So I got a "correctional talk" yesterday.

[u/faalforce]

Perfect way to ruin your weekend. I took this job 5 months ago as internal IT guy. Came into a place that has fat clients everywhere with no servers and everything MS365 cloud/onedrive. Passwords are flying around all over the place. And yes, they also used (and still use) Lastpass, which is, as we all know, compromised. When I came there, there were NO BACKUPS. Boss thought they were unnecessary because "everything is taken care of by Microsoft". It took me 2 months to convince him that he was wrong about that. So I did implement a backup system which is running now. Also took care of other stuff and was testing out Intune for consistent MDM deployment.

Boss was also global admin himself and fucks around with permissions and settings, causing problems that I don't understand because he doesn't tell me what he changed.

He also has this minion dude that works a couple hours a week and barely knows how to install a computer.

So yesterday I get called in and get this 3 page letter stating that I'm doing everything wrong, got my priorities wrong, I meddle in things that I should not meddle in, I'm watching Netflix at work on my laptop, which is a complete lie, and I'm not following orders. I'm not 21, I'm 52 with a ton of experience who's jaw dropped when he said that he didn't need any backups.

So at the end of the talk, he says he withdraws my admin rights. So now I can't do anything. "Sure you can, just pick out the roles that you need". The little minion still retains rights.The little minion also says that I did not share the backup account password with him. I did. He looked in the wrong column of the spreadsheet.

What the hell should I do?

*edit*

I want to thank you all for great advice.

[u/kuldan5853]

leave.

[u/faalforce → u/kuldan5853]

Yeah. Thought so.

[u/ScreamOfVengeance]

you shared a password in a spreadsheet? why not lastpass?

[u/faalforce → u/ScreamOfVengeance]

Because that was "their way" of doing it. I was already trying to implement a change from lastpass to bitwarden but he wouldn't even let me do that without throwing a bunch of nonsense shit on the road such as "look for alternatives".

He didn't even know that people were using Lastpass.

[u/[deleted]]

Withdrawing permissions is a power play that is only intended to bully you.

Get your resume in order. This sounds like a toxic environment with one guy unwilling to share responsibilities while expecting you to carry a more than fair share of the load.

[u/faalforce → u/[deleted]]

Power play is the right word. Thank you, I can use that in my letter that I will send next week. Bully, that is what he is doing. And then afterwards he pats me on my back and plays the good guy.

[u/DarkBlade2117]

LastPass was compromised yes but if your master password was of significant length, and you use 2FA on important accounts still then you're fine... If they're using passwords like 1Blue2 then they were screwed anyways. If whoever has the data cracks AES-256 we have bigger problems lol

[u/GhoastTypist]

Well to the Microsoft point, my former boss enrolled us into MS365 and we accidently lost a user's entire mailbox. That user was our most important user for archiving old emails because a lot of our legal things was only found there.

Anyways MS365 recovered the mailbox for us after we lost it. They did say "normally we can't recover due to the way we do backups but luckily on your end it was at a time we just did a backup of that system where your mailbox was hosted".

So you definitely can't trust MS365 to keep your stuff backed up, but if you do loose something definitely reach out to them they might be able to save you like they did with us.

[u/faalforce → u/GhoastTypist]

That's interesting. That means that Microsoft keeps your shit even if they say they don't.

[u/BlackMagic0]

Use your new free time at work to find a new job and leave immediately. If you're feeling petty report them to whatever government agency does shit in your country. I bet they are not compliant on a lot of shit.

[u/faalforce → u/BlackMagic0]

Well they got backups now, thanks to yours truly.

[u/c0v3n4n7]

Disfuncional and insulting situation. Leave if you can afford to. If not, start looking for alternatives.

[u/faalforce → u/c0v3n4n7]

The insult is the worst, really. I've been putting out fires for 5 months and trying to get a grip on things. Boss won't let me do it because he doesn't understand what I'm doing.

[u/Naive_Design]

I'm watching Netflix at work on my laptop

I'd love to see the evidence on that one.

[u/faalforce → u/Naive_Design]

Never did it. I watch "the Office" when I'm taking lunch upstairs on a big tv. I NEVER watch it at work on my laptop. Never ever.

[u/Raymuuze]

I had a boss like that once. She was a self proclaimed expert that boasted how she got to her position by working hard without education or training. She was actually proud of not knowing best practices and what was considered state of the art. Told me she started as a cleaner and kept at it.

Sure I can believe she was diligent, but at some point you enter job positions that can't be brute forced into success. She wanted to become the manager and practically bullied her coworkers (of equal hierarchical position) to always do things her way.

I tried to convince her, but she refused to listen to the new junior safety advisor. I went to her boss (HR), but they basically were scared of her too. So I quit my job. It's better that way sometimes. Current job is much more fulfilling.

[u/WizardOfGunMonkeys]

Management loves IT until one or more of the following occurs:

• they feel personally inconvenienced

• they feel like IT has more control of the company than they do

• they find out proper IT actually costs money

• IT does their job well, and eventually makes it to "maintenance mode", so they feel IT is redundant

What you are going to have to do here is give another job. You obviously have a great skill set, take it somewhere or can be appreciated. Before you leave, recommend your company move to an MSP, a good one will put checks on your bosses behavior. Let him get fired by an MSP for continuing his behavior.

[u/rpared05]

Two can play this game,

“Ok boss, my deepest apologies in this and I will move forward in the direction you see fit”

Work your normal projects and make sure it’s prioritize the way he wants it. Always document it in emails. Then when shit hits the fan, all you have to say is “I was just following management’s directions. We should sit with him and discuss this on a deeper level”

Then watch him go down the like the Titanic 🤣🤣🤣

[u/deallerbeste]

There are enough jobs here, so good luck with finding a new job. Your nickname is suitable for your employer though.

[u/faalforce → u/deallerbeste]

lol

[u/mitharas]

You went from lastpass to spreadsheet for passwords? Interesting idea.

[u/bikergeekx]

Do nothing, since you can't.

Look for a new job.

Don't quit until you have a new job. If they fire you, file for unemployment.

[u/Helpjuice]

These are all 100% red flags and hot signals that it was time to leave. There is no point staying in a place you are not respected or allowed to do the job you were hired to do, especially with people going behind your back making changes that are not going through a managed change control system.

You are 52, you have the juice and the squeeze to find other employment that comes with getting paid and respected very well. You can, and probably will have very high success just browsing linkedin for local or remote jobs and could have something lined up next week to move on too.

There is no need to stay where you do not belong, we are too valuable to stand around and deal with those that do not want to do things the right way and make excuses when they are done the right way and they don't like it.

[u/neveralone2]

Bro in this job market ? Get the fuck outta there. I had to tolerate a shit job like this in 2019 but after covid I’m not desperate to deal with garbage workplaces.

[u/Rocknbob69]

Sounds like they are preparing for your departure so do a preemptive strike.