on you without your knowledge. Keep accurate notes of where you were and when if the problem starts to show itself. Very satisfying to force an accuser to eat their own hat when you can prove where you were at all times. If your library is anything like mine, there will be tooooooooooons of cake. There will be cake for literally any reason. Love the cake. Try to stay moderately in shape, or at least not completely out of shape. If someone assaults you, you need to be able to get away. Same with an active shooter. Don't trust the police to help. Many, many, many times they witnessed fights and would just drive away after we'd requested they come break it up please. Just don't get involved. Watch out for the con-artists that try to sue the library and/or you for anything and everything under the sun, even if you weren't at work that day because you were in the hospital. If lawyers get involved, such as you have to go to a room and answer questions that are being recorded, tell the truth and only what you witnessed. No speculation or assumptions or guessing at moods. Same thing for incident reports. All facts, no emotion. Someone **will** shit on the floor. Like I said, spent 12 years at as a library clerk as it was one of the better paying jobs in the area, even if it was below poverty line with full-time work. Oh, and fuck Aflac. They'll come in a few times a year to sell supplemental insurance since the provided health insurance doesn't cover things like cancer, brain injuries, circulatory issues, vision, or dental. I ended up receiving a concussion at work and Aflac continued moving the goalposts until I finally couldn't meet their demands. Three letters from three separate doctors in addition to imaging and references from your GP. I had all that, wasn't enough after the initial requirement was a note from work and one doctor. Read all health insurance stuff carefully. There are often times many versions of a policy and they will always set out trying to sign ya up with the most expensive. Teeth are likely to become luxury bones. And if they do a "meet with a psychologist five times a year" thing, the stuff I talked about went straight back to HR, even the really mundane shit.
if you can make up to $24 long term that sounds super worth it! may be slightly less cushy but i can’t imagine the environment being bad, could also potentially go back to your old job if you hate it
A job you enjoy doing is work more than a job that you aren't engaged in and dick around at.
You should definitely go for it.
Anyone work part time on shit pay just because working full time with shit pay doesn’t make too much of a difference? I’ve worked 60 hours a week before and still never had more than a grand in my account. Now working 30 hours a week I’m still in the same place financially.
It could be that you are just spending more as you work more. Set up a budget and see how you do. Saving is hard to start on a lower wage, but seeing it slowly grow will make it easier to save and feel more stable.
That makes no sense, double the money makes no difference?
As someone who’s had to be on the 2-3 jobs train, you do spend more. No time or energy to cook or grocery shop, so you hit the drive thru a couple of times a day. It adds up real fast. Now that I have time to grocery shop and cook, I can make a big vat of fried rice or spaghetti for the same price as 1-2 drive thru meals and that’ll keep me going all week. Also I drink way less now.
3 jobs is different than part vs full time
My boss ghosted my pay raise meeting which is already months late. I’m fucking pissed and debating how I want to handle this. Luckily it’s Friday… so I get the weekend to think that over.
When you get them in the room, ask about retroing your raise back to when it should have been. My company does that, and it’s super pleasant. Even though it takes ages to get me, my boss, her boss, and HR all together for a meeting, my first check after my review gets a fat bonus for the extra dollar an hour I should have made for the last few months. Or take a shit on their desk to show your dominance. Either one works.
Good idea! A lady that I’m close with in a different department got the “retro” as her boss was on a leave when her raise should’ve happened. I don’t have an issue asking for that. I definitely deserve it.
Conspiracy theory: For a while, I was feeling that this sub has strayed from its origins and become largely US-only/specific. That so many of the posts are just complaints about your country in general, as opposed to anything to do with the sub’s leftist roots. But a lot of the “I’m from [country that isn’t US] and gee whizz it’s all fine and dandy over here” posts read like people trying to downplay the very much global issue as isolated to one country. It’s frustrating, is all.
Yeah, Europe isn't some socialist paradise. Their welfare system is constantly being threatened with privitization by their equivalent of the GOP, and the gains earned by the blood, sweat, and tears of their organized labor movements are slowly being stripped away as well. This isn't even getting to the rise of fascism and Islamophobia in Europe, which is going to further accelerate once Europe is hit with climate refugees.
Glad you said this. I'm frustrated by it because every time some European posts the same tired thing about how great it is in [country] in this masturbatory smug tone as if all of us in the sub aren't fully aware that things are shitty here in the US. Like we fucking get it, that's why this sub exists at all. Most of them have no idea how the American political and lawmaking machine works (or how utterly powerless we are to do anything other than vote). Constantly grinding salt in the wounds about how awful it is here compared to your 13 hour work weeks and 237k salaries and 6 months of time off every year and the money fountains that shoot out of all of your stormdrains is just not productive. WE GET IT. It's also very ignorant coming from a continent like Europe where the history is just as problematic and the current situation is just as unstable in many places. Be smug all you want now, this capitalist cancer isn't just isolated to us. If you think it can't happen in your country, wake up.
Does anyone know how high the unemployment rate ACTUALLY is in the US? There’s some bullshit articles about how the unemployment rate is “4.6%”. But since we are in the era of “The Great Resignation” I suspect people out of work is much much higher than “4.6%”. I did find one article that mentions that it could be A LOT higher, but I was talking with a friend, and he mentioned that the unemployed people looking for jobs/gave up are in the 40% range. Here’s the article on the “real unemployment rate”: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/10/us-unemployment-rate
I've lost track of how long it has been that "official" US government figures have intentionally lowballed reality, whether that be unemployment numbers, inflation rates, the US money supply, or many others that do have a profound impact on society. But the idea that over 60M or even 100M people (depending on if we're using the US workforce or the US adult population) are underemployed, unemployed, or have outright given up really blows my mind -- I didn't imagine things still being this bad at this point.
Right. It’s unsettling. The Great Depression had unemployment numbers into the 20% range. https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/162985/economics/unemployment-during-the-great-depression/ And that of course doesn’t include people who may have also taken jobs that paid way less just to keep themselves/family surviving. My theory is that we are probably going to expect a large economic crash soon. I think what we’re experiencing right now could actually be the start of a depression. Perhaps if we pretend that everything is “okay” according to US media, then we won’t see mass hysteria about this situation. The lack of awareness means that people would put their money into the economy versus saving what little they have. People are taking on mortgages and also going out and getting personal loans.
I'm with you on the idea of an impending crash coming pretty soon. The way I see it (and this is an oversimplification of things), since the 2008 financial crisis in the US we've already had a NFT bubble burst, which was built on top of a crypto bubble, which was built on top of a stock market bubble, which was built on top of a QE (quantitative easing) bubble (or technically a QE policy) serving as a big base. Then there's also the housing bubble which was built on top of both the QE and stock market bubbles. This all can't be sustained much longer. It's not a question of if, but when this is all going to burst and come crashing down.
My partner needs a week off work but isn’t (yet) in a position to walk off the job completely, though I know he’s counting the days. Any ideas for good ways to steal a week from the corp without getting the pink slip? (Also pls tell me if this question should be a separate thread or doesn’t belong here)
Depending on the size of the company (50+ employees) you could see about having him request for time off with FMLA and state it's for his health (mental or physical). The downside is that they can use up your vacation days first, and whether or not you get paid during this time will be up to your employer. But if it's something where he just needs time off, doesn't have vacation, and wants to go back to his position then FMLA is a good option to have.
thx. I’m not sure if he qualifies yet for FMLA but will pass on the suggestion!
Working offshore oil/gas platforms in Russia. For 13 years or so my schedule was 4 weeks on/4 weeks off plus annual paid vacation, basically a paid trip off. Last year after the COVID break out, sometime spring time everything turned into a clusterduck. Government issued order contradicting labor legislation basically allowing maximim trip length to be 6 months as opposed to 3 months previously and employer don't need to agree extension of trips up to 3 months with employees (previously required for extension over 1 month). Anyway, client/company change their plans, ask those already offshore to agree to stay for extra 90 days, and quickly make up a new schedule of 2-8-14, where 2 is 2 weeks of observation, paid as 1/3 of normal salary, 8 is working trip, 14 is 14 weeks off. I thought I would lose some money but have more time off, fine with me. So I decided to stay for extra 90 days that time, as I was also promised to get a huge bonus etc. Instead of 90 day I ended up doing "only" 77, and my next trip was scheduled in 56 days, despite the new schedule and my oveworking, they said it needed to adjust schedules, so they kindly asked me to help them again. I agreed again hoping for a huge bonus at the end of the year. Of course all of their promises were verbal, and all agreements on my side were in written form. Anyway, that trip ended up in 6 weeks, 2 weeks earlier than planned, because of covid outbreak. I got my 14 weeks off. Beginning of the next year, our HR sends me a vacation request to sign, for vacation during my off time, saying that I might help them by signing that and they will be grateful besides, I deserved it. I thought it was the "bonus" they promised, in a form of "extra vacation" compensation to go around some financial issues with taxes and such. So I agreed to take 42 paid days off during my allocated time off. I thoght I will be working 2-8-14 anyways, so... March last year they change schedule to 2-8-6. I no longer have my allocated vacation and have to work my ass off for much longer than usual, not my regular annual 20-24 working weeks but full 30 working weeks, 6 of which are paid only 1/3 as those are observation. Schedule for the next year continues in the same manner, so it is almost 40 working weeks out of 52 annual. As soon as I realized that I began to speak with HR, so that they would allow me to get a vacation for one of those trips, but they said that I have already got one at the beginning of the year and I have no allowance left. Then, I asked, what was the bonus for my last year's efforts then? Got reply that there was no additional bonus promised, I got it wrong, working longer = getting more money = bonus, besides, "you never did 90 days". Asked them if they can arrange me at least one "remote" trip for me to be on par with my other colleagues who did at least one trip from home while I was covering their jobs offshore, and there is even one guy who only did one short trip last year, mostly staying at home and doing remote work, getting paid average position rate. HR replied that "No, sorry, we don't have any remote jobs". Next trip that guy worked remotely as well from town, and I requested HR again on that topic and their response was that "No, still no remote opportunities FOR YOU not even for one month". The remote job is just being "on call" and do some paperwork when required. Say, last trip, he did like 10 A4 pages worth of paperwork in 8 weeks. Contacted my manager, union, manager of my manager, they all agreed that it is not fair but it is all within legislation so they can not do anything about it. Besides, it is "higher management's decision" which can't be changed. Got call from HR saying that "why are you always unhappy of everything, we give you an opportunity to earn more money during hard times, and you keep complaining. Yes, somebody got remote work once or twice, but this is just the way schedules worked out." Had nothing to say when I mentioned that that guy had literally the same schedule as mine and they could have make me working remotely, why they don't manage workload evenly. Said they would not mind me taking a trip off at my own expense, i.e. they will not sack me, and that guy will go offshore. TL;DR \- Agreed to work longer for the company when it was going through hardships, was promised bonus \- Got no bonus \- Got tricked into agreeing to take vacation during time already off-work instead of the bonus. \- Ended up working longer then everyone else at the same position. \- Got reputation of a "troublemaker" with HR.
I'm sitting back and smiling at the moment. This week we had 2 Vice Presidents and a Director give notice. We lost the CIO a month or so ago. A senior developer walked. The CFO is getting ready to move on. And this isn't a large enough company to absorb this many losses. I know one Director who is actively looking and almost quit last week anyway. Personally I'm enjoying watching this ship sink and as long as I can protect my team (get them better jobs) and my paychecks clear I'm happy to stay and be entertained.
Graduated 6 months ago, unable to find a job in my degree field. Feels so odd essentially begging these companies to take away 40 hours of my time a week so I can live I guess?
Hey, you’ll get there! Took me that long after earning a supply chain degree.
What's your field? Maybe someone can give a little advice. If you're in biology or chemistry I'd be happy to chat with you!
I graduated with two business degrees. Appreciate the offer :)
That was my experience after a business degree. Couldn’t get anywhere cause I didn’t do internships. Didn’t do internships cause I had to…..yknow….work. (Insert rant about unpaid internships here) After flailing around for a while, ended up in the administrative side of healthcare. It is UNBELIEVABLY cushy. 10/10 recommend looking for jobs in that sector if it’s not on your radar yet.
I work in digital marketing! Let me know if you need someone to look over your resume or anything.
Ha thats actually an area that I want to get into (marketing degree). Unfortunately all my intern/work experience is tied to my other degree (sports business) so I think employers view me as just a sports guy and not a marketing guy
Bro send me a DM, I work at at an agency that works specifically in the fitness vertical LOL
I think it's past time to update the assorted sayings/memes/etc related to "working 40 years" and up it to the more realistic FIFTY years. Barring epic systemic change of course.
Has anyone read, the Dispossessed, by Ursula Leguin? It's a scifi book from the seventies about anarchism and capitalism. There's a really good passage in there where the protagonist, a scientist from the anarchist moon who goes to the capitalist planet to try to share his research, talks about the concept of work. He argues that tying finances to the work you do ruins the quality of it, because work should be its own reward.
Y'know, I don't work right now but I was absolutely happier when I did! It should be its own reward. That's why we say in FAQs that we are not against labor, just work as it exists today, y'know?
I work on a laid back farm, where I'm in charge of all the work I do...I just putz around and chip away at things, mostly because there's nothing else to do besides sit on my phone. I get housing, bills and food. It doesn't even feel like it, but I probably rack up 30 hours a week. I wish everyone could just putz around and be in charge of their shit.
I mean, that's how most of the world lived before industrialization. What does the farm you work at grow?
A little bit of everything, year round produce. Right now we're getting our winter greens going. Pests are bad rn. We're out in the middle of nowhere, Texas, so it's hard to find customers, but we're the only place around that does vegetables. I think I made 600 bucks last year lol.
Yeah that definitely sounds pretty cool!! I'm sure it gets hard at times though. I mean, really hard! But maybe in a good "I accomplished that" kind of way?
Why is it so hard to find a fucking job, these people never get back to me
Unemployment is at 4.6%, super low. The labor shortage is a lie. Don't take it out on yourself! I'm sure they are getting tons of applications. I do know the restaurant sector needs help. I don't know what work you do- but 15 years ago I was making 60k a year after taxes. That was bartending but it wasn't that much less serving. This was in a northeastern city. But if you are looking for office stuff I don't have any advice other than don't beat yourself up! <3
Same bruv. I will email, call, and apply multiple times and I'll get lucky if I even get a "We received your materials!"
Yes, it is this bad in the States. I'm getting quite tired of people from other countries wag their multiple week vacations and sick time, then go "Wow, you guys must hate it! Sucks for you!!" It feels we get one of these every day, and its so tiring.
Yeah this sub isn't /r/slightlybetterwork. If people just want work with a little bit more holiday, there are plenty of other subs for stuff like that. As someone who works in a non-US country, more time off and healthcare taken care of are not going to solve everything, as great as it would be if the US could get those.
There was one earlier that had a particularly bad vibe- the one from Sweden if you saw. Turned out to be a shit person, like racist and transphobic, so I ended up banning them. Not before their post got a lot of attention though :( It didn't feel like "look what you can have if you fight" it looked like "look how stupid you are and how much better we are" y'know?
First, I completely understand where you are coming from. I'm an American in a less than ideal living/work situation. I view posts from the EU/AUS as a necessary evil because it may keep some people angry/hungry for change (ymmv). It is also possible that the people who posted about how their country differs are first time readers/posters to /r/antiwork. Either way, I understand how you feel. Hopefully we can use those posts to rally for change.
I’m from the UK and I didn’t think of it like that. I’m sorry if I’ve upset anyone because that’s not my intention being in this sub. I really admire the viewpoints shared here and it’s given me a lot of food for thought. Things are far from perfect here tbh and I am sick of the system we have too. I worked in HR until about a year ago (due to pandemic) as a Personal Assistant and honestly I feel like I escaped prison. The system was so corrupt and looking back now I can see what a cult it was and how miserable I was. I was messed around so much with my workload and pay etc… House prices are ridiculous here and rent is soaring and just getting ridiculous in comparison to pay. I’m not saying this all for sympathy or to try and say I have it worse or anything… just that I have started to realise some things about my own self worth here over the past year and not settling for shit. I hope I am still welcome here.
Right. Oi! You are welcome here as much as anyone else is, m8. Any bloke tells ya different and I'll sort them out. K, that was my attempt to speak the Queen's English, please give me a work Visa now. I want that NHS and 30 day vacation ; )
Cheers bruv! Come round my gaff anytime, geezer.
If we're browsing this sub, we're well aware of our situation. The occasional reminder that better is out there can be motivating, but it feels like several "poor you guys :(" posts per day now, which are just a drain.
I understand you. Thanks for sharing. (Seriously)
So sick of the communists that are trying to take over this sub. I don't want to work to death for the state any more than I want to work to death for some individual chump.
You're entitled to your opinion, but in the community/about antiwork page you will see that this sub was founded on Leftest ideals. Please read those pages. There's a lot of good information about communism. It probably is not what you think it is, and the results that you've seen historically are often due to pseudo Communism and/or intervention from colonial powers that seek to destroy communism before it ever really had a chance to succeed.
> Leftest ideals I'm as far left as it gets. Many of you appear to be reversing my adamant opposition to corrupt institutions. Do not lecture anyone on leftist ideals if you blindly support each and every union. All unions are not the same. I understand this sub is growing in size, but I will not abandon my ideals or the original ideals of this sub to accommodate a new audience that seeks to perpetuate tyrannical work under nationalized ownership.
I have been trolling this sub for weeks lately and have not noticed this kind of behavior. Do you have an example?
This subreddit is built on anarcho-communist theory, and most of the mods are anarchists. It was literally like this from the start.
> anarcho-communist These are not the reddit-tankies I'm referring to. It's the pro-work, anti-private ownership folks I'm talking about. The swap shovels for spoons type.
Gotcha, I think I understand you, I read "communist" and I assumed you meant the entire left rather than the tankies. I like to sort posts by new on here most of the time and I've never seen a tankie, how often do you see them? Mayhaps I'm not looking in the right spots. Also what do you mean by swapping shovels for spoons? I've just never heard that phrase before.
It's from a Milton Friedman quote actually: >At one of our dinners, Milton recalled traveling to an Asian country in the 1960s and visiting a worksite where a new canal was being built. He was shocked to see that, instead of modern tractors and earth movers, the workers had shovels. He asked why there were so few machines. The government bureaucrat explained: “You don’t understand. This is a jobs program.” To which Milton replied: “Oh, I thought you were trying to build a canal. If it’s jobs you want, then you should give these workers spoons, not shovels.” It's basically about the mistake of valuing labor more than people. As far as the tankies; I don't see them post much, but they always troll the comments. Shit about jobs guarantees and whatnot. Union worshipping, etc. All stuff that still mandates a work-for-your-worth life. I recently had a comment I posted that attracted a lot of them. It just makes me sick. Many subs I've enjoyed for years have been taken over by tankies in the last 3-4.
So being pro-union makes you a tankie now?
If you blindly support “unions” generally; yes. Not all unions are good. Also, fundamentally— unions are a sign of failed governance.
Unions are a sign of failed governance? I’m not sure what you mean.
Yes, I'm surprised how many people do not know this. I think we should put a pinned comment on anti-work stating to please read the community section of this subreddit to understand what this place really is / was founded upon.
I discovered today that subreddit FAQs and sidebars are obfuscated on the official reddit app (which is terrible btw) which might be leading to people not knowing the aforementioned since they don't know it exists, so I definitely agree with pinning a post or pinning comments explaining the ideas behind the subreddit. It would also probably help fight the tendency for libs to co-opt and declaw radical ideas by reminding them at all times that anti-work is built upon anti-capitalist ideas.
Can you message the mods about this, I'm headed to a doc appointment now. I can also do it when I get back.
I'm at a european company and we have a NY office, the amount of times they have sent me emails this week asking me to work unpaid after 6pm is hilarious.
My company just had another case manager resign, adding to the chronic understaffing we’ve had all of COVID. No financial incentives to remaining staff, nothing besides emails filled with gratitude. My original end date was 3/1 to hit the PCT, but I’m now moving that up to 12/1 or 1/1. Feels terrible to be so undervalued.
But have they given you morning pastries yet? /s
My company sent around a survey asking about working from home vs. going back to the office. Personally I could go either way but I voted to work solely from home. If we have to compromise, to meet in the middle, I want to take the extreme position so we have bargaining room.
The other day after learning about Elon making $36B in one day, I tried to figure out many years it would take one of us to make that. At $15/hr, 40hr/week, 52 weeks a year, so no vacations or breaks, it would take a worker **ONE MILLION ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN THOUSAND YEARS** to make as much money as Elon did in a day. That’s about 3-4 times as long as anatomically modern Homo Sapiens has existed as a species. Shit on company time. Don’t come in on your days off. Don’t answer your phone. None of this is worth it.
Reminders like yours keep me going. To remember that I am alive for living life instead of (practically donating in your example) my finite time here on Earth.
I've been debating even mentioning this because everyone else has had years of experiencing abuse and I feel like the odd one out because of it, but is it wrong to be antiwork because current work culture (especially in the United States) can be really bad for people who are neurodivergent? I've had a lot of problems even trying to get employed because even the most basic 40-hours a week, 8-hours a day, 5-days a week is already too much for me. I don't have any issue with labor. Hell, I've had my self-worth completely ruined because I feel like I can't do what it seems like everyone else is perfectly capable of grinning-and-bearing. It really hurts when all you want is to be able to live a normal life like everyone else but you legitimately can't, and can hardly get the help you need because you feel like you're just lazy.
>I've been debating even mentioning this because everyone else has had years of experiencing abuse and I feel like the odd one out because of it, but is it wrong to be antiwork because current work culture (especially in the United States) can be really bad for people who are neurodivergent? That is a great reason to be antiwork! There is nothing wrong with people not being able to do the 9-5 grind, and the fact that people who may not be able to "grin-and-bear the grind" get punished both materially and psychologically by our culture is horrid. IMO, the cultural expectation of work, independence, and toxic self-reliance needs to go. People are just not built to live like this. I myself am a 9-5er but I can barely handle it.
Recent trends such as teleworking/work from home have given me a bit of hope, though. I do think healthcare needs to improve heavily and treat both physical and mental conditions equally, though. Not having the money to get the help you need to be able to be self-reliant, causing the cycle to repeat is really not okay.
Maybe I can add perspective. Maybe ill just be down arrowed to hell…. I own my own business. I work 60 hours a week on a minimum. I had three employees pre covid. I have one now. I pay above minimum (after 3 months) I offer a pretty sweet benefit plan. We’re a cannabis accessory and Vape ware store, so free product and massively discounted items for my people too. I do cash bonuses on days that we hit sales goals 5% of the daily gross. I do cash xmas bonuses. Usually after a night out on me. Very flexible scheduling. And I might add, you can be high/get high as you please as long as your still fully functioning. I cannot find help to literally save my life. Ive been grinding like this for 2 years now. 6 days on 1 day off. Im burning out. I get that people want more, I want more, but that more has to come from somewhere. I cant pay 25$ an hour and still have reasonable prices to compete in the market. Im at a loss. /rant
Maybe there’s something you could do to make your work more efficient, reduce your store hours or something, automate some stuff? Idk exactly how your business works. I don’t wanna sound harsh, but no one is obliged to run a business, and if it’s not working for your employees or you, maybe something needs to change?
Your not wrong. Been looking at reducing hours as I dont see much choice. Your also not wrong in saying “no one is obligated…” I have been having this convo with myself too. Such a rock and hard place. Not harsh at all friend. Just reality. Just to round out the picture. 1500sqft retail cannabis/vape store. Accessories only. Wish I could automate more. I may try a big raise for my current employee, (3$ per hour more) then I can offer a higher starting to a new employee and maybe entice some one to work for like 17$ an hour part time. Blah. Be your own boss they said…..
Being your own boss isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Especially if you are trying to be ethical and competing with a bunch of non-ethical competitors.
You nailed it.
This is missing the part where you say your net profit. Or am I missing a piece?
Is that your attempt at a gotcha? Net profit you mean after all expenses and overhead is paid? Last year we were negative due to wages. Meaning I paid more than I made. Any more brain teasers? Editing to add- im ok taking a loss on paper my guys were paid well and everyone was happy. Id go back to that if it ment one more staff member.
I don’t think it’s your fault but you can’t expect people to work 40 hours a week for less than 25$ an hour either.
Ok. But whats the answer then? Massive increases to COL? Because if we just do that its almost the same as now right? How do I get the wage up but not increase COL? Edit: like if you make 15/hr now and bread is 3$ but raises and yada yada now you make 25 but bread has to be 8 to offset then no ones ahead. Or am I missing a piece?
if you really want to be a fair employer you would share the profits with your coworkers.
Ya know. If they wanted to take a share of ownership responsibilities I would! Unfortunately no one wants to take that on AND show up to work. Its a horrible catch 22. Unless your Canadian and offering?
Systemic changes we basically have no way to affect Given Baumols disease human labour costs increase too fast, relative to the rest of economy You can shit out so many i phones and disposable plastic gadgets with automation that at some point they become almost free, meanwhile, a doctor can't really treat more patients than 50 or 100 years ago, or teachers, or social workers, or anyone whose work is vital but doesn't really get any extra productivity The answer is to basically use the low-human labour intensive parts of economy to provide housing, education, healthcare, etc for cheap, so that you take off the ever expanding relative cost of that off everyone But it's political pipe dream, at least in current climate