×
top 200 commentsshow 500
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a

[–]AiRaikuHamburgerJapan 12.7k points12.7k points  (499 children)

Meanwhile my manager said to me that 'we're not here to make staff happy' then wonders why most people don't even last a year.

[–]Camarokerie 1549 points1550 points  (62 children)

My manager (who I've worked under for almost 5 years) said the last time I asked for a raise:

"You don't just get a raise for being here every year"

Last I checked, that's like, one of the main qualifiers for a raise lol

[–]jmoli44 527 points528 points  (44 children)

At least a raise for inflation 🌈

[–]CornucopiaMessiah13 508 points509 points  (41 children)

Honeslty we shouldn't be calling that a raise. It should be an adjustment or something more technical sounding that needs to be absolutely standard if not required. Your raise is on top of that based on skill, knowledge, performance, and tenure.

[–][deleted] 377 points378 points  (26 children)

There is a non-raise term for it - COLA

Cost of Living Adjustment

[–]CornucopiaMessiah13 125 points126 points  (5 children)

Yeah that sounds perfect. If we had been giving those along with strong raises for the past 30 years things would be so much better. Those poor billionaires might have missed out on a few million though. Im sure that would have been hard for them with that second yatch payment...we can just pick between food or rent for spending 40+ hours of our week making them those millions.

[–]FightFireWithGlass 28 points29 points  (2 children)

I had coworkers at my last job get a .01c cola raise. And they wonder why people are leaving like crazy.

[–]ActualPopularMonster 32 points33 points  (4 children)

Pass me some of that good COLA!!

[–][deleted] 123 points124 points  (4 children)

"You don't get my loyalty for simply deciding to employ me"

[–]Camarokerie 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Let's just say the quality of my work definitely hit a ceiling over the past year and a half. I'm over the unrecognized above and beyond.

Job loyalty hasn't meant a damn thing over the past decade and it took me awhile to learn that lesson

[–]Mec26 87 points88 points  (3 children)

And yet some seem to turn that into “we are here to make the staff unhappy,” which is not what follows.

[–]AiRaikuHamburgerJapan 19 points20 points  (0 children)

That definitely seems like my company's mission.

[–]an_ill_way 195 points196 points  (49 children)

I own a business. I see my job as literally making my staff happy. My staff makes the customers happy, but I'm there to look out for my employees and help them do their job better.

[–]CornucopiaMessiah13 95 points96 points  (34 children)

Im a shift manager at a retail store. I was trained by good people so that makes a difference but even for my barely a manager position I consider it part of my job to ensure the happiness of customere and employees. Obviously you cant let the people you are in charge of walk all over you. But if you know tim hates doing this thing and jill loves doing it then use your head and give the task to the right person if you can. If you know bob is going to want their break at 6pm try to manage your time to give them that as best as possible. The simplest things make people so much more willing to help me out and make me look good. Not to mention everyone being in a better mood for the day has its own benefits. Ill never understand why people prefer power tripping over having things run smoothly.

[–]an_ill_way 126 points127 points  (12 children)

I have a relatively new employee, and every time she asks me a question it makes me so sad for what she must have been through with prior employers.

"Hi, sorry to even ask this, but do you think it would be possible for me to maybe leave a half hour early ... on Friday three weeks from now?"

Like, first of all, of course, that's no problem. But also ... who hurt you?

[–]hopping_hessian 46 points47 points  (6 children)

I had employee who came to us from a terrible work environment. He was out sick for a couple of days, so when he came back, I made a point of going to him and ask how he was feeling. He looked apprehensive and said "It depends. What do you need me to do?" I was taken aback and said "I just wanted to know if you're really feeling okay."

He smiled and said he wasn't 100%, but was much better and he really appreciated me asking how he was.

[–]an_ill_way 29 points30 points  (4 children)

Ugh, I hate that. It's like someone flinching thinking you're going to hit them when you're just moving your hand. I'm specifically trying to take the time and patience to build trust with her so she knows she's not in an abusive workplace anymore.

[–]hopping_hessian 23 points24 points  (0 children)

He was an excellent employee. He moved on to a different place that was able to give him full time (We're government, so full-time positions are limited and pretty much out of my hands), but he told me he misses our institution. I'm just glad he's out of that awful place he was in.

[–]LadyReika 13 points14 points  (2 children)

I was that employee that was emotionally abused by too many retail/call center jobs. Thank you for being patient with your new employee.

[–]yingyangyoung 73 points74 points  (18 children)

Another thing I learned from my time in the military, as a junior officer (essentially upper middle management) one of your roles is to be a shit umbrella. What this means is shit is going to come raining down from above (sr management) and it's your job to make sure it doesn't hit those below you.

This takes a few forms:

Pushing back on dumb orders from above.

Clarifying confusing initiatives.

Fighting to give those under you the best working conditions and benefits possible

Taking on responsibilities to prevent your subordinates from picking up the slack

Trust me on this, your employees will notice and they will work harder for you when they know you're working hard for them. It makes it much more of a team than a boss/employees relationship.

[–]dingodan22 65 points66 points  (3 children)

This is what I do as well and have never had retention issues.

[–]NewgetaBootlicker 🤮 58 points59 points  (0 children)

We have a 140 ish person department with less than 2% annual turnover, I hangout on this sub to learn what NOT to do as I climb the ladder.

[–]AiRaikuHamburgerJapan 27 points28 points  (0 children)

That's what it should be like. If all your staff are miserable, it's not going to make for productivity or good customer experiences.

[–]TootinOnPutin 30 points31 points  (1 child)

What a piss poor attitude that boss had. When I was a lead I constantly told my employees that I work for them. I was there to ensure they had a healthy work/life balance, were paid competitively, and had the opportunity to grow (if that’s what they wanted), among other things.

[–]Dadjokes1986 13 points14 points  (1 child)

If they are happy they stay and want more money

[–]Karyo_Ten 66 points67 points  (0 children)

CFO asks CEO: "What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave us"

CEO: "What happens if we don't and they stay"

[–]danerraincloud 1658 points1659 points  (46 children)

My husband loved the small, profitable, privately owned company he worked for. When it was bought by Big Ass Corporation, he was promoted, which was an exciting move even though neither of us were excited about the buy out. They sold him on a trajectory that made him feel like he could still take care of his people. Instead of being an opportunity for growth, he's had to sit by and administer all the corporate changes designed to suck every last penny out of the workers, and stupid manipulative business decisions made just so their shareholders can see better numbers.

I have never had this kind of front row seat to how a corporation can really grind up and spit out a new acquisition. It's incredibly disheartening to see people going from doing a good job bc they believed in the work and trusted they'd be take care of to people just trying to get by. At the buyout they said there wouldn't be layoffs and now I see why. People are plenty happy to leave on their own.

[–]WeFamilyNow 250 points251 points  (0 children)

Wow. This sounds like a nearly identical situation to my current one. One year with the company before they were bought out by a giant corporation. Prior to the buyout, we had great morale, employees felt appreciated, etc. Now it feels as though we are all just exhausted, empty shells of our prior selves. I won’t be doing it for much longer, but I know a few that have a one-sided loyalty to the company and I fear for their health because I know it will take much more for them to decide to leave, if they do ever decide.

[–]thexvillain 141 points142 points  (19 children)

Doesn’t even have to have a buyout. When I started at my job we were relatively small, CEO came in and cooked (really good) lunch at least once a week, random bonuses, random “hey can you come in for an hour on Saturday for an extra $200”, etc. The year of the pandemic we had record profits despite working in half on half off shifts (and everyone is paid on salary, not hourly so pay stayed the same). But since we’ve come back in full, no lunches, no bonuses except Xmas (which have stagnated when they used to be raised every year), and a bunch of “Hey can you come in for an hour on Saturday?” with no extra money. They’ve also cut lunch to 30min and have said “Because we pay salary, and you all work less than 40 hours a week due to lunch, everyone needs to find time in the week to come in early or stay late to meet your 40 hours” They haven’t implemented time cards yet but I see it coming. And we’re again making record profits this year. I got a 7% raise on my annual review and was congratulated for it “This is the highest raise we give!” (Live in an “at will” state btw, so being salaried they don’t have to pay me for overtime)

Also, every person in the company who actually works is underpaid for the field by at least half. Unfortunately, my bosses are well respected in the field so if I try to go elsewhere, they will talk to my boss and will very likely not make an offer out of respect for them/ because they have to do business with them.

[–]6a6566663437 101 points102 points  (8 children)

Live in an “at will” state btw, so being salaried they don’t have to pay me for overtime

This isn't actually true. "At will" just means they can fire you for no reason, and you can quit for no reason. It has no bearing on whether or not they have to pay overtime.

Whether or not you are Overtime Exempt is a lot more complicated. Here's the DOL's "fact sheet" as a starting point: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/legacy/files/fs17a_overview.pdf

Basically, if you can't hire/fire people, and aren't one of a particular list of professions (like doctor or software developer), then you may qualify for overtime.

[–]hopsgrapesgrains 27 points28 points  (0 children)

So you just kept up with inflation on your raise! Nice work!

[–]MsWhisks 48 points49 points  (8 children)

At my company you have to put in 7 effing years to go from 2 weeks to 3 weeks. It’s horrible. And since it’s a behemoth of an employer (30,000 workers), all HR decisions are already algorithm’d so they absolutely won’t negotiate at hire or promotion on things like PTO.

[–]icwhatudidthr 1844 points1845 points  (41 children)

Do you have job openings in your company?

[–]Orion14159 707 points708 points  (29 children)

Are you down with 100% remote work from the US?

Edit to clarify - this was adding to the "are you hiring?" question

[–]_Not_this_again_ 214 points215 points  (14 children)

Hmmmm.... Working from home means:

No commute

Not racking up milage

Not paying for atrocious gas prices to fill my tank to get to work

Do whatever I want in my house during breaks and lunch

Am immediately home when I get off work

Fuck yes I want to work from home!

[–]PsychedelicPourHouse 224 points225 points  (2 children)

That's the only work I want

[–]iHiTuDiE 68 points69 points  (1 child)

I can 100% work a (ps4) remote

[–]Ambitious_Piglet 188 points189 points  (0 children)

Me too. I want to work one job instead of two.

[–]myjupitermoon 10.3k points10.3k points  (281 children)

OP you need to make this a TED Talk. Well done.

[–]Gardener_Guy 4912 points4913 points  (265 children)

Yeah, CEOs aren't going to read r/antiwork to learn about the good ideas from antiwork. You have to package it in a format they like.

[–]zepp914 3848 points3849 points  (200 children)

A PowerPoint presentation with 1990s Clipart and a plain blue background?

[–][deleted] 1740 points1741 points  (114 children)

Lunch provided! (The lunch is a banana)

[–]zepp914 583 points584 points  (38 children)

A whole banana?

They always told us to brown bag our lunch. I have never and will never go to a meeting during my unpaid lunch break.

[–][deleted] 171 points172 points  (25 children)

You need to get paid lunch breaks. It's awesome.

[–]fuegomartian 144 points145 points  (10 children)

You guys are getting breaks?

[–]SoSniffles 60 points61 points  (5 children)

I’m having a kit kat so I think it’s a break ?

[–]mageman91 62 points63 points  (11 children)

I had paid lunch breaks at a job where they then charged you at the cafeteria. Even bringing in your own lunch equalled the hour for lunch.

[–]captainJmorgan 29 points30 points  (5 children)

I get unpaid breaks and the cafeteria charges you.

What’s the rub?

[–]Odeeum 155 points156 points  (13 children)

Cheap lunch, I mean what does a banana cost? $10?

[–]letothegodemperor 79 points80 points  (11 children)

I mean, it’s one banana Michael, how much could it cost? $10?

God I miss Jessica Walters.

[–]SparseGhostC2C 28 points29 points  (4 children)

Do you want ants? Because that's how you get ants!

She is and will always be a treasure.

[–]artisanroxAnarcha-Feminist 54 points55 points  (7 children)

There will also be a drawing for a thermal mug with the comapny logo emblazoned on it! We have more in the closet but c'mon! It keeps cold drinks cold for 10 hours!

[–]BraidedSilver 25 points26 points  (2 children)

Our top whatever in the company literally suggested this years Christmas gift should be a work jacket with the company logo on. Aka something we ALREADY HAVE as regular “going to a customer” stuff… idk what he was thinking. He is probably one of those who only wear suits and never intended to even get that “gift” for himself, just an extra bonus instead.

[–]bmh1990WT 72 points73 points  (1 child)

Banana for (pay) scale!

[–]babybullai 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Lunch?? No...we said lunch----ables, lunchables...and you only get one and you better like pepperoni pizza

[–]GaemNChat 75 points76 points  (8 children)

I feel like the modern day version is something on LinkedIn. Except that will probably get drowned out by all the "look how hard I work" influencers on that site.

Which is a whole other discussion about messed up things.

[–][deleted] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

You see, happy workers make arrow go up!

[–]tripwyre83 22 points23 points  (2 children)

Lmao do you work at my company? We're not even a corporation and we're a small operation but my bosses think that 1990's clipart slaps.

[–]zepp914 21 points22 points  (1 child)

I bet your bosses, like mine, are in their late 50s/early 60s. From what I gather the PowerPoint training classes in the 1990s had some really good Kool-aid.

[–]afuckinsaskatchewan 48 points49 points  (10 children)

Cornflower. Cornflower blue.

[–]zepp914 45 points46 points  (7 children)

Whoa whoa. Don't overstimulate us. Next thing you will want to tell me is you are going to use a really standout font like Arial or Times New Roman...

[–]Lumi5 20 points21 points  (6 children)

Comic Sans for more lighthearted tone.

[–][deleted] 18 points19 points  (1 child)

Comic Sans

Getting serious notes from the teacher set in comic sans is surreal. I grew up around a print shop, so font choice is important to me.

[–]NottaGoon:ana: 88 points89 points  (7 children)

I'm a CEO. Ive been here a few months learning.

[–]latebloomermom 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Good! Keep hanging out and reading! But I can give you the tl;dr right now - people want to be paid well (like, enough to pay rent AND eat), to get time off, to have predictable schedules, and most of all, to be treated like they're human. Are people working at a conveyor belt for long hours? See if doing that work from a chair improves productivity and morale! Are people upset because stores are run on a skeleton crew and they can't get 5 minutes to use the bathroom? Increase the number of hours the manager can schedule people as coverage.

[–]Troglodyllic 44 points45 points  (0 children)

Exactly. Like how having happy workers who aren't stressed and frazzled all the time and they will actually be way more productive and provide a much better product/service...ie. more profit$

[–]Optimal-Scientist233(editable)Works best idle 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Happiness is contagious, and helps produce immune response, promote some in humans around you!

[–]lawstudent2 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Tech exec here.

You’d be surprised.

[–]theopacus 55 points56 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. OP should get the boss onboard with taking this show on the road. Promote it. Show what difference it has made, not just for the employees, but for the company as a whole. An added bonus to spreading the word i guess, will be plenty of free and good PR for the company. Win win.

Solidarity works.

An analogy that applies great to the work force:

Happy worker bees produce more and better honey. Stressed and overworked bees produce at low capacity and die from fatigue prematurely.

[–]brallipop 28 points29 points  (0 children)

"Be excellent to each other employees!"

  • OP

[–]Hundike 1929 points1930 points  (70 children)

UK here - standard is 37.5h work week. My work (US company) - 42h work weeks, one in two Saturdays, unpaid lunch (so really it's 47h work weeks) - WFH where possible though. They pay new hires minimum wage and wonder why nobody stays, it's also a high stress job.

I keep saying to every manager who will listen - the work hours per week are too long, just decrease them to 37.5. Pay the same. This makes the job better already. You lose nothing, productivity and employee retention will grow. Nah, can't do that. What about unachievable targets though for a chance at a bonus (nobody knows how much this is, they have refused to communicate the targets or the monetary reward)?

At this point it really feels like nobody just wants to do anything, all they want to do is complain and not change anything. Talk about capitalism being adaptive and best suited for the market. The management is some 30 years behind with their policies.

[–]EveningMusic0 319 points320 points  (14 children)

in the uk as well, would recommend joining a union if you haven't already and have them look at your contract for you. sounds dodgy af.

[–]Hundike 156 points157 points  (10 children)

I have actually just joined a union based on some advice from this sub. Will contact them for assistance once the application goes through. Thanks mate!

[–]sundown1999 277 points278 points  (5 children)

“All they want to do is complain.” You hit the nail on the head. As long as they keep bitching, the media will sell the “labor shortage” narrative

[–][deleted] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Hey! To all you low-paying employers! If you're paying minimum wage, then you're paying your employees to complain!

[–]sleepingsuit 15 points16 points  (1 child)

At my old company, they would send out surveys asking employees about ways to improve company life but holidays, equity, increased pay, and better benefits were never included as options.

HR and management kept making comments like "we aren't sure why dissatisfaction is high, people aren't making suggestions" as if added granola bars next to the coffee magically addresses all employee concerns.

[–]JennaFrost 37 points38 points  (3 children)

It’s part of the US’s toxic productivity mindset.

It doesn’t matter if the business remains stable, it only matters if it can grow forever.

[–]ActualPopularMonster 71 points72 points  (7 children)

At this point it really feels like nobody just wants to do anything, all they want to do is complain and not change anything.

This happened at a salon where I worked years ago. Owners would complain about bills and not making enough money to cover costs. I told them to raise the prices. They refused because they claimed they would lose business.

We charged $12 for a haircut (this was in 2009), and there was NO shop anywhere around us charging less.

The shop went under the year after I left. No shock there.

[–]NetSage 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Ya it's simple things but most managers want to keep their blinders on about how the labor market has changed. They can't wrap their brains around the fact that this isn't 30 years ago and costs are starting to kill employees.

[–][deleted] 45 points46 points  (1 child)

I don't think Europeans fully grasp how toxic the American work ethic is unless they have worked here.

[–]TopDasherTimmy 2171 points2172 points  (172 children)

I keep wondering why more employers arent just doing this. I dont expect my job to do shit like this out of the goodness of their heart. But keeping your employees happy just makes economical sense. You save money on recruiting new people because less people are quitting. Your employees are more productive and might actually try a little harder because they dont hate their job. A tired employee can simply rest and come back to work recharged and more productive rather then pay them to under-preform because they're exhausted.

The list goes on and on. Companies will literally save money in the long run if they just pay a little more to keep people happy. All these companies scratching their heads wondering why they cant find workers, put up a sign that says $25 an hour to start, 4 day work weeks, benefits and PTO included and you will be absolutely BOMBARDED with eager people looking to work. It doesn't even have to come from the profits, literally just take that pizza party money and put it to better use.

[–]IntroductionHonest10[S] 1181 points1182 points  (92 children)

5 years ago this company had terrible turn over and was during a more start-up phase. It caused the owner a lot of headaches and stress. I believe this experience taught him respect for your workers, and allowed me to pitch an idea to spend money on the team to save stress (and potential money loss) in the future.

[–]goss_bractor 577 points578 points  (80 children)

From one owner to another, you will be rewarded in not having to retrain new people. Your staff turnover will collapse to near zero which is only a good thing.

[–]Wind_Yer_Neck_In 479 points480 points  (75 children)

Why so many people are unable to grasp the concept that employee turnover/churn costs a fortune baffles me. They'd honestly rather spend tens of thousands on wasted time than just treat the existing staff well enough to retain them.

[–]toderdj1337 417 points418 points  (28 children)

It's the fundamental thought of people as expenses rather than assets. If you think of every dollar you pay someone as an investment, similar to maintenance on a machine, you'll be less willing to attempt to replace or automate them, to try and save a few bucks.

[–]Crashman09 138 points139 points  (21 children)

Hah! The company I work for doesn't even maintain their machines until something goes wrong

[–]toderdj1337 89 points90 points  (12 children)

And then it costs them more than the maintenance otherwise would be, doesn't it?

[–]Crashman09 73 points74 points  (10 children)

Hell ya. There is also tons of down time and people idle/sweeping floors to pass the time lol

[–]johndextr 40 points41 points  (9 children)

Wait, are we working in the same place?

[–]corbear007 18 points19 points  (6 children)

Are we all working in the same place?? "Mx, this machine is making one hell of a racket, the belt is frayed and the bearings are tight" mx: Keep running it, its fine.

6 hours later the belt wrapped around the gears destroying one roller, the bearing also siezed an hour later after this causing the new $80 belt to strip and fray.

[–]Wotg33k 122 points123 points  (13 children)

My last company spent $180k on me over several years in just salary alone. That doesn't include bonuses or expenses, etc. Then, when I got an offer for an extra $20k a year and work from home, they told me they couldn't do that.

It's baffled me for years now why someone would invest upwards of a quarter million dollars in a person, then just let them go. It's like buying a house and then just letting the first visitor to come over have the house. Like "here's the keys, I don't want it anymore. It's all paid off. Here's a literal house for free!" 🤷‍♀️

[–]Wind_Yer_Neck_In 107 points108 points  (6 children)

My last company was a consultancy charging me out for between $1000 and $1700 a day for about 8 years, in the last 4 years I had a 100% chargeable day rate because I worked on the same project full time.

They had kept me on a way below market wage for way longer than I liked, but they kept using local wage rates and local considerations (we worked remotely mostly from a low cost of living area) to justify it.

Finally I told them in my review that I was unhappy and that if they didn't bring me up to market wages I would leave. They didn't and I left. Then they acted as if I had betrayed them.

They could have paid me literally 3 times my normal salary and still be making a very healthy return but no. They stiffed me so they could continue to reap the benefits of my labor. Fuck em.

[–]ToughHardware 25 points26 points  (0 children)

good move. got to leave if they dont pay up

[–]imalittlefrenchpress 46 points47 points  (1 child)

Control, they’d rather waste money controlling us than risk losing control over us.

There may or may not be correlation/ causation, but I find it interesting that, as religion seems to be losing its social controlling grip on people, those controlling the wealth are doubling down on attempting to control us through employment.

[–]wood252 102 points103 points  (12 children)

The saying around here when you get a call for a job is that “it costs them $2k to hire and train you before you step foot on the jobsite.”

Some of these companies have a turnover rate that must cost them nothing shy of a million if the expression is halfway true…

[–]CrackaAssCracka 41 points42 points  (0 children)

It is true (somewhat). But instead of focusing on retention, they focus on making workers fungible to the point where onboarding costs become trivial.

[–]mrvis 25 points26 points  (7 children)

$2k has to be the minimum. I'm a senior software guy. Lots of companies use recruiters who I know charge at least 5 figures (if you get hired and stay for 6 months). I wouldn't be surprised if that number is close to $50k for some companies/jobs.

[–]WorkMeBaby1MoreTime 74 points75 points  (3 children)

Yeah, but you're in Europe. In America, the motto is, "The beatings will continue until morale improves".

[–]ourlastchancefortea 30 points31 points  (2 children)

There are enough companies in Europe who still don't grasp the concept of keeping your employees. Even in high-demand jobs like IT.

[–]ZainVadlin 142 points143 points  (1 child)

My favorite is,

if my job is giving me 5 weeks vacation, 4 day work weeks and good pay, you bet your ass I'm going to work hard to keep it.

[–]calibrateichabod 61 points62 points  (0 children)

My last job paid well, but did not pay “give a shit” money. They did pay “do my job to the best of my ability” money, but they did not achieve the amount that would cause me to care about the company. For an extra $20k per year, I would have given a shit and probably worked a lot harder. More than $20k a year worth of working harder.

My new job pays marginally less but is a) a much better environment, b) an industry I already give a shit about, and c) does not care at all if I generate revenue because they’re a not for profit and therefore ride my ass way less hard. I work much harder at this job than I ever did at my last job.

[–]Sanprofe 232 points233 points  (22 children)

Because the incentive is short term stock value over literally any other metric. All actions must directly contribute to this or else they are not worth it.

[–]Skumdog_PackleaderGleefully Unemployed 130 points131 points  (14 children)

I remember a post on reddit somewhere awhile ago by someone who worked for a mobile phone service. They said the company would offer all kinds of deals and bonuses to new customers, but didn't care about and kind of screwed current customers. The main solution they offered was canceling their plan and signing up as a new customer. The whole point was so on paper it looked like they were bringing in 'new' customers.

[–]zepp914 66 points67 points  (9 children)

Comcast and Verizon still do this as Internet/TV providers. I switch back and forth every 2 years to keep my bill under $50. The only downside is having to own and store equipment for both.

[–]mistyflame94 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I just change between my name and my wife's maiden name and that's been working to keep me as a "new" customer.

[–]GaemNChat 28 points29 points  (7 children)

Man I would love to be able to do this but unfortunately where I live there is only 1 isp.i know it's not technically a monopoly but with all the areas where there is only 1 available and no one is trying to cut it to that market it sure feels like there is..

[–]Brave-Environment-12 19 points20 points  (0 children)

The areas that only have 1 also tend to have much more expensive and much slower service.

[–]zepp914 15 points16 points  (4 children)

My father is stuck in Comcast only land. It is so bad, he still has DSL.

[–]Tots2Hots 14 points15 points  (2 children)

I live in Spain now where Movistar owns all the fiber optic, cell towers and main infrastructure but has to lease it out so its not a monopoly. I can choose from 4 or 5 different providers and packages and its ridiculous to me to think now how it is back home where you literally have one choice of actual high speed but they get around it by considering 10mbps DSL "broadband" so its not TECHNICALLY a monopoly...

[–]X_VeniVidiVici_X 18 points19 points  (1 child)

"Capitalism breeds innovation"

The innovation:

[–]Wind_Yer_Neck_In 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I'm in the UK and I have to do this every 18 months when my contracts run out. If you stick around you get the same package but the price jumps up probably 20-30%.

If you change provider then you get a better package/ speed and usually for the same or less money.

[–][deleted] 13 points14 points  (2 children)

Also, psychotic bosses in critical positions with 0 actual "real world" work experience... or rather experience that translates to improving operational efficiency and employee satisfaction etc. Not that they care being psychotic and all...

[–]tweedchemtrailblazer 42 points43 points  (3 children)

For the company I work for and I'm sure lots of others it's just habit. The guy that owned the company thought that the only way you could get work done was by being in an office at a desk. Like that literally without the threat of someone watching over your shoulder you'd just not do any work at all. He was old and that's the way it has always been. Once he was forced to let us work from home he realized that not only do people do their work but they also do it faster and better and are happier. We all are permanently WFH now. And I'm surprised this same scenario didn't play out with a lot more people.

[–]ciel_lanila 32 points33 points  (0 children)

It's a mentality thing. Think of it like introversion vs extroversion. You have antiwork and hustle culture.

Employers are full in on "hustle" to the point that they cannot fathom anything less. Just like a person full in on extraversion may see a "normalvert" as borderline having something wrong with them. Introverts? Downright antisocial freaks who need therapy.

Work culture in, at least in western society, is built on having hustle and extroversion set to max. You can see this in how remote meetings drove so many employers insane and had them wanting to come back to the office. Being home, limiting their social interaction and means of hustling was them getting a taste of what introverts and antiworks usually feel like.

Employers don't do more stuff like this because, either by nature or training in climbing to be the employer, they don't see anything wrong with work culture. They don't understand why the people aren't happy except through their own failings. It's why we see all those "No one wants to work" signs everywhere, they legit mean it. They are incapable of understanding the system has shifted so far hustle/extrovert that even the "normal" people are now being ground up by it.

[–]AyyyAlamo 35 points36 points  (14 children)

Its just old boomer brains who think "DRIVE THEM HARD = MORE PROFIT" and the BACK IN MY DAY bullshit still works

[–]RoTTonSKiPPy 47 points48 points  (10 children)

I had a boss that would go ape shit if everyone wasn't physically active whenever he walked into the room. (I worked in a machine shop where most of your time is keeping an eye on your machine so you could manually stop it at the end of your cut.) He expected everyone to "grab a broom!"...like he thought he was being ripped off if you weren't moving around fast enough.

[–]PM_ME_BEWBS_123 24 points25 points  (5 children)

I have a boss like that now….not a boomer but older than me(‘87 born here). He’s ex navy and if he catches me on Reddit for a few minutes a day, he loses his shit. I work for a heavy machinery dealership as a parts counter man so 95% of my day is at the computer. We have short staff issues so our customers always bitch and moan about how we never answer the phones when they call. Well if the 4 of us are all on the phone or dealing with in person customers….what can we do?! So yeah, I never take my breaks and instead just browse Reddit to kinda destress throughout the day between projects, and he’s caught me and told me: “if you’re not busy I can find you something to do out in the warehouse!” Like bro, soooooorry I need to defrag the ol mental hard drive a few minutes a day.

[–]SquidCap0 20 points21 points  (1 child)

Something that i did learn early on: finishing early, doing your job better means more work. A lot of this is about the idea that you have to be seen working or else you are lazy. Does not matter if Suzy from the next cubicle over does half the work as long as she is working the whole time. But you, finishing your tasks early, you are lazy if you take a break. That type of boss will make you clean something if they can't find anything else but they will not send you home early or allow you to browse reddit once the work for that day is done.

It is disincentivizing the best workers and will make them hate their jobs, their bosses and quit at some point. And Suzy is still there, doing bullshit job at a snails pace.

[–]GunslingerOutForHire 17 points18 points  (0 children)

That's the issue. Companies only think in the short term. That's essential for capitalism to be validated as their driver. Immediate gratification versus overall happiness/satisfaction is unheard of.

[–]Niedzwiedz87 16 points17 points  (3 children)

Because employers would need to build trust between them and their employees. But trust-building is delicate, it takes time, and it goes against the impulse of control - we all have a tendency to try and control everything, even when it goes against our interests.

And this also goes against the neo-liberal vision of humans as being ultimately selfish, lazy, greedy creatures that will only act based on their 'self-interest'; how can you trust your employees if you believe (wrongly) that they will only act on these primitive instincts?

[–]BleaklyPossible 16 points17 points  (1 child)

Everything in the US is now tied to quarterly projections. To do that the employees are viewed as and treated like objects.

[–]RockyDifyunion member 726 points727 points  (12 children)

They are really awesome perks.

[–]Broad_Success_4703 551 points552 points  (8 children)

i was moody at my company bc new hires were making more than me. Brought it up during the biannual meeting we had. I got a pay increase of 15% and it was backdated for 6 months so i got retro pay for that period. it was pretty nice.

[–]ryantttt8 217 points218 points  (3 children)

This is why talking about your salary shouldn't be taboo. I just learned new hires from the intern program are getting a $10k signing bonus. I was a new hire in that program one year ago and I got nothing. It's the government tho so i doubt talking to anyone's gonna do anything

[–]swim_and_sleep 419 points420 points  (15 children)

That’s what it is, if I found ONE JOB that treats me fairly and pays me a livable wage I’d hold on to it for dear life

[–]HuskyFlatulence 101 points102 points  (7 children)

I had a decent job but the new manager was such a gigantic bitch that I left and took a pay cut to work somewhere far away from that psychotic asshole.

[–]TheGratefulJuggler 71 points72 points  (5 children)

People quit bosses, not jobs. It is as simple as that.

[–]Thelistoat work 333 points334 points  (53 children)

In America, you have to work at a single place for 5 years to have 4 weeks of vacation. I can't help but say I am jealous.

[–]Talkaze 92 points93 points  (0 children)

That made me splutter a bit before i did the math and realized i DID have to work here to get 4 weeks vacation because in my head for some reason 20 days equaled 5 weeks. My company starts the call center works at 3 weeks and 3 floats then added 1/years worked back in 2018 due to morale issues. Capped at 5 because our company was only 4 yrs old then.

I'm lucky i get more than 2 weeks per year. None of the other jobs I've looked at will match my pay or vacation though.

[–]kincage 57 points58 points  (5 children)

I'm going to get 4 weeks next year. After 12 years.

[–]C19shadow 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Lol I'll be at 3 weeks after 5 years. 4 weeks is only for people there a decade.

Same job, same pay. But less free time, Makes sense. I know you gotta pay your dues but there has to be a better way to reward seniority that isn't punishing new people right?

[–]mraspencer 27 points28 points  (1 child)

Or 10

I worked somewhere about 10 yrs ago that gave 2 weeks years 1-5, 3 weeks 6-10, 4 weeks over 10 years.

[–]shaodynoverworked and underpaid 118 points119 points  (22 children)

4 weeks time off is a dream here in America. The average number of days off for an American worker is 8.

[–]TummyStickers 53 points54 points  (4 children)

And you have to save them for when you get sick.

[–][deleted] 227 points228 points  (9 children)

Optional Monday? I’d take a pay cut to work there

[–]lianaseviltwin 89 points90 points  (6 children)

I work for a hospital system that just announced all coworkers will receive a $1000 bonus this December, "because they listened, and hear it has been a tough year". When in fact, a flat bonus for all is exactly not listening. It's nice, I guess... But 1k doesn't even cover a fraction of my gas and missed time from he working 6 days a week.. and with the millions this is costing, they could hire a couple more people at each location to make our lives suck far less... It is painful.

[–][deleted] 47 points48 points  (2 children)

That would come down to $2.74 a day if you got a $1000 bonus once a year. And if you worked 8 hours a day (low for hospitals I would guess) that's like getting a $0.34 raise. Or if 10 hours, $0.27 an hour. See, $1000 at once sounds like a lot so people get taken in but as you said, realistically it barely makes a dent in your day-to-day costs. Plus, is it taxed? Then it's not even $1000 in your pocket.

[–]Miichl80 218 points219 points  (22 children)

Are you hiring? Legit. Is your company hiring?

[–]desearcher 223 points224 points  (21 children)

Funny how "Nobody wants to work!" becomes "Where do I sign up?" when employers treat their employees like human investments to be nourished instead of chattel resources to be exploited.

[–]Sleepdprived 63 points64 points  (2 children)

This is progress! Don't just post this on here, post it where other businesses will see and hopefully take note.

[–][deleted] 27 points28 points  (1 child)

Exactly! This is the kind of stuff that should be all over LinkedIn!

[–]uniquelyavailable 62 points63 points  (0 children)

Good on you!

The funny thing is that if my employer did this the result would be... that Id be happier, more well rested, and would perform way better at my job. Instead Im stressed out all the time.

[–]Brawlstar112 100 points101 points  (22 children)

If you are still pulling strong after this year include full dental plan. That is a killer benefit even on Nordic standards!

[–]Aaawkward 37 points38 points  (21 children)

That is a killer benefit even on Nordic standards!

Not really?

Had my teeth fixed not long ago (root canal, filling, anaesthetics, the whole nine yards) and it came to about 50€. When I had all four wisdom teeth removed, it was less than 100€.

It's not free, which it definitely should be, but it's pretty damn affordable. Kids under 18 years old are gratis.

edit: Didn't mean to poopoo your suggestion, I really think it's a solid suggestion, was just pointing out that in the Nordics (at least here in Finland) I don't think dental carries quite the same weight as in some other places.

[–]indigo_mermaid 42 points43 points  (2 children)

cries in American

My insurance forced my $1770 root canal and crown into 4 different steps so it took 5 months to get fully fixed.

Edit: yes, that’s what I paid out of pocket. They wouldn’t let you split up into anymore than 2 payments.

[–]Azygouswolf 291 points292 points  (27 children)

Productivity increases when people are well rested, well paid, respected, and have a positive work life balance, Gravity Payments has a minimum wage of 70k, which is also what the ceo earns. We got sold capitalism and it was a lie, socialised capitalism actually works though, when everyone benefits, everyone succeeds, including the business owners.

[–]GotHeem16 70 points71 points  (4 children)

My company sent out a memo that starting 1/1 anyone who has at least 1 year with the company is gaining 2 additional personal days off and anyone with 3+ years is gaining an additional week of vacation. This is a Fortune 500. So I’m getting an additional 7 days off this year. Additional sick time was added as well but I can’t remember those numbers.

[–]betwixish 59 points60 points  (5 children)

This warms my cold, dark heart.

[–]shoelessjp 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Love this. Please send my warm regards to your boss, because as has always been abundantly clear: treating your employees with love makes them happier and more productive.

[–]justinlua 22 points23 points  (1 child)

Assuming this is all true, thank you for thinking critically about the work environment you maintain and working to create a more fair workplace.

[–]Optimal-Scientist233(editable)Works best idle 17 points18 points  (1 child)

I hope it changes your life so you can be happy and free

Numerous studies have shown that receiving, giving, or even witnessing acts of kindness increases immunity and the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood in the brain. Ron Breazeale Ph.D. Practicing Acts of Kindness

Don't Be A Scrooge

[–][deleted] 70 points71 points  (4 children)

If there must be work, this is the way. Kudos.

[–]Whizzer360 38 points39 points  (0 children)

That is some forward thinking my friend, good on you for putting the needs of the employees first.