Years in the workforce mean that no one is exempt from terrible bosses. No matter what industry you work in, everyone has their fair share of horror stories.
One such professional found the perfect way to air her grievances. Not to HR but on TikTok — the modern answer to any conflict resolution. The content creator, who goes by the handle name Lunchtime Learns, detailed one recent distressing situation when her friend at work resigned from her position as an office manager. In an impromptu meeting with the manager, the TikTokker was then quickly informed that she would be taking up the majority of her coworker’s work load.
“He divvies up her responsibilities and he leaves like 30 seconds later and she explains to me that basically 80% of her job is now my job.”
Lunchtime Learns acknowledges that this was not the fault of her friend who was moving on from the company, but that of the faulty management. She further explained that taking on more responsibilities was a non-starter. She has her own designated workload with no free time during the day. A further point — and this is crucial — was that she was not hired for this position. It is not part of her job description and she has no previous knowledge base that would allow her to take on the entirety of another person’s job.
What triggered the professional’s ire was where the rest of the 20% was going. Another employee would be taking on the remaining “duties” that essentially only consisted of buying pizza for a party and being the holder of a set of keys. This more than justifies Lunchtime Learns’ decision to write a manifesto about why she would not be taking on these responsibilities.
Workers often have to pick up the slack from their bosses
The real indignity of this alleged proposal is the fact that the TikToker wasn’t even politely requested to take on these additional duties — they were just piled on her. And to add salt to the wound, it doesn’t appear that she would be getting a pay increase even though she was expected to do double the work. TikTok viewers were quick to throw their weight behind the compensation issue.
“Ask when you will begin receiving her paycheck as well,” Jules replied to the video. She wasn’t alone as others jumped into the discourse.
“New responsibilities should come with new compensation,” RickyCortLive echoed.
“I’d be like, am I also absorbing 80% of her salary…” joked Jblubird.
None of these considerations may be necessary, however. Lunchtime Learns ended the video wondering if she would even have a job once she refused to allow them to take her for granted.
Unfortunately, her experience is not exactly new. Per CNBC, a 2022 State of the Global Workplace indicated a massive percentage of dissatisfaction in the workplace. 66% have made it evident that they are emotionally detached from their work while a staggering 19% indicate that they are miserable at their respective jobs. For a society that depends on happy, working employees, it’s irrefutable that these numbers are too high and concerning.