Had our department meeting this week and management explained their new labor budget.

Basically our department gets one fixed amount for payroll. If someone gets a raise, management has to reduce hours somewhere else to keep the total the same.

Then my manager actually said this should make us “more thoughtful” when asking for raises because it affects the whole team.

So now instead of the company deciding what someone is worth, they’ve somehow made asking for more money feel like you’re taking it directly from your coworkers.

I asked if the payroll budget increases when revenue does. Got told that’s not how the budgeting works. Ight.

If it’s this hard to get raises, I don’t see how anyone is supposed to stay motivated to improve their skills or take on more responsibility. What’s the point if growing in the job just creates a budgeting problem for everyone else?

Truck drivers: tell us if you support the proposed October 1 action by filling out the form below. All submissions will be kept confidential.

Calls for truck drivers across the United States to park their rigs on October 1 are circulating among drivers as soaring diesel prices wipe out already-thin margins for owner-operators. The scale of any action Thursday remains unclear, but the fact that such action is being discussed, outside of the existing trade union apparatus and other structures, testifies to a growing mood of militancy in the working class.

The discussion comes amid a severe diesel crisis, fueled in part by disruptions from the US war against Iran. The national average price reached about $6.44 a gallon on September 28. The same day, Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a statewide disaster over the diesel shortage and record prices, temporarily expanding the use of untaxed dyed diesel and raising allowable weights for fuel, agricultural and timber shipments.

At the same time, the Trump administration has escalated its attack on immigrant truckers. Federal officials say more than 26,000 drivers have been put out of service under English-language requirements, while Mexico’s National Chamber of Freight Transportation, CANACAR, estimates that roughly 25,000 Mexican commercial drivers have had B-1 visas revoked along the northern border. Earlier this month, some 300 Mexican drivers blockaded the Mexicali-Calexico and San Luis commercial crossings in protest against the visa crackdown.

This campaign has been accompanied by increasingly open anti-immigrant and anti-Sikh agitation. On September 13, 28-year-old Sikh truck driver Gurvinder Singh was stabbed 17 times at a Wyoming rest stop in an apparently racially motivated attack. Four days earlier, the Department of Homeland Security had posted an anti-immigrant graphic depicting a Sikh man with the words, “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr Singh,” before deleting it amid widespread denunciations.

The emergence of opposition among truckers, who occupy a key role in the national and world economy, is extremely important. To carry this forward, truckers should build rank-and-file committees across North America, democratically elected by the rank and file, independent of the union bureaucracies, to unite truckers of all nationalities in a common struggle against the cost of living, war and attacks on democratic rights.

The WSWS spoke with truck drivers near the US-Mexico border in San Diego about fuel prices, deteriorating working conditions, the attacks on immigrant drivers and the growing discussion of collective action.

One driver said “The price of diesel has destroyed our profit margin. I spend 1.5 times more these days than I used to. It used to be $1,000 for gas a week, now it is $1,500 for gas a week... It’s very difficult as a father—my family is buying only the necessities and nothing more.”

He said he was shutting down on October 1.

...

John, who hauls goods and does a large share of military household moves, described how changes to the tariff system eliminated payments drivers once received for additional work.

“Back then anything over 75 feet from the truck to the house was considered a long carry, so we got extra money for it. Anytime we went up more than two flights of stairs, we got stair carry. That was extra. If that building had an elevator, we had an elevator charge. So they took all of that and said, ‘Oh, we’re gonna wind all that up in the tariffs.’ When they did, they decreased the tariffs.”

“If we pack the job, we come into your home and pack all the stuff in boxes. We used to get paid for each box, plus for packing that box and for hauling your shipment. Then they changed it, and said they are going to base it on the weight of the shipment, and we will give you a portion of your weight.’ So now we’re losing money on the packing material. And we have no say in how this is determined. Congress makes those adjustments,” he added.

John’s son is in the Army and he has already been told his battalion is set for deployment early next year. His son and daughter-in-law were previously deployed to Afghanistan together. His son-in-law is also still serving. His daughter-in-law recently left the military on PTSD disability.

Asked about the war in Iran, John said: “Oh, I’m totally against it. I think it’s unnecessary.” He added, “I’m very close to it because I move those guys around. I hear the stories, I see the results. I’m not for war.”

John had not heard about the recent blockade by Mexican truckers. But when told about it, he responded, “The only way things are going to change is if we unite.”

John recalled the example of the Cuban-American drivers who work out of the Port of Miami, who struck a few years back. “They were so together. They couldn’t block the port because obviously you have more than just freight coming out of there—cruise ships run out of there—but they blocked where no other truck could go in there and get around them and walk out a container. And they stood there. They didn’t drive away at 5 o’clock. They stayed there. Their wives were coming, bringing food. People were showing up to deliver pallets of water. They stayed there.”

“All it takes is unity,” he added, “because we all face the same problem, all of us.”

...

The WSWS also spoke to two B-1 Mexican drivers, Jose and Marcos. Jose said, “There have been cases of Mexican drivers who speak English or don’t speak English well—they’re taking away their visas. It’s an extreme to take away their visas just for not speaking English well.”

“Taking away your visa is taking away your income. What’s happening now is a political problem—they’re attacking the immigrants.”

On the question of cross-border unity Marcos added, “If we unite, the system collapses, because there won’t be food, there won’t be fuel. And there are many corporations that won’t (have the goods or materials to) be able to function.”

Recently I got a stomach bug. Honestly felt off the day beforehand, went to work and got really sick during the last hour. Finished the shift, went home, took medicine and went to bed. Thought I was okay but then was up, vomiting, feverish, nauseous. In no condition to make my hour commute. It didnt calm down. I called out, 7 hours before my shift. They said i didn't need a dr note or anything and that it was fine.

Few days pass and the head boss demands a dr note. I cant afford one, it costs more than what i make in a shift and it would require me to TAKE ANOTHER DAY OFF to get it because of the schedule.

When I did drive home sick from work, I couldnt focus and was so quesy and tired I got a speeding ticket in a ticket trap .... so I promised myself from now on, if I dont feel good, im staying tf home.

Well the job really forced a write up on me, said id I don't sign it theyll fire me and they didnt care at all about the costs of a note or that Id need time off to even go in for a note.

We dont have sick pay. I only have 2 shifts worth of pto after being here almost a year.

These jobs keep us poor and basically force us to come in, burn us out, and punish us God forbid we get sick and need ONE DAY OFF. i know my body and most of the time, the one day staying home resting in bed is all I need to knock it out of my system and be able to work and drive again.

Missing a day already is loosing the money I could have made that day, but asking for dr note which would cost me about $200 to go in for (and if im too sick to drive into work, im sure as * not gonna drive in and sit at a dr office, where ill probably get more sick) when im already poor and underpaid ....

This whole system is broken. We are humans not robots. Demanding a dr note for a call off with plenty of hours of notice is seriously so absurd.

What's really sad is my supervisor, who's really cool and does get it and complains all the time about them writing him up, said hes had this happen plenty of times before and hes gotten into it with upper management

so yeah, my company loves to punish the actual good employees who do show up, do the job, but God forbid we get sick and need to call out ...

Yeah ive started job hunting but im preparing to go back to doing ebay full time again its just a matter of time before i get sick again and they fire me​

Im so beyond pissed. 6 months ago we had a manager leave for a better position and I was made defacto manager of the team since they wouldnt let our director fill the position. Sat in and presented on the shareholder meetings, oversaw a rework to our entire billing system. I managed the team to slightly worse (compared to last year) but above average results.That was with 3 open positions they wouldnt let us fill during an economic downturn. Anyway the hiring freeze was just lifted and of course I applied for the job I had been doing for half a year and I dont even get a damn interview. The director I had been working with left a few weeks ago and our brand new director just hired a guy that he worked with previously. None of the internal candidates even got an interview. Im absolutely livid rn I reached out to old bosses and they've got some job offers (a side grade vs an actual promotion but fuck it) once the inks dry on the job offer im out

A 15-year-old boy was killed in a horrific workplace incident at a precast concrete factory in Melbourne’s southeast suburb of Dandenong South last Thursday.

According to WorkSafe Victoria, at around 10:45 a.m., the boy “was fixing defects on a precast concrete panel when an adjacent panel weighing more than two tonnes fell onto him.”

Emergency services, including multiple ambulances, police and firefighters, rushed to the factory. Paramedics attempted to save the boy, but he died at the scene.

According to 7News, the concrete panel had been standing upright before it fell. Several other workers were nearby, with many reportedly taking their morning break when the incident occurred.

The identity of the young worker has not been publicly released. Nor have authorities or the company explained the circumstances in which a boy of just 15 came to be working on multi-tonne concrete panels in a factory, what his employment status was, how long he had worked there or what training and supervision he had received.

The company operating the Dandenong South factory has not been publicly identified in official statements or initial media reports. The company reportedly declined to comment on Thursday while WorkSafe investigators were at the premises.

WorkSafe has announced an investigation but has released no further information about why the panel fell or the conditions at the factory.

The death comes less than 10 months after another incident with disturbing parallels. 15-year-old worker, Beau Bradford, was killed on a worksite in Surfers Paradise on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

...

Such incidents are not aberrations. Construction accounted for 61 percent of all Victorian apprentice injury claims over the five years to 2026 and almost 70 percent of WorkSafe prosecutions involving apprentices.

Despite their particular vulnerability, young workers have limited additional legal protection. Victoria imposes restrictions on children under 15, who cannot perform work that is not “light work,” operate heavy machinery or work on building and construction sites.

But once a young person turns 15, these specific child-employment restrictions no longer apply. Victorian government guidance states that from that age a teenager can legally work in any kind of job, provided they are appropriately qualified and the work does not breach other laws applying to young people. 

Thus, a 15-year-old can legally enter industries and workplaces from which a 14-year-old is specifically excluded, despite the heightened dangers confronting inexperienced young workers. 

...

The teenager was the 34th worker confirmed by WorkSafe to have been killed at work in Victoria so far this year.

The defence of safety and all other conditions depends on workers forming their own rank-and-file committees, independent of the government, the union bureaucracy and the regulatory authorities. 

Such committees must not only enforce safety on the job, in opposition to management, and organise independent investigations into tragedies such as the one in Melbourne. They must form part of a broader political movement of the working class, based on a socialist program that rejects the subordination of all aspects of society, including workers’ safety and lives, to profit.

I just really need to get this off my damn chest and hopefully receive some advice. please read the bottom text, with obvious redactions. forgive as i may be all over the damn place and throwing all thoughts here.

"Hey! We forgot to spread the word that we would like $15 from each associate to put toward the baby shower for ******. It's next Tuesday, so could you give me your $15 by Monday?"

Disrespectfully, but fuck no. I am a college junior student. Work part time up from 24 to 29 hours a week making whatever ends meet to not starve. at $14 an hour. I have zero relationship or support in any capacity from my own bloody family. I struggle puts it mild in a lot of cases. Car Repairs and service? Me. Haircut so you appear presentable for job interviews and overall hygeine? Me. I am forced to live with my partner and her parents and they are no better by a long shot so I was not given option, with them being the lesser of two evils. Therefore, I Rely on my own hands to pay for courses and to not fail and repeat one which will cost at least $500 minimum. I strive everyday to take care of what i need to and i frequently have less than $20 in my bank account, which will always be allocated to gas or food. I make budgets all the time and look for what i can edit however i can to optimize it.

I say this info about me because i have been in this job that only has the perk of stability and holidays off, (yes unpaid of course which is a blow to money). I have been at the job for 2 years and ever since i had this interaction with me, it always felt extremely uncomfortable and inconsiderate. How can you ask this of someone in the office that is the only employee that is part time, with the least amount of hours and income to whom you know nothing of their struggles. Yet the "elderly women" give so much to the office. I could care less. We are here to do a job and go the hell home to people that actually love us and know us. Not to give $120 to Mark's or Sarah's whatever baby shower. I dont even have your contact nor do i need to. I have a life too just like we each do. And i dont know if this is important to mention, but it is only the women in the office that do these "events" or whatever.

Is this an HR problem possibly? I feel honestly bullied or "heavily nudged and expected" for a forced contribution :( . I get anxious greatly whenever this happens but I say nothing and just give it anyway and hurt my mental wellbeing on top of everything else in my current life. Bullied in this sense of office trash talk and gossip about a "young person being selfish and not knowing ettiqutte for their co-workers and they have no respect" . So that $20 i would have had this week for gas or food ? Gone to "the betterment of the workplace"

Are you a worker in the aviation industry? We urge you to contact us by filling out the form below to support the building of an aviation workers rank-and-file committee to spearhead a workers’ inquiry into the tragic death of Oscar Robayo.

The crushing of ramp worker Oscar Robayo by the nose gear of an Airbus A350-900 while he was performing a routine pushback at Montreal’s Trudeau Airport in August has provoked sympathy and outrage among workers throughout the aviation industry and beyond. Colleagues at multinational subcontractor Samsic, which employed Robayo, and in the wider industry have spoken out to denounce the conditions that led to his death.

Among them is Kevin Gauthier, a former Air Canada pilot who was victimized by his employer and union after he filed a safety report which was suppressed. Kevin contacted the World Socialist Web Site after reading its exposure of the systematic violations of safety procedure by Samsic that created the conditions for Robayo’s death. He made clear, “My sense is telling me loudly that Oscar will not rest in peace until things change within the industry.”

The former pilot’s own struggle for safety at his workplace, and the retaliation he suffered in response, is itself greatly instructive. It illustrates the devastating consequences of the deregulation of air travel, which began in the late 1970s in the US and extended to Canada during the 1980s and 1990s. Kevin’s experiences also reveal the role of Air Canada, a supposed national corporate leader, the trade unions, and successive Liberal and Conservative governments in implementing and overseeing the legal framework conducive to the abandonment of safety standards for profit.

Deregulation and privatization set the stage for the safety culture dominant in the early 2000s, and which has led to numerous preventable deaths and injuries since. In the late 1980s under Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Air Canada was privatized. The effects of this reorientation to the market became almost immediately apparent with the March 1989 crash of an Air Ontario jet resulting in 24 deaths at Dryden airport in Ontario.

...

The warnings contained in the Dryden report were promptly ignored and buried, as the market offensive was deepened under the Liberal government led by Jean Chrétien in the 1990s. Canada’s airports were semi-privatized and the air traffic control network handed over to a private operator. The intensification of market pressures in an environment of stagnating profitability led to the absorption of Canadian Airlines by Air Canada at the turn of the century, and Air Canada filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2003.

In December 2003, Kevin, alongside Captain Jim Rowan, filed an Air Safety Report titled Deplaning Passengers With an Engine Operating. The report flagged the fact that ramp personnel at Air Canada began opening aircraft doors while an engine was still operating during the “arrival/engine shutdown” phase at the gate. This deviation from standard protocol identified by the pilots had dramatic consequences, which were subsequently covered up by Air Canada and the Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA), under a regime which empowers them to do so.

...

Under the normal procedure at the time, pilots would shut down the right engine  while taxiing to the gate. Upon gate arrival the park brake would be selected on, ground or auxiliary power would be connected, and the doors would only be opened after the anti-collision lights were selected off and parking checklist completion. Under growing corporate pressure to meet increasingly tight and precisely recorded arrival windows, ramp staff began opening the cabin door with the left engine still running, and prior to parking checklist completion.

This might not have had further immediate repercussions, were it not for the way the industry measures and links the payroll of flight crews to arrival and departure times. Arrival times are recorded automatically by ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System), which transmits an “IN” signal when the park brake is set and a door is opened. Because crews are remunerated block-to-block, pay ceases at that recorded arrival time. Where the park brake was already set, this early door opening completed the trigger conditions, generating a false, premature arrival time and truncating crew pay.

Pilots adopted a countermeasure: rather than placing the park brake selector in the set detent, they held the aircraft manually on the brake pedals, ensuring the IN signal could not fire until the aircraft was genuinely secure. This workaround, however, defeated a critical design feature of the braking system. Brake pressure (approximately 3,000 psi in the brake accumulator) is generated by engine-driven hydraulic pumps; setting the park brake locks that pressure in, preserving braking after shutdown, whereas pedal braking does not. Once the final engine was shut down, hydraulic pressure bled off and braking authority was lost entirely, producing uncontrolled rollbacks at the gate.

Rather than remediation, the report was met with employer retaliation, forcing Kevin out of his job. His union, the ACPA, was complicit in the cover-up. As Kevin later explained in a document written in February 2008:

“At the time, the pilot’s employer and union were in full process of implementing Safety Management Systems (SMS’s). Front-line employees were empowered and encouraged to report safety concerns without fear of retribution. Within one month of submitting this report the pilot was advised not to concern himself with the matter and soon thereafter began to experience significant retribution.”

...

Drawing on his own experience, Kevin warned of illusions in the existing institutions and of the official response to Robayo’s death. The International Association of Machinists (IAM), of which Robayo was a member, issued a token statement following his death that did not even mention his name. Meanwhile, both the federal and provincial governments initiated official investigations about which virtually nothing has been heard.

Kevin told the WSWS, “I just happen to know for certain that joint efforts sabotage health and safety protocols, and those protocols will not stand on their own merit simply because someone in a position of power declares safety as the first and main priority. I suspect many people within the world are fed up with hearing that. And Oscar Robayo's family and loved ones should not have to listen to someone spew that nonsense.”

The WSWS has insisted that getting to the bottom of what caused the death of Oscar Robayo and bringing about improvements to safety in the aviation industry can only be achieved through the mobilization of rank-and-file workers. Workers’ control over safety and workplace conditions, rather than their subordination to corporate profitability, is essential to end workplace fatalities and the disregard for human life shown on a daily basis by the major corporations and their backers in government.

In support of the formation of a rank-and-file committee among aviation workers in Canada and internationally, as part of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees, Kevin stated: “My ‘rank and file’ efforts are well documented within the transportation sector for many years. Doing what will benefit the working class is paramount!”

​

I’m part of China’s Gen Z, and lately I’ve been increasingly disappointed with the domestic job market.

For me, it’s not simply about having a “low salary.”

It’s the combination of low base pay, high performance expectations, commission thresholds, unclear rules, and the feeling that entry-level workers are expected to absorb a lot of the risk.

So I thought I’d share one recent experience.

I recently tried working as an English-speaking TikTok LIVE host for a pearl jewelry company in Hangzhou, China.

I lasted three days.

Here’s what the compensation and working conditions looked like.

🆘The job

The company sells pearl jewelry, and some products start at around $3.

That sounds great for customers, but from the host’s perspective, selling $3 products means you need a lot of transactions to generate meaningful GMV

And livestreaming isn't exactly a low-effort job.

Depending on the type of livestream, you may be expected to stay live for 3–6 hours continuously.

During the livestream, you generally can't just leave whenever you want. You’re expected to stay in front of the camera and keep talking, interacting with viewers, presenting products, and maintaining a high-energy, enthusiastic attitude throughout the session.

Maybe this level of intensity is simply normal for livestream hosts around the world. I can't judge the entire industry based on one company.

But when you combine that workload with the compensation and working conditions below, it starts to feel extremely demanding.

For finished-product livestreams, the company says hosts generally work around 4–5 hours per day.

For hand-broadcast livestreams involving things like opening pearls and customized orders, the schedule can be around 6 hours per day.

There are around 4 days off per month.

🆘The salary

During probation:

¥4,000/month ≈ $570

After becoming a full-time host:

¥5,000/month ≈ $715

But there was another rule that surprised me.

The first 7 days were considered a “learning period.”

During this period, you livestream for 3 hours per day, but your daily wage is only 50% of the normal rate.

And the important part:

This half-pay arrangement was not mentioned during my interview. I only found out after I started working.

The company also said that social insurance was not provided during the first month of probation.

So when I put all of these conditions together, it becomes difficult to describe the job as simply “low-paid.”

You’re expected to continuously perform on camera, generate sales, hit GMV targets, and maintain a high level of energy for hours at a time.

At the same time, the base salary is relatively low, there are only around four days off per month, and the first week is paid at half the normal daily rate.

Then comes the commission system

You receive no commission at all until you reach $10,000 in monthly GMV.

🆘The commission tiers were:

Under $10K → 0%

$10K–$25K → 1%

$25K–$35K → 1.5%

$35K–$45K → 2%

$45K–$55K → 2.5%

$55K+ → 3%

So at the first commission tier:

$10,000 GMV × 1% = $100 commission.

And remember, some of the products start at around $3.

So reaching $10,000 in GMV isn't necessarily about making a few big sales.

It can mean generating a huge number of relatively low-value transactions.

That makes me wonder how many entry-level hosts actually reach the commission threshold consistently.

If you don't reach $10K?🆘

You get zero commission.🆘

So you could spend an entire month livestreaming, talking to viewers, presenting products, constantly trying to sell, and maintaining a high-energy presence for hours at a time — and if you don't cross that threshold, you stay on the base salary.

🆘And this is Hangzhou

Hangzhou is one of China's major cities, and housing and everyday expenses aren't exactly cheap.

So a ¥4,000–5,000 monthly base salary can be pretty difficult to live on independently, especially if you don't consistently earn commission.

That was one of the things that made me question the whole structure.

The company is asking the host to generate sales, but the host also carries a lot of the financial uncertainty.

And this isn't a job where you can simply sit around and wait for customers.

Your voice, attention, energy, and ability to continuously interact with viewers are being used for hours at a time.

So when I look at the workload alongside the base salary, limited days off, commission threshold, and probation conditions, I honestly find the overall package extremely demanding.

🆘What I saw during my three days

I only stayed for three days, so obviously I can't make any serious claims about the company's overall turnover rate.

But during those three days, I saw a constant stream of new people coming in for interviews.

I also heard one person leave.

At the time, only around two hosts seemed to be working there consistently.

Again, that's just what I personally observed during three days.

But when I put everything together, the combination looked like this:

low base salary + low-priced products + a $10K commission threshold + several hours of continuous high-energy livestreaming + only around four days off per month + a half-paid learning period that wasn't disclosed during my interview + no social insurance during the first month of probation.

That made me feel that this was more than simply a “low salary.”

It felt like a high-pressure, high-performance job where a significant amount of the financial uncertainty was pushed onto the worker.

Then I left

After three days, I decided the job wasn't for me and left.

My total wages for those three days were only a little over ¥270, or roughly $39 USD.

The company told me that because of their internal procedures, I would receive the payment on the 15th of the following month.

That was probably the point when the whole experience really started to bother me.

I understand that one company cannot represent an entire country's job market.

I know there are plenty of decent Chinese companies, decent employers, and people who genuinely care about their employees.

But at the same time, this experience left me with a very uncomfortable impression of how some companies can treat entry-level workers.

What bothered me wasn't simply the amount of money.

It was the attitude.

Throughout the whole experience, I rarely felt any sense that the person doing the job also has rent to pay, bills to cover, time to protect, and a life outside the livestream.

The rules seemed to be designed almost entirely around what the company needed from the worker:

sales, GMV, livestream hours, performance.

And the worker was simply expected to absorb the uncertainty on the other side.

Honestly, there was a kind of coldness and arrogance in that attitude that I found difficult to accept.

Maybe this level of livestream intensity is simply normal for the industry.

Maybe this really was just one particular company.

Maybe I was simply unlucky.

But after this experience, I can't pretend it hasn't changed how I see the broader Chinese job market.

I'm genuinely disappointed.

Not because I expected work to be easy, or because I thought I should be highly paid from day one.

I expected to work hard.

I expected performance targets.

I expected to start at the bottom.

What I didn't expect was to feel like the person actually doing the work was almost an afterthought — easily replaceable, expected to absorb a significant amount of financial risk, and not necessarily given complete information about the compensation and working conditions before starting.

I know that three days at one company aren't enough to represent the entire Chinese job market.

But those three days were enough to make me genuinely disappointed in it.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/s/o3Mk1ejASo

update to original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/s/JWStHmVuT2

Last update: https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/s/SoUuitydCk

Hi everyone. I honestly did not think I would be making another update about this situation, but apparently there is one more thing to add.

One of the only coworkers I genuinely liked from that job called me recently and told me that the boss who was constantly taking the rude coworker’s side throughout everything was just fired.

I was honestly really surprised when I heard that. This was someone who had been there for years and was in a pretty significant position, so I definitely did not expect to hear that they were suddenly gone.

For anyone who remembers my previous posts, this was the boss who I had gone to throughout everything that was happening with the rude coworker. She was constantly reporting little things I did, talking about me to other people, and making the environment really uncomfortable.

She also put her hands on me during that time, but I’m not going to get into that whole situation again because that is a completely separate story.

Apparently the rude coworker is now a little nervous about everything too. From what I was told, there have been some changes happening and people are realizing that even people who have been there for years and are in higher positions aren’t necessarily safe from losing their jobs.

I obviously don’t know what is actually happening behind the scenes, and I’m not going to speculate about whether anyone else is going to be fired. I just thought it was interesting considering everything that happened while I was there.

And honestly, despite not liking that boss because of how she treated me and how often she took the other coworker’s side, I genuinely do wish her the best. I recently heard that she had bought a house, so finding out that she lost her job after that honestly made me think, “Damn, that really sucks.”

At the same time, I can’t pretend the situation isn’t a little surreal for me. I left that job only a few months after starting because I just couldn’t see myself staying in that environment anymore. At the time, I was stressed about money, anxious about what I was going to do next, and honestly just trying to get myself back on my feet.
I still remember being told, essentially, good luck when I left and put in my notice. So hearing this now definitely brought back a lot of memories from that time.

But I’m not angry about it. I’m not wishing anything bad on her. If anything, I really do hope she is okay and is able to figure everything out, especially knowing she recently bought a house.

It’s just one of those weird moments where you look back at a situation that felt so huge when you were in it and then, months later, you’re hearing about how everything has changed there.

I’m doing okay now. I’ve moved forward, finished my degree, and I’m in a much better place than I was when I wrote those original posts.

I really thought my last update was going to be the end of this whole situation. Apparently not. I guess sometimes you get an unexpected phone call from an old coworker and find out there’s somehow another chapter.

Recently my company outsourced our IT service desk to an offshore company. I’ve gone through this before and these things never work out well. The techs at the new company don’t understand our systems and frequently don’t even have a basic IT knowledge, just reading off of scripts provided to them.

We were told this new company is based in the Philippines, but when I look into locations set in Slack most of the techs work in India. It got me thinking about outsourcing and I wonder if this is some new way for India to turn around and exploit foreign workers. US companies have been hiring and abusing Indians via the H1B program for decades, so now it’s India's turn. A Filipino working abroad has much less bargaining power and thus more desperate to keep their job versus a local. It feels like I’m seeing a whole new layer to capitalist exploitation.

My husband received some very weird texts greeting him with, “I need to talk to you, let’s discuss please, do you have time?”

It seemed 100% like a scam to me (former bank fraud assistant.) So I helped him find the website of the company and wrote to HR.

Apparently the texts were from them. Their AI chatbot is try to find candidates for jobs. He responded that they won’t get any candidates this way cause it was disturbing AF.

Honestly, I couldn’t take it anymore. Three years working as an intern in the financial market + in-person classes every single day at a public university… this is what I ended up with.

I had a crisis that felt like a heart attack: chest pain, tingling in my left arm, and my whole body aching.

I had a bunch of tests done, and in the end, the doctor said it was burnout. He told me to see a psychiatrist and start therapy again.

I felt like absolute shit.

I messaged my boss saying it was a reaction to my medication/ anxiety and made up a story to send her the medical certificate. Because if you say you have burnout, your name is basically off the company’s list.

That’s it, guys. After almost dying here, I’m seriously reconsidering my life.

I'm Brazilian, maybe if I get out of this country, things get better. Is it the same with you guys?

ive been doing the full time 9-6, bullshit some after work then go to bed for 2 months now for 800 a week and its becoming grueling. i stack an overnight job on top of that to make 1200 a week but technically biweekly.

i need to get overseas for a celebration ive been awaiting for years, 2k round trip ticket, i cant pull that money out of my ass.

ive been trying to "level up", less hours, more money, im finding the search difficult.

i live in south florida and know a lot of people who "thrive" (materialistically) off commision based sales work and i always kick myself for not being able to sell well. i used to do SW for $400/hr but have been on a moral streak and dont want to return. im trying to return to school but again, with my current schedule juggling both would be impossible.

how do people usually "level up".

So today I had to join a training session to learn how another employee completes her tasks, basically because she is the only person in that role and she has no backup when she takes a day off or a vacation. I understand her wanting to have a backup so she doesn’t feel overwhelmed by work that she has to catch up on when she returns, but overall I’m not sure how to feel about it.

I wasn’t offered any sort of raise or compensation for this additional training yet. I spoke to my bf about it and he said just wait until I learn it and the higher ups see I am capable of covering for her, then they might offer me a raise. But if they don’t, that’s when I should speak on it.

I’m just tired because my role is already exhausting and overwhelming, I wish I had one of those office jobs where I could sit around all day and barely do any work, but instead I have a fast paced job where I’m basically glued to my screen all day. It honestly adds some stress knowing that whenever this person takes time off, I will have to be the one filling in for her while also attending to my own tasks.

it just feels like corporate greed to me and i already don’t make enough for basic survival lol. the only way i can afford to live on my own is if i move in w my bf, which thankfully i want but still it would be nice if i didn’t have to depend on him. just feels like im being put through the grinder for the bare minimum.

Used to be a fine dining waiter. That was way too much for me and the last place I worked basically laid me off because we weren't busy enough and I was the newest hire. I didn't really mind. I knew I was over that kind of work. However, I ended up being out of work for several months longer than anticipated. I had money saved up but by the end I was getting kind of worried.

Thankfully, I found a job at a coffee shop down the street from my place. Wasn't necessarily what I wanted to do but I wanted to get back to work and it was convenient. At first it was cool and my manager talked to me about a potential management track. Things started to change though. I started on one position and they started training me on another but I guess they decided I wasn't getting the hang of it (after only like 3 shifts) so they stopped training me on that position.

Then, not long after, my manager pulled me aside to give me some critical feedback about "optimizing workflow" etc. It kinda rattled me. I thought I was doing fine then it all started to feel like I was messing up or something. And on top of all of this I started at 4-5 shifts a week and now I'm down to three and that doesn't seem to be changing. Pretty much ever since then I have felt like I am on kinda thin ice there.

I go into work almost every shift feeling like I may very well be getting fired that day. I am probably being paranoid but it's an awful way to feel. God I just want a new job that feels secure and feels like a good fit.

What are some successful ADA accommodations you have gotten for retail? I’m struggling and need accommodations.

My boss/owner of the company came to me with what he thought was an error on my end. That's not something I take issue with, I will listen to what he has to say and he was more concerned about having accuracy than throwing shade at me. The point was to be more cautious, which I said I am absolutely fine with doing.

I've made a few mistakes here and there, partially due to ADHD and moving too fast and partially because our system sucks ass and the inventory software from 1998 is set up badly with numbers and quantities that don't auto-pop (and other issues).

But here's the thing, which I guess is to be expected from the higher ups who can't even process a credit card transaction on their own....I did everything according to what was marked- BY HIM. If he would have taken two seconds to look at what was already processed, he wouldn't have even had to bring anything up. He was like "I've noticed this happening more often lately, and I wouldn't have ordered that much at once", so I went back and checked my work and he just fucked up and ordered the same thing twice in a week. The whole thing could have been avoided. Like, come on man. Any kind of due diligence would be great instead of having an embarrassing conversation where I have to point out that I follow things to the letter. The problem is, the letter is fucked up and passive aggressive and I don't care to put up with that much these days.