People Share What They Hate Most About Their Company's Corporate Culture
How toxic can work culture get? In America, we work harder for less, and we are damn proud of it... sometimes.
yocallmewill asked Redditors of America: What do you hate the most about your work culture?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
Too many hours, too little work.
The fact that if I can get all of my work done in 6 hours or less, but if I leave early, I'm considered lazy. Someone else can spend 9-10 hours milking the clock doing the same work, but they get recognition for "being such a hard worker," because of all their overtime. We were paid hourly btw, so I was actually saving the company money by working harder and faster.
I already called this out. They say people perform better within the first 4 hours of work, 8 hours is too long. I have ADHD, stretching time out will make me work slower or I'll lose what I'm doing. I don't have high levels of dopamine in my brain and thus I have to do stuff in a rush to get it done. It's more than just procrastination, it's how my brain actually works. Telling me to stop what I'm doing and work to stretch the day out will make me perform worse and why would you want that? I work better with deadlines. Always have and always will. Deal with it. Companies need to understand this.
Worker benefits are my kink.
The taboo cultivated by management, and often perpetuated by employees themselves to their own detriment, against discussing compensation and other issues related to working conditions.
Only one entity benefits when workers can't or don't share information about pay, benefits, or workplace issues -- and it's not the workers.
Many companies have policies against discussing wages but they can't legally forbid it or punish you for it according to the 1935 Labor Relations Act.
Oh, I'm very much aware that it's illegal to sanction employees for failing to adhere to this norm they have manufactured... that's why corporate management has to work so tirelessly at convincing employees that the taboo is of the employees' own making and to their own benefit.
And I'll add that although this type of practice is extremely common in corporate environments, it tends to be transmitted via office culture and other informal mechanisms. If you, or anyone else, has encountered companies that have written or formal policies preventing their employees from sharing this type of information, that's something the NLRB would really like to know about, because it's not only illegal to punish employees for this conduct, it's also illegal to even have policies prohibiting it.
Sick people around food - great idea.
When I worked at a restaurant I hated that you were a slacker for calling in sick and you got "points" for it. Even though you are legally obligated to call-out sick if you work in the food industry. Basically you're penalized for following proper food safety laws.
This has been the case in every restaurant I worked in.
Always always always have diarrhea. Regardless of what's going on, you have diarrhea.
Quitting jobs is a necessary step toward success.
The only way to advance your professional career anymore is to quit and go elsewhere. It really f*cking sucks. Most big companies do regular wage freezes when their profits aren't big enough, have "flattened" their hierarchy so it's rare to find positions to move into, and would rather bring in external candidates who already have tons of experience than to train and promote people who have been with the company and want to move up. And if you do get promoted? Your bump in salary is going to be waaaaay less than if you were hired from externally for that same position.
As an engineer, the way to maximize your salary is to change jobs every 3-5 years. Loyalty is a determent to your profession. Sh*t, I hired an external person just to try to raise the wages of the rest of my employees because it demonstrated the complete disconnect in pay from external hires.
Stop giving away your time.
They count how many hours I take off for vacation and sick time, to the minute, but never bother to track the time I spend coming in early, staying late or working over the weekend.
never bother to track the time I spend coming in early, staying late or working over the weekend
You should stop doing those things.
I did.
Never truly being "off."
Availability creep.
Technology means you can call, text, email, bbm, slack, etc. regardless of where I am or what I'm doing. There is no turning off / being disconnected.
I literally ignore all the texts and calls that come in. I'm not on-call. If you wanted me to work, schedule me more. If you're short on hours because god forbid somebody call in sick, then its the company's fault for not giving you more payroll and hours to work with.
Decades ago, people thought that technology would increase our leisure time. But no, f*ck no.
We work too much.
Life imbalance. Give me Monday-Thursday 7-6. Or hell drop it down to a 32 hour workweek.
Let me live a little before I die. Don't make it so impossible to take a week off and go hiking.
My dream is a standard work-week of three 10's, and we go to a six day "business" week.
That way we all get to keep more than half the week to ourselves, and we all have three days a week to do our shopping and errands--no more going to the bank on your lunch-break.
Time off means time off.
A general expectation in salary is that you'll keep working after you leave the office. For f*cks sake, we have people here who took a week off for vacation due to the holidays and they're still working from wherever they are. They're actively using PTO days and working anyway.
I just make it known that when I'm out for a PTO day or vacation, you will be 100% unable to reach me. Don't even try. Nearly 7 years and it hasn't been an issue yet.
I took a 2.5 week vacation a couple months ago. I got one email that I had to answer.
I CC'd my boss on it and ended the email with
Regards from [city, country 9000 miles away]
I also sent it as Urgent and at 3:15 am home time (3:15 pm local)
My boss and colleagues got the hint.
Lack of trust.
How superficial we all are because it's a professional setting. Its hard to open up to people out of fear they will use personal info against me. It's been done before. Its unfortunate. I hate the office paradigm we are in.
You're 100% right. There's something about an office setting that brings out the most back-stabby, petty parts of people.
Work to live; don't live to work.
That we're expected to put work above everydamnthing thing else or we "don't care about our job." I care about my job.
But I also care about my relationship, my hobbies, getting healthcare that I need, my friendships, having a reasonably clean home with food in it, my pets.....
If I so much as hint at wanting more time for any of those things (and granted some are higher priority than others) I'm NOT DEDICATED.
I work what's supposed to be 9-6. It's usually 7 or 8 to 730 or 8. I walked around for over a month with a tooth cracked clean in two that hurt like hell and then got infected because "we're too short to let anyone off" and if I'd called in it would have been an attendance write up because I "obviously didn't care about the team".
I do care about the "team" but I also care about not dying of infection.
When work owns you.
Lack of vacation time. The fact that we can't work at home when most of our job is done on a computer. The fact that we have to use our limited vacation time for weather events like snow or hurricanes. The fact that someone has to be at the office on holidays for "what ifs" that never occur.
> The fact that we can't work at home when most of our job is done on a computer.
I'm a purchasing agent. I use ZERO paper, I need zero face to face time, all my communication is done via email or phone. Why THE F*CK do I need to dress up and sit in cubicle for that?
Not just lack of vacation time, but the implicit pressure not to use it because it anyway, especially if you're at the point where you have 3+ weeks accrued.
Picking up other people's slack.
When your coworkers laziness becomes your problem.
I'm a detailer at a car dealership. Just yesterday I was told I'd have to also do a quick wash of an interior only detail because the porters forget sometimes. But I wouldn't be paid for that extra time it takes me. (I work flat rate).
Had that conversation once when I was a grocery clerk.
"Rinnaul, can you go around and make sure the bathrooms are clean?"
"That was J's assignment this morning."
"Well, sometimes he doesn't get it done, so you need to go behind him and make sure it's done."
...what's he getting paid for, then?
My response is always "great, can I have their salary too?"
This is by far the worst part about it. I work Parts at a Dealership and I'm constantly having to keep the place together when others decide to slack off. That joke of "If you're good at your job you get to do other's jobs too" is far too real.
The whole 9-5 but not really 9-5 thing.
The 9-5 work day as a rule. My work deals largely with a time zone 2 hours ahead of mine. I could feasibly work from 7-3 and be even more productive than I am now but my company won't allow it because "everyone works 9-5." As a result my commute is long as hell meaning I have to leave the house around 7:45 and don't get back until 6-6:30. If I could move my schedule up two hours that commute is cut in half and I have way more time off.
I'd settle for "9-5" actually meaning 9:00am to 5:00pm.
Not being allowed to get sick. WTF?
Lots of companies combine paid time off for vacation & time of for illness. Don't you dare get sick. If you do, it's coming out of your vacation time. So everyone comes to work sick to hold onto their precious 15 days accrued annually which makes everybody else in the office sick. You end up with an office filled with people who feel like crap but have to keep working or they can't take longer vacations.
And yet they continuously say that if you're sick it's just better to stay home. I'd love to, but they've made it so that's not feasible.
Basically, all of the following.
Tough question, there are so many to choose from. I'd say how little f*cks companies are able to give about employee work life balance and personal happiness. I hate that we never get any time off even when we're lucky enough to have jobs where you technically get it. I hate that nobody balks when companies start demanding your personal time outside of work for free. I hate that they demand we pretend to have a deep abiding passion for our company's mission when we all know deep down what our company does is trivial bullshit that really doesn't add anything to human civilization, or in some cases is actively negative and predatory but just not illegal because it's so profitable. I hate that we're supposed to give two weeks notice to leave on good terms but it's perfectly acceptable to just lay us off without a minute's notice. I hate the obsession Americans have with being busy, like having a lot of stuff to do somehow gives their lives meaning. I hate that our corporate laws allow owners of companies to be divorced from moral responsibility for the acts of the companies they own and profit from.
The busy thing is too true. We call it being a busyholic. Someone who is always so "busy" with things to do but never seems to actually accomplish anything. I've grown to hate the term busy because it's almost become in style to be busy all the time and no one is actually as busy as they tell you they are (and they LOVE telling you about how busy they are).
Comedy is in a very tricky place right now.
There is so much to NOT laugh about in this world.
In truth, many of us have forgotten how to laugh.
And certain jokes that are told, make people afraid to laugh.
So what do we do?
We tell inappropriate jokes apparently.
Let's hear some...
Redditor CrewCreation wanted to hear some "risky" comedy. So they asked:
"What’s the best morbid joke you know?"
***WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SENSITIVE MATERIAL. PROCEED WITH CAUTION!***
I can't think of anything hilarious at the moment. Make us LOL.
Lady
"I have this friend, love him to bits, but his wife has a tendency of just constantly showing everyone pictures of their son at every social event. At the start it was understandable, but now I'm just like 'Lady, it's been two years; they're not going to find him.'"
UnoriginalUse
at 9am...
"Not the most morbid but I love Anthony Jeselnik’s story about his neighbor who has Alzheimer’s. 'One of my next door neighbors is a 90 year old man suffering from Alzheimer’s. And every single morning at 9am he knocks on my door and asks me if I have seen his wife.'"
"'Which means that every single morning at 9am I have to explain to a 90 year old man suffering from Alzheimer’s that his wife has been dead for quite some time. Now I’ve thought about moving. I have thought about just not answering my door in the morning. But to be honest, it’s worth it… just to see the smile on his face.”
dreagan021
Comedy?
"Why can't orphans play baseball? They don't know where home is."
GW2RNGR
"Why can't orphans play tennis? They get confused when they hear love."
JayDub506
People who make comedy are evil. LOL.
The Darkness
"Dark humor is like food; not everyone gets it."
storm_the_castle
God Laughs?
"A Holocaust survivor dies and goes to heaven, where she meets God. To break the tension she tells God a joke about the Holocaust, but God doesn’t laugh. The lady shrugs and says 'I guess you had to be there.'"
“'I guess you had to be there' is a common expression used when someone doesn’t laugh at a joke. It means that the comedy may not translate without the context of the situation."
"In this case the Holocaust survivor is saying it, meaning that during the Holocaust God was nowhere to be found. It’s not really a joke about the Holocaust, but the absurdity of belief in a benevolent God. Hilarious right?"
semimillennial
Oh Baby
"How many dead babies does it take to fix a light bulb? More than 3 cause my garage is still dark."
sirnibs3
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Because I don't know what it says about us as people if we laugh. Oye.
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Life can change in an instant.
It can always change for the better.
Just ask any lottery winner.
Sadly, life can also take a turn for the worst and leave people shattered beyond repair.
Watching someone's life fall apart in a short amount of time is difficult.
You have to wonder if there really is such a thing as karma, bad luck, or Voodoo.
Redditor OkImagination5852 wanted to hear about the times we've been witness to personal disaster. They asked:
"People who witness a person's life crumble in a single day, what happened?"
I have lived through a lot of bad days. But thankfully they've been one disaster at a time days. So I guess I'm lucky.
Horror
"A friend of a friend had his entire family killed overnight. He was from my college and was home visiting his family. His parents, siblings, and extended family were all there together. One night, while they were all asleep, his father got up, took out a gun, and went on a shooting spree. He then killed himself."
"Everyone except this guy died on the spot. When my friend visited him at the hospital, the guy was still in shock. He had no idea why his father did that. This was more than a decade ago, and I have no idea how he's doing now."
DeadOnDeparture98
The IRS Called
"Knew a guy who had a nice house, wife, 3 kids. Machine shop in his garage, Snap On tool truck, sign out front, great mechanic. Never incorporated, didn't pay taxes on his business, cash only. Took nice vacations, bought a boat, then a camper. Five years later, the IRS came. I don't know what they estimated he owed but they seized everything. He lives alone in a trailer now."
Nobody_Wins_13
2 at Once
"My mom’s dad and dad’s mom both died on the same day. Completely unrelated. We were pretty messed up for awhile. It was 2010. Mom's dad had emphysema (lifetime smoker) and was pretty sick for a few weeks. I was in college at the time and came home to be with him, because we knew he was about to pass. Dad's mom was in the nursing home, as she had had a stroke and also had dementia (she often thought I was my dad, she thought we were in the 70s, etc.)."
"She took a turn for the worst, and so my dad left the hospice my grandpa was at and went to be with her. The towns they were in were about an hour apart, so I stayed behind with my mom to comfort her when her dad passed. A few hours go by, and he passes peacefully (huge thanks to the hospice workers for their respect and grace during this time)."
"Within an hour or so of his passing, we get a call from my dad saying that his mother had passed as well. It was a terribly dark day in our family, and the next couple years for me in college were pretty much a blur. Thankfully, things got better in time and we are all doing well now."
She lost everything...
"Her husband left her after previously persuading her to remortgage their house to save his business and he's already made her take multiple credit cards out in her name. She lost everything. He did it the week after their youngest turned 18 so he wouldn't have to pay child support. He'd obviously been planning for years."
Ieatclowns
a black sheep...
"My cousin was in a motorcycle accident with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend died. She broke her back. When she was in the hospital she learned she was pregnant. It's been 16 years and we're still trying our best, she took an all too familiar path of drugs, burning bridges and more pregnancies."
"At this point she's fairly stable and clean as far as I know but a bit of a black sheep. Her mother has custody of all one of her kids. She has her youngest and seems to be doing good by her, but who knows. It's been hard on everyone, especially her mother and her brother."
Paradigm6790
Well this is the stuff of nightmares. I'm grateful for every moment I have alive.
Several lawsuits are filed...
"Here is multiple lives ruined in an instant. A friend was over at some other people house, drugs were involved. They had been playing with a gun. My friend points the gun at a girl, pulls the trigger and shoots her in the head. Girl dies, friend gets locked up until he turns 18. Parents at the house get arrested because they knew what the kids were doing. Friends mom goes into a depression and ends up getting evicted from her house. Several lawsuits are filed."
sentondan
Gone Forever
"It was me... got in a car accident and suffered a traumatic spinal and brain injury that I had no chance of surviving... a 7 vertebrae spinal fusion, yrs of physical and mental therapy... 18 yrs later and the pieces, though many forever gone, are finally coming back together."
2boneskuLL
A Bad Night
"He trashed his fathers vacation house with an axe before setting it on fire, stabbed the neighbor nearly to death, stole their car and then crashed it into a cop car so bad the cops were injured. He also got his girl pregnant, so once he is out of prison they're gonna start a family."
Dumbing_It_Down
"dangerous"
"Pregnant friend found out husband (43) was having an affair with young woman (19) who was a volunteer at their ecolodge. Friend had 'dangerous' pregnancy and had to spend a lot of time in bed. This betrayal destroyed their marriage, split the little town where they lived and caused two employees to quit because witnessing the affair going on was just too painful."
"She had a beautiful baby girl (to go with her other two girls, lol) and after the breakup was clinically depressed. Worked hard and got a divorce (she had a great lawyer); got the business back on track; beat her depression and now is planning a great vacation trip with her girls."
"Meantime, Dad has generous visitation but just 'hasn't gotten around to' buying a car seat so he can pick up the baby and for a long time asked my friend, 'Can you drop the girls off at my Mom's?'"
NoBSforGma
Lost it All...
"Recently, I know of a guy that had borrowed all his family’s life savings for the most part to participate in the whole game stop stock thing happening… he lost every penny of his money (credit card advances), and his parents retirement, and every other dime he could get… it makes me sick to even think of it."
Bangbangsmashsmash
Well those are A LOT of bad days. Good luck to all of you.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
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Those who are wealthy have the luxury of acquiring the best of the best–whether it's dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant or status-identifying clothing from Chanel or Yves Saint Laurent.
But even the rich have their limits when it comes to frivolous spending before casting judgment on friends or colleagues.
Curious to hear examples of this, Redditor Sasquatchfl asked:
"Rich people of Reddit, what's the craziest/most unethical thing you've seen people in your circle spend money on?"
Expensive experiences were a priority over prized possessions.
Live Sushi
"An ex worked for Dell in the late 90s/early 2000s. He was pretty high up and there were lots of partiers in his work circle. Went to a party hosted by one of the dellionaires and there was a body sushi girl. I don’t know what was paid to her, but it was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen."
– 5hrs4hrs3hrs2hrs1mor
Pissing Contest
"Paid a group of homeless guys to only use the bathroom on a competitors business. Eventually bought that place for a massive discount."
– Haboobalub
Let's Work Out
"My mother woke up one morning and said she felt she was way too fat and she wanted to get a treadmill. The treadmill wouldn’t be a problem, but then she saw where it would be and didn’t like the lighting. Fast forward 2 months later there’s a 40k outdoor gym built and connected to the house. She hasn’t used it once."
– Herrera5449_
Taking A Leap
"Travelled with a bunch of ex 'friends' all fairly wealthy."
"First trip to SE Asia together and as an ex-local I was a de-facto tour guide (despite not being there in over a decade)"
"They somehow found and offered a bunch of kids diving off cliffs to jump for spare change."
"They increasingly challenged each other to land their coins as close to the cliff base and small surrounding rocks for the kids to dive for."
– Satakans
It's about the finer things in life.
Expensive Party Gag
"A 3k ouija board from Gwen Paltrow's store. I didn't even know it was a thing until the dude brought it out. I really wanted to cut it up and see what it was made from. Looked nice don't get me wrong but the thing is basically a party gag. For 3 grand, it better summon a demon that's all I'm saying."
– con_this
Slow Burn
"$600 USD for a candle."
– Jeffranks
It's not always about the things you acquire.
Minor Inconvenience
"I know a guy who went to get a new drivers license and had to pay ~$100k in back parking tickets, then joked about it after."
"Apparently he couldn't get a permit to park in front of his house, so he just did anyway, and accepted like a $200 fine everyday."
– melodyze
For A Successful Election
"Not me, but I know a guy who crowd funded (read: threw a bunch of money into, then solicited more at a flea market) $80,000 toward his friend's DA election campaign. The guy won. So far, this has paid back at least $120K in avoided legal fees. I know some rich people. Most of them are more boring than you think. Hell, most of them drive Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans."
– KP_Wrath
The Lance Corporal
"I was stationed with a Lance Corporal who was wealthy beyond means after selling some of his patents. He owned and piloted four helicopters. Lived in a palatial waterfront house in Jacksonville, NC."
"The cheapest one cost 400K. That's the one he trained on. The most expensive was about 1.2 million. That's 1.2 million 1981 dollars. The two he's got now are about 5 million each."
"Had a floating landing pad out back moored to his dock and another landing pad in the back yard. Kept two helicopters and a Rolls inside his custom-built hangar at Norfolk International Airport."
"He drove a pair of Rolls-Royces. He also toyed with a 900K Miami-Vice type speedboat. He also housed and transported his squad to Camp Lejeune and back in a custom mini-bus."
– ApplicationConnect55
The dude was very giving and lived a very clean life. He'd fly us to Norfolk, pickup the car and we'd do our shopping and eating. Hop in a chopper and return home. He'd fly his fire team down to Miami on weekends. He kept a Limo there and wore a chauffer's outfit and did all the driving.
He bought a full-service and licensed pub in Northern Ireland. He lives there with his wife. Does a lot of charity work there. We still keep in touch."
– ApplicationConnect55
When there's plenty of money going around, there's no need to worry about a single thing.
That peace of mind is a luxury in itself.
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When marriages or relationships fall apart, infidelity is not always the cause.
Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor Liam_Tang asked:
"People who've divorced, aside from adultery, what were the irreconcilable differences that ended the marriage?"

You think you know a person when you walk down the aisle.
These Redditors were in for a rude awakening.
Pet Neglect
"My wife divorced her ex for many reasons, but the final straw was when she went out of town for a few days, and when she got back he had not fed or given water to the dog. The dog lived a long and happy life after that."
– StrangeCrimes
Obsessed With A Crush
"Not me, but I had an old coworker that divorced his wife for spending their entire savings on candy crush and games of the same type."
– Hexis40
Compatibility Musts
"ITT: Intimacy (sex/romance), beliefs (religion/spirituality/politics), kids, and I haven’t seen it yet but it’s coming: finances."
"The big four. You REALLY need to discuss these things in detail BEFORE getting married."
– rabbiskittles
Physical violence is a legit reason for people to peace out of a relationship.
The Flattening
"She threatened to hit me with a hammer."
– michaelrohansmith
Hitting The Bottle
"She became an abusive alcoholic. It was sad but I had to get out."
– diegojones4
Emotional pain is too damaging to recover from.
Truth Hurts
"She told me as we stood in front of the judge ending our 7 year marriage, 'I never loved you, I just wanted kids.'"
– Pinch_Dogs
Can't Fix Angry
"She was beautiful/smart but an angry angry person. I thought I could be sweet to her and 'fix' that. Heh. She kicked the crap out of me emotionally. Wife II has been a walk in the roses for 32 years now :)"
– lowlandr
A change of heart is worthless if comes too late.
"We Could've Had A Nice Marriage
"He could not understand that my wants and needs were as important as his wants and needs. We tried to make it work for 7 years. During that time, for things that were really important to me, I tried explaining logically, asking nicely, begging, crying, yelling, passive aggressiveness... cycled back through all of these options multiple times."
"(If I knew something was important to him, I would do that. For example, he was really into sports, so I went to all his events, even though that is not at all my thing.) When I finally threw up my hands and told him it was time to get a divorce, he suddenly panicked and said 'What can I do? Do you want me to do half the chores? I'll do it! Do you want me to get a job? I'll do it! Do you want me to buy you presents for your birthday? I'll do it!'"
"So, in other words, he could have been doing that all along, but just couldn't be bothered. That made me so angry. We could have had a nice marriage that we both enjoyed, but no, by the time he saw the light, that ship had sailed."
"We are both happily remarried now (to different people) and I joke that his new wife owes me a thank you note. It was his experience with me that taught him to listen to her and take her needs seriously."
– Bluebird-True
"What Can I Do?"
"My ex was exactly like this. I didn't marry him but when I told him let's break up, he went all like, what can I do? Let's get engaged, let's look at houses, etc. Basically all the pre-marriage topics that we should be discussing about after being together for 7 years."
"I got so angry and straight up told him it's too late... I don't need you anymore."
– gudetarako
As much as a couple wants to stay together, unforeseen circumstances can eventually tear people apart.
Very few people can maintain healthy long-distance relationships.
When a new job opportunity takes a significant other away, would you begrudge them for wanting a better position to earn more money? Or is it better for them to reluctantly turn down the opportunity so they could stay with you? Do either scenarios breed resentment?
These were questions I've often asked myself with past relationships, and my answers varied depending on the person I was with.
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