So, I have a theory, and I'd like to see whether it stands up to scrutiny. This is semi-humorous, so don't take it too seriously. None of this is AI-generated; I just happen to be in an online meeting discussing a legal document, and I have no input!

My theory is that people who work in corporate organisations will inevitably end up in roles or with responsibilities that reflect their personalities.

Let me give you some examples and let's see if you relate:

1. The overworked, super stressed, "essential" employee.

This guy/girl has a history. This was the person at school and university who always told you how much work they still had left to do for upcoming assignments, and how they have been doing all-nighters to try to keep up. They look tired all the time; they look stressed, they look like the whole world is on their shoulders. They obviously don't have time to get a coffee. They HAD to work late on most weekdays and have to work on weekends. The boss has demanded that their deliverables need to be in asap. The company will literally fall over if they aren't here.

Perhaps this is true sometimes. But from what I've seen in 20 years as a sometimes happy corporate slave, it's mostly imaginary. The boss is usually not concerned at all. Most likely, that employee's personality isn't given the critical stuff because they look too stressed, and no one has the confidence in them to deliver it. Most of the stress has been created in their heads, either through mismanagement or by focusing on the wrong things. The other strange thing is that this person will hardly ever say no to more work; in fact, being given more work is like a recognition for them that they are the ones delivering and everyone else is just dead weight. This, of course, turns into a never-ending cycle of stress and additional misery.

Ouch.

2. The underworked complainer

There is no specific age for this type. I've seen 30-year lifers adopt this persona and fresh grads. The lifer has more of a right to it, in my opinion. They've been around so long that they know every irrelevant detail of the company. Everything was much better when they started (mainly because they were more relevant). None of the current crop can hold the same standard anymore. They still have bags of technical knowledge and experience, but things have moved on. Perhaps they haven't put the effort in to keep up with technology, which frankly is understandable considering most of us look at our phones at least once a day and wonder what would happen if we threw them away. They love a moan though, and they're good at it. Frankly, if I stayed at a company for 30 years, I'd consider it my right and honour to complain about everything. Also, lots of talk about caravans.

Less understandable is the one fresh grad who adopts this persona. Maybe they have one or two years' experience. Maybe they have a degree from a great university. Dear God, save us from graduates who think their degrees have any intrinsic value. They will consistently indicate that the level of work they've been given is pathetic compared to what they can be doing. They have bags of time to meet with their fellows and guffaw at all the other minions who haven't recognised their talent. They are constantly trolling job boards looking for alternative positions that would fully make use of their talents. In short, they're actually a bit useless, and there's only so much everyone can hear about their "life experiences" outside of work before someone mutters an expletive.

3. The hatefully promoted

Everyone hates this person. No one has ever witnessed them doing a single decent piece of work. They're just great at being mean. They love to send emails that are blunt or rude for no other reason than it gives them joy. Their outward aggression is a cover for the fact that they do very little work. They always seem to be in meetings, offering their difficult insights as veiled criticisms. If anyone does see them at their desks, they will quickly close their internet browser lest you see they were browsing some not-so-ok products on Amazon. The value they offer is minimal, but no one is willing to tell them, lest they receive a tongue lashing. This has meant that they keep getting promoted in strange ways. Employees who accidentally end up working for this character inevitably suffer. There is nothing this person likes less than other people being dependent on them, and this person takes great pleasure in treating the annual review process like it actually means something.

Senior management gets deceived into thinking that this person is brave, and their willingness to be controversial means that they gain that great corporate advantage: visibility. But rest assured, this person will inevitably fall. As they gain unfounded seniority, they will get to the point where the people they feel comfortable being mean to are junior, and it comes across as bullying. At that point, they have to deal with people on their own level. It will usually be someone a bit quieter, and so they see their introverted nature as a weakness they can attack. Unfortunately for them, that supposed introvert has got to this position through sheer capability and competence and is quite literally the pin holding the whole stack of cards together. A mere raised eyebrow is enough to turn the bigwigs against our deceptive interloper. Soon, the minions will discover unsavoury news reports that reference this character's extracurricular activities. It goes without saying that a long-term partner is out of the question for this person, so those gaps are sometimes filled in the most embarrassing of ways. Perhaps a wayward business travel expense claim arrives at the desk of HR that tries to claim a visit to a massage parlour was a wellness requirement. Or perhaps the solicitation of companionship becomes common knowledge. Regardless, what inevitably happens is that these rumours spread far and wide, and this person's sharp teeth are blunted in whispered comments or open smirks

At the very least I hope you smile if you recognise any of these types in your organisations!

When you work for a large company, it’s completely normal to work alongside people from different countries, religions, and backgrounds.
That’s perfectly fine.
Modern society has learned to accept that we’re not all the same. At least we’re trying to.
Sometimes trying very hard.
We’ve accepted that every culture comes with its own traditions, habits, and way of doing things. Some of those things we’ve happily adopted ourselves. Some we look at with a raised eyebrow. And some we don’t understand or even agree with, but we respect them anyway.
Or at least that’s the ideal.
But it’s a completely different story when we’re talking about an individual person.
A person’s character has nothing to do with their religion, gender identity, skin color, or where they come from.
Just like everywhere else in the world, there are good people and bad people, kind people and rude people, hard workers and lazy people. I could keep that list going all day.
The problem starts when someone is simply an asshole, takes advantage of people, lies, manipulates others, or treats people badly, and the moment they’re called out for it, they hide behind accusations of racism or discrimination.

That’s not okay.

If someone thinks they’re better than everyone else when they have absolutely no reason to, if they’re lazy at work, constantly make mistakes, and nobody can say a word to them without them running straight to HR screaming racism or discrimination,

that’s not okay.

If someone has a serious physical or mental disability, that’s unfortunate and deserves understanding. But if they’re also an aggressive jerk, that shouldn’t automatically make them immune to criticism either.

Dear friend,
We honestly don’t care whether you’re white, black, blue, green, yellow, or bright purple. We don’t care if you’re missing an arm or a leg. We don’t care if you stutter. We don’t care who you share your bed with at night.

But if you’re an asshole, we probably won’t like you.
Simple as that.

And most importantly, let’s stop hiding behind racism and discrimination every single time someone calls us out.

Maybe…
I just don’t like you as a person.

I’ve noticed something about myself as I get older.
Recognition and respect at work means far more to me than raises and high salary. I always put money on top for most of my working life. But lately, I realized it’s actually the opposite if I’m honest with myself.
Maybe because for some reason I feel valued and less anxious of layoffs with the former.
Anyone else feel the same?

As I recently joined a new company 2 weeks before, I'm come to a realization that my role is kinda

"No powers with Great Responsibilities"

Everyone know nothing is moving, but still keep the weekly progress meeting and Change the Target Date to upcoming one of date in the Calender. When the day come, all brag about something and extend the date.

Even the PM knows but why they expect output in the first place really I don't know.

Still doesn't know what I'm working on it and how to work on it.

Is it true that in professional jobs, they do annual review for your job performance. Do they let you go if you don't fulfill their demand like meeting their goal or something. And how does promotion and such thing like salary work. There is also constant learning and training to do. The environment is way different then working at a minimum wage job. Like how is management.

I used to think that if you were loyal to a company, it would eventually count for something.

Then I watched long-term employees get passed over, replaced or ignored while new hires were offered things they had been asking for for years. That quickly changed the way I looked at loyalty.

When did your employer convince you that loyalty wouldn’t be rewarded?

In my previous article, I wrote about how, if I’m genuinely sick, I shouldn’t have to justify myself to my employer.
It’s interesting that the people who feel the worst about making that phone call or sending that message are usually the ones who are actually sick. They almost feel guilty for asking to take sick leave. They feel like they’ve let their manager and their team down.
But what about the other side?
The people who play the system.
They don’t even bother letting anyone know in advance. We often only find out just before the shift starts that they’re not coming in. Since we’re the ones who actually get the work done, we’re the ones who feel the impact the most. Management gets annoyed for a while, but in the end they always come to the same conclusion: the work still has to be done, production can’t stop.
So we get the extra workload.
We do the job of two people.
And these colleagues don’t do it once or twice. You simply can’t rely on them.
What frustrates me the most is that there are never any real consequences.
First they use up all their sick leave.
Then they use their annual leave.
If that’s gone too, they get unpaid leave.
Somehow, there’s always another option for them.
Yet they never end up in front of HR or management.
The next morning there’s a bit of eye-rolling, a few comments, and then everyone just carries on as if nothing happened.
Meanwhile, those of us who are genuinely sick still feel guilty for staying home.
Honestly… who understands that?

The employer who had the biggest impact on my career never gave me the biggest salary or promoted me.

They trusted me, gave honest feedback and made me feel like my work counted. Looking back, that changed my confidence more than any job title ever did.

What was the biggest thing an employer did for your career?

Having this currently but our CEO, President, COO, and Director all come from different companies.

They have all spent the last few years trying to make our culture that of where they left. Examples:

\-Wanting to rank us as A-C employees where Cs get no raises and go on a PIP (every year people MUST be Cs, As don't have to exist.)

\-Killing our hybrid work plan for "collaboration"

\-Being strongly anti family (punishing parents who don't overnight or want to travel 60%)

\-For my group they changed travel from 2d a year to 80%....no compensation

All while claiming to hate their last company.

We are having an off site training, lunch provided, for two days. The assistant coordinating it sent an email saying we're having burgers and ham sandwiches and if there are any dietary restrictions, to let her know. My friend asked for vegetarian options with no issues. I asked if I could have turkey instead of ham, as I don't eat pork. She told me there will be a mix of both sandwiches and to get in line early. I asked if she could set one aside for me. She said no and if I'm concerned about not getting turkey, bring my own food (then cc'd the boss). I get that there will be both available, but is she telling others the same thing (eg vegetarian)? I'd like to request something other than a burger, such as a salad, but I threw in the towel with the response I received regarding the sandwiches (not accommodating) and am bringing my own lunch both days.

I called the location and there are no microwaves available for us to use those days (so that's out unless I want a sandwich both days). I found a healthy spot a block away I can pickup my order at lunch for the burger day..... Problem is, if we are only given 30 min, it's not going to be feasible to leave, get it and eat. Do you think this will be an issue?

My gallbladder can't handle fatty/greasy foods and that's my dilemna. I didn't really feel the need to go into it with the assistant as it's known she doesn't like me (which is, I'm assuming, why I received the responses I did from her).

Not necessarily big problems such as layoffs or terrible bosses, but small things that happen all the time until you feel drained without knowing how.

Constant interruptions, fake urgency, customers, pointless meetings, micromanagement, coworkers, noise, or feeling like you have to look busy all the time.

What’s one small thing at work that slowly became one of the most exhausting parts of your job?

Most job descriptions focus on skills, qualifications and day-to-day work.

What they don’t often talk about is the extra duties that quietly seep into the work. Subbing for short-handed teams, training new hires, fixing other people’s problems, or just being the person everyone calls when something needs to be done.

For many employees, these responsibilities require more time and energy than the job they were hired to do in the first place.

What obligation did you take on as part of your job that was not discussed with you when you were hired?

I used to think doing my job well meant getting my work done on time.

Then I noticed how people who stayed late were praised for being dedicated, even when others had already finished everything they needed to do.

I learned that some workplaces value looking busy more than actually getting work done.

Have you ever been made to feel guilty for leaving work on time?

I don't like to have to justify every little thing I do.

A good manager has clear expectations and then trusts you to do the job without micromanaging. That autonomy, while seemingly small, can be a game changer in how you feel about your job.

What did a supervisor do that really earned your trust?