Guess what. Not working hard had even worse outcomes. I’m kind of scared for the future with so many Gen Z being huge slackers and emotional weaklings.
The trick is to stay in the middle like 2/3s of the pack performance wise and pick things that are highly visible to management but also not too much of a pain in the ass to “save the day” on often enough that you’re seen as reliable.
You’re hired
Dont feed the trolls folks. Or i guess don’t feed the boomers either.
Genx here:
Stop gobbling the boot.
Also Gen x
I’ll tell you what what! Theys gene Z should break their backs in the mines just like I did and my pappy did! Then master let’s you lynch ******* and that’s what life is all about, I’ll tell you!
There’s a big difference between working hard to get ahead and what you’re babbling about. I get the feeling from here that young people feel that harder workers shouldn’t be rewarded and slackers should earn the same.
That is so very far away from the actual expressed sentiment that I’m genuinely concerned that your underlying expectations of people and the world, completely hinders your ability to see reality at all.
Oh I see reality. I also see this next gen of workers coming in who are nothing like Gen X or even millennials. My underlying expectations are if you’re hired by someone be a good worker, work hard. Try to make the company better and if you’re good at it, the company will see this and promote you. Nothing crazy and nothing out of the reality that I experienced during my working life. Now I do see some new workers with the required social skills and knowledge to zoom up the ladder pretty quick, but that’s definitely not the norm.
Lol this is not how the US workforce works at all- unless you are a boomer in a “retirement” job working 10hrs a week, getting paid for 40hrs, and relying on the younger generations to do all the work for you.
Lol. Now that’s out of touch.
Just remember those younger people who show promise actually hate you because they already do your job better than you and will never be compensated for it.
Millenial here: I don’t see what for, they don’t have our best interests in mind, we should slack whenever we can, and rob them blind.
And then cry when the country falls apart because too many people are like you.
We only need like 1/3 the work I do. I’d accept slower services for the ability to touch grass.
it’s more that we’re tired of working hard without being rewarded. in fact, life keeps getting worse for us no matter what we do.
It takes a long time to build the skills that get the rewards. Took me decades of grinding but will with the payoff.
No. They’re pointing out that hard work doesn’t make you exceptional, doesn’t get you rewarded and doesn’t get you ahead.
Since you apparently haven’t actually been working for the past fifteen years, the social contract has been almost entirely broken. Busting your arse gets you the same pay as the dude who takes four hour smoke breaks and a shittier quality of life due to stress.
Workers are just refusing to be exploited
Yeah there may be some smaller companies that recognise and recompense great work, but they are the exception, not the rule. And they are increasingly unicorns.
Retired a few back but keep in touch with the higher ups as well. You’re completely wrong with that statement. Many people get rewarded for hard work. But in order to get rewarded, do you have to be the one that is seriously helping the company. If you’re talking about the bottom of the worker pile then you have to do something to stand out. In my case I started off building on the factory line. Saw what they ran for computer systems. Trained myself at my own expense to learn them and ingrain to myself Socially with the people that ran them. Hard work isn’t just the physical part. It’s also the mental part and most importantly the social part. So much of business is social and if they don’t know who you are they’ll never know the hard work you’re doing or how beneficial you are to the company. If you are, that is.
If you did this today it would not work. Thats the expirence that we are living. Glad it worked for you 40yrs ago, we want the same treatment.
Woah retirement? What’s that? Oh right, this ancient system none of us will ever get to enjoy.
Perfect example of the defeatist attitude. Btw it’s not an ancient system. Didn’t even exist in my grandparents time. Neither did the concept of a weekend.
You guys are the majority now. Make the changes you want.
Congrats on being one of 2 generations who got to benefit off of that before it got fucked for us.
Stop spreading propaganda. No one is wasting their precious calories, helping someone else get richer.
The benefits and pay would have to be very VERY good.
You’re completely wrong with that statement
Nope.
I’m actually still in the workforce, so I’m gonna go ahead and consider myself to be a bit more of an authority as to what’s going on than you are, seeing as you’ve just admitted you’re divorced from the working reality.
This thread is literally full of people telling you how they have brought value - in some cases, immense, company-saving value - and not been recompensed. I very freely admitted there were some companies that did still value workers. I also said they are no longer the norm. This is a continuation of a trend that started in the 90’s when outsourcing started chewing on the arses of the white collar workers, workforces became seen as dispensable and replaceable and it has sharply increased with the sociopathy of MBAs who can’t see any further than their own personal golden parachutes.
You gained your leg up in within a business framework that no longer exists. Demanding that workers continue to play by rules their employers ignore is lunacy.
Work hard for what?
Look at the stories here.
Not everyone gets ownership, stock in a startup or something miraculous. And I’m older than Gen Z; I dunno how they even grew up sane.
You don’t need any of that to be successful. You just need a skill that pays and a willingness to work.
A willingness to work is the least important factor to success. To be successful, a motivation to work is insufficient. In fact, too much of a motivation to work is as detrimental to your career as a complete lack of motivation.
Overly hard workers don’t get rewarded, they get exploited. Too much productivity will actually block your advancement. And, let’s be honest, it’s not actually possible to get a promotion at most companies. Companies hire externally; they don’t like promoting internally as MBA schools teach this causes drama.
The key to success is to calibrate your work to your circumstance. Do you work for yourself, keep all the fruits of your labor, and actually earn more money when you take on additional clients? If you’re a self-employed consultant or something, then sure, harder work is directly rewarded. Work as much as you like. Are you a salaried employee whose company offers no formal bonus structure in writing and is completely capable of stringing you along with endless vague promises of bonuses that will never materialize? If that’s your situation, then working too hard is financially irresponsible. Even if all you care for is career advancement, then you should be doing just the bare minimum required to not get fired. Instead of working overtime that will never be paid for or recognized, use that extra time to work on your own projects or take on a side hustle.
Companies don’t promote from within. No company ever wants to agree to a firm written raise and bonus structure for their salaried workers (thus they have no accountability.) Hard work is not rewarded; it’s simply exploited. In modern office jobs, grinding is the path to failure, not the path to success. The path to success is working the minimum not to get fired, working on side projects in lieu of overtime, and job-hopping every few years to get the raises you won’t get any other way.
Oh look another rube for the meat grinder. Skip your kids birthdays and sports games working late for the company, I’m sure they’ll understand
Or you can be a slacker, not make any money, and your kids can live in a shitty apartment in the ghetto. I’m sure they’ll understand.
That’s basically where we’re headed anyways.
I think you got to spend too much online if this is the mental attitude you have. There’s tons of opportunity and good jobs and unemployment is crazy low right now. Like I said, get yourself a skill or a trade and there’s a shit pile of money to be made and as much work as you’re willing to do. I mean it took me and most of my friends into our forties to really accumulate anything, but I feel like the people on here think they should be rich or that every boomer was rich in their thirties. That’s very bizarre and a big disconnect from the reality that it actually was for many
Or you can bust your ass and live in an apartment in the ghetto because no one wants to pay a living wage anymore.
Get a skill that pays well. Only takes a few years.
Just jump off the ladder and start over! Surely this time things will work out for you!
Went through three distinct careers in my work time. Needed to stay up with the times.
So have I. Every move has been to something that I was assured would have great pay. My current job has taken me the furthest after several promotions. It’s still not paying enough to do what I want. I’m too old to start at the bottom again on another false promise.
I did a massive project back five or so years ago. Put in a lot of work, and since the work is something I’ve done for 20 years, the work was flawless.
I got a one time bonus.
The same year I didn’t get a cost of living increase. And every year I did get one since then, it’s been half or less of inflation.
Everyone is treated this way at my company. They recently installed AI-based Spyware on all computers that takes regular pictures of the screens and monitors all clicks and mouse movements. I guess everyone is demotivated, so this is how they are handling that. Few people know about this, it was done secretly.
I will never work hard for these people again. I don’t think I could even if I did try at this point. There’s zero trust, and a pattern of exploitation.
Good job not being a mark again!
Same. Had a supplier unexpectedly close down. The company makes medical devices, and the design on some components was quite old. We’re talking hand drawn designs, no CAD files. I got new sourcing for roughly 500 components. Long hours, saved the company from having any production stoppages. I busted my ass and kept the multi-million dollar per day revenue generation production line going. As a thank you for my efforts, I got some points equivalent to like $500 on a company incentive site where you can get gift cards and shitty TVs and household goods. Annual review came up. 2.5% raise. Fuck right off.
Cuck. Except the cuck gets a chair.
Maybe the company incentive site has them?
They cost $501.
As a thank you for my efforts, I got some points equivalent to like $500 on a company incentive site where you can get gift cards and shitty TVs and household goods.
This sounds like a parody you’d see in fiction, but here we are.
I bet the poor souls who made that site were underpaid, too.
The moral of this story is clear: if you’re given an opportunity to save the company, first ask yourself whether it would save you.
When I first graduated, I worked for a series of small start-up companies. Most of them ended up failing, which is normal for a small company. But, at least when I was working hard there I was given stock options so if the company had done well, I could have shared in the success.
I’ve always wondered why that isn’t more common. I guess the answer is that some people are willing to work really hard even if they’re not given a slice of the ownership of the company. I never understood that. If I own part of this startup, I’ll work hard to make sure it succeeds because then I’ll get rich too. If you’re just paying me a salary, I’m fulfilling the terms of my contract and that’s it.
I’ve always wondered why that isn’t more common.
Because if the owner has capital he’ll keep all the profits and pay you as little cash as possible. Startups are usually run by younger people with not as much cash so they have to offer options to get people to work for them.
I can understand why an owner wouldn’t want to give away small parts of their company. What I don’t understand is why some people are willing to work as if they were part-owners when they’re just on salary. In a lot of start ups, the amount of extra effort people put in when they get options means the options easily pay for themselves.
The work environment, for the vast majority, in the USA simply sucks shit. It’s basically, work until you croak.
Where does this guy work work that has him in a position capable of “saving the company” but without either correspondingly high pay or stock options?
Lots of small businesses are super dependent on a small number of employees.
A lot of those smaller businesses also recognize that effort at least a little bit. It can be simple stuff like bringing a work van home, being able to borrow tools, throwing the odd lunch or coffee on the company card. Sure its not life changing bonuses or benefits but its better than nothing.
That hasn’t been my experience working for Mom and pop companies. A lot of claims that everyone here is family, mean the fail son or daughter in a do nothing position for the company is getting paid more for doing less.
All of us health care workers saved both society and lives. Called heroes by management.
I still havent got my vacation days back from the cancelled vacations during the pandemic (was promised days, got money because “ledighet ges enligt vad verksamheten tillåter”, which means the by law stipulated periods or you are out of luck, and my last raise was around 3%. Doesnt quite make me feel valued as a hero and now Im going to school for blue collar workshop education
Every front line worker saves the company every day.
Don’t worry, this is a lesson you will learn the hard way.
Worked hard. Took on extra projects, went above and beyond, trained new employees. Then I was passed over for a promotion. The 19 year old with 0 experience beat me out. I have 10 years management experience and 30 years customer service and 2x experience in that actual department. Perfect attendance, always on time, never been written up.
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Stories like that aren’t surprising yet they continue to be infuriating every time
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I have one of these moments at every job. I always start overachieving, then something happens that turns me into a minimum effort employee.
At my last job I saved the company while working 70 hour weeks during crunch time, then on my performance review my boss blasted me for not being willing to work overtime, despite me having proof of his boss thanking me for all the overtime. When I objected he removed it and added three more false bad things instead.
At the previous job, I volunteered to come it at midnight to help the inspector process some units coming in late which needed to be shipped out by 2am. In a meeting of upper managers and me, I was congratulated for going above and beyond, and my direct manager said “Don’t thank him, he only did as he was required by his role.”
Brah, what a bunch of dicks. Hope tot didn’t stay for much longer after these events.
Longer than I should have, unfortunately.
Working hard just makes you seen as a dependable asset for a single position. Managers see that as one thing they don’t have to worry about anymore. By moving you to a higher position they could be risking a dependable asset for an asset that could be potentially out of their depth.
People move up the chain mostly by interpersonal relationships and by being generally competent, but not being irreplaceable. In corporate America it’s always been who you know, not what you know.
Bullshit. I started my career in 1986, it didn’t work then either.
And when i look back at my father and grandfather’s lives, i have to say that only worked between 1939 to about 1970. That’s when all the factories started closing and they begin moving everything overseas.
1970 is when kissenger “opened” up china do all the manufactering it was all pretty my downhill for us manufacterering. especially for unique electronics/ or devices.
So true, I worked hard, received recognition and praise. Got the exact same pay raise as those who did the minimum. The management all received substantial raises and huge bonuses for the work that they didn’t do. Not anymore unless there is clear promotions, raises, or bonuses for work done I am just the minimum guy now on.
I’m in the same boat. Years of 1-2% pay raises have been given in blanket form to my entire team, regardless of performance.
Every time we get these, inflation is higher, so we’re actually losing money every year.
I saved a hotel chain millions during an outage. I got $1,000 bonus.
The second time, I got a pat on the back and no raise that year.
Fuck corporations
When my huge, multinational company announced one year of total grind for everyone, they said there would be rewards to make up for it.
Fast forward one year and the #1 top performer received… a diner with the CEO. And nothing else.
I wish I was joking.Would be funny if the CEO got the shits later.
Yeah cause they put eye drops in their water.
CEO probably has main character syndrome is he thinks his presence is enough of a prize.
At always was a scam.
We should start co-ops, and spread them out, to save everyone!
I’d consider it rewarding to have him alone for that long, but not for the reasons they did.
Ah yes, my leadership told us we’d all be managers.
A few months back, over half my team was laid off instead. They’re now replacing everyone with AI.
Technically, they’re managing to stay alive without a job now.
And this is why you should always consider any bonus structure that isn’t in writing to be completely worthless. If it’s not in writing, it didn’t happen.
Bonuses are bullshit because they don’t touch your salary, and they get taxed extra. When I got mine, I was far more insulted than happy. Same situation as you, they didn’t give me a raise that year.
Where do they get taxed extra? To my understanding, it’s considered regular income in Canada and the US.
The US handles it in an incredibly stupid way. Bonuses typically get a larger amount withheld as tax and the government pays you back when you calculate your total income at the end of the year.
I can’t even enumerate the times I’ve saved my company from turning into dust
I was the single person responsible to ensure our database had no issues deploying by writing end to end tests that used real workflows, guess what ? surprise ! lots of database locking issues, issues with database transactions, issues with the application straight up crashing.
Fixed that days before our live deployment to a handshake.
TBH eventually they did give me a huge raise and at the moment of writing this I do think I’m being paid accordingly, but back then I was like damn shit is cringe.
Heh, back in the day my workplace was abuzz about the very loudly proclaimed bonus that I got for some allegedly multiple million dollar save. They recognized me very publicly, but left the bonus vague, leading to speculation about if I would show up in a nice sports car or maybe even move into a house with the bonus…
It was a 100 dollar gift card to an area restaurant.
That’s some “set the break room on fire” shit.
I bet it got out, too. That’s the kind of shit that demoralizes an entire workplace.
And the remaining 30% are the boomers, that’s why it isn’t a 100% lol
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