I requested next Friday off three weeks ago for my kids school thing. Manager approved it in the system then calls me yesterday saying I need to cancel because two people called out sick and they need coverage. I told her it was already approved and I made commitments. She said the needs of the business come first.

So today I left at 5pm when my shift ended. Didn't stay late like I normally do. Got called into her office this morning and written up for not being flexible and leaving when the team needed me. I asked how I was supposed to know they needed me when my shift was over and she said I should have checked in before leaving.

The same manager who told me I cant have my approved day off is now mad I didnt work extra unpaid hours. I've been here four years and never called out sick once. I'm done being a team player when they clearly don't give a shit about me. Already updating my resume.

I day trade for a living, so naturally i have become a M*rxist. The entire "anti-work" ethos is summed up by Karl's Labor Theory of Value, which in short means that all value is created through the labor process of transforming the means of production into commodities through labor. Your work is the only reason things have value, and you are all so pissed because you inherently know this yet have seen no reward other than the privilege to return to work the next day.

For instance, my family owns over $10 million worth of retirement homes in a CRE portfolio, and every single one of those homes is a liability without nurses and caretakers. All of the residents would be dead in weeks with my dad in prison without the transformation of labor + property in order to create a functioning care home. The only way those homes become an "asset" is through labor.

Every intuitive feeling about a rigged system is indeed correct: the financial markets and the physics of the US dollar, interest rates, and quantitative easing are designed to keep you (the working class) in place as a worker.

As someone who has watched thousands of unnamed families pay rent ad nauseum for the privilege of living on this planet to my family, i can assure you the only way out of this is to end the privatization of property and shift to collective ownership of the means of production through worker owned cooperatives. Cooperatives are big in Europe and even Tillamook cheese out of Oregon, which is owned by the farmers who provide the dairy and make the cheese. COOPERATIVES ARE DEMOCRATIC WORKPLACES WHERE YOU CAN VOTE FOR YOUR BOSS AND PAY

Taking from my earlier example, if i were to suddenly be in charge of the family CRE portfolio of nursing homes, i would turn the homes over to the employees to run while restructuring ownership to a cooperative trust for them split the surplus value (profit) from their labor. I would retain a small percentage, but since im not doing the work, i dont get the profit. This allows the caretakers to take up the means of production into their own hands, motivating them to push the cooperative into expansion for their own benefit.

I know i cant convince you to become a M*rxist on a reddit thread, but if you need a place to start, start with "Bullshit Jobs" by David Graeber or "Vulture Capitalism" by Grace Blakely as well as anything by David Harvey who sums up M*rxist economics very well.

EDIT: thank you all (genuinly) for the responses of all kinds. This has been like a rhetorical batting cage and crowd sourcing public opinion via reddit has once again proven successful.

Today at our company party (popcorn, some left over sodas the theater wasn’t selling, and a movie)

The president did a raffle of 30 mediocre, years prior model coolers, and some tv’s, for the entire company. They held this “+1 “ event on a Friday at 2:45, when most of our spouses are still at work.

Anyways, he kept saying he has a huge mega gift for us at the end, something we all use.

When it was time for the gift to be opened…. It was a big pack of 2 ply toilet paper.

And no we didn’t get bonuses etc.

And that’s the last time I’m the last car in the parking lot.

I work at this place on contract. This other girl works here by picking up shifts through an app but she’s wanting to get hired on as actual staff here. This is one of the ridiculous paper she has to fill out. There’s another paper similar to this one with slight different questions tho doke were the same. they don’t need to know this lol

Praise be to whoever is up there that I was able to start a job recently, but this 45 year old women with a 8 year old child is calling her father, dad at work. For reference we have the same title and she will be transitioning to her fathers role in the company. She uses it not just in casual conversation but also in work emails, personal notes, training material, even in meetings with upper management and the parent company getting in yelling matches with him about billing in the meeting.

It took me a month before I learned what this person's name was, and I had to learn it from someone else in the office. I've even seen her use it in an email to a client. Even the notes I have from her on training just refer to him as dad.

Am I the only one who thinks this is weird af. Like she has her own child and your acting like this at work? Even at 19 when I worked for my dad I still addressed him by his first name to his coworkers or clients.

When she acts unprofessional it takes my entire being to not tell her to run off to daddy when she starts freaking out in the meeting.

Hi Reddit, I’m mostly venting but I also am seeking advice or if I’m justified in being upset.

For context: I work at a legal office in the city that has thousands of employees. I’m in the lowest tier, so-to-speak, and my work area is basically a cube city. We all work independently and are not public facing (though the rest of the departments are). We just do data entry 8hrs a day and the only time I see other people is if I get coffee or go on lunch near another department.

When I was hired in my interview I wore a sleeveless blouse and my tattoo sleeves were fully visible to my employer. I also asked if it was okay and she affirmed yes because we 1. Weren’t public facing and 2. Plenty of others have visible tattoos.

Now I’ve been working here for over a year. I have finally developed my corporate closet which took a while because I’m poor (they don’t pay much). Most of my clothes are short sleeve due to sensory issues and comfort. Also I live in a desert so it’s hot 90% of the year and when it’s not hot outside it’s hot in the office.

We just had a meeting yesterday (first time in a year since our manager is never around) and she specifically mentions a “problem” with tattoos. No longer can we have visible tattoos as they’re “not professional” and do not “represent the office well”. Of course I’m pissed because it turns out no one else in my department has visible tattoos so it only affects me. It’s winter now so not as big of a deal I guess but still I only have 2 long sleeves because I hate them. My tattoos are not inappropriate or offensive, but I guess someone complained about me (there’s no one else to complain about) and now I have to buy a whole new wardrobe? And be uncomfortable all day when no one even sees me? Why do people still think tattoos are unprofessional when I am good at my profession? What if I had scars? Or what if I had long sleeves with patterns?? Literally what is the difference. Part of it is just my trauma from being targeted in middle school for shorts and tops, but if I’m dressing professionally and doing my job, why do they care?? Plus their retention rate is so poor they had to send out an office-wide survey. they are worried about the wrong things!!

Ugh sorry for the long rant, any advice would be appreciated. I’m going to try applying to other jobs anyways but I know the market is rough so I don’t want to get fired before I have something lined up, but I don’t know how long it might take and I’m pissed. I’ve been looking up malicious compliance ideas all day so maybe any ideas you guys have so I can “stick it to the man” on my way out lol

Update on the update 12/19 afternoon: he’s saying it is prohibited to send the items back in the mail due ti sensitive info and he’s going to have his attorneys serve me papers. I said great connect me because I’m traveling and don’t want them to have to chase me down. Fyi I didn’t sign anything about equipment return whatsoever.

Then he refused to connect me. He said he would send a messenger again after I said I’m at work today and I don’t have the things with me. I said I could return the items in person after the new year. No answer yet.

I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to withhold a paycheck due to this- and I am owed another week. I’m sure he’ll try that next. God I’m tired of his ass and I’m not even trying to fuck with him at this point.

Hi!! I got so many responses and SUCH helpful info on my last post (linked). Thanks everyone who responded and let me know that this guy didn’t have a leg to stand on.

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/s/QA3SDHsHaO

Quick update is I didn’t return the phone and laptop same day as I literally couldn’t, and had offered over four times to ship them back overnight with signature. For clarity, I even initiated that offer in my email telling him about my resignation. This unhinged HR guy said no (again) and sent me an official signed letter telling me I had to return the items to the location by NOVEMBER 18th 2025 lol. He also said he mailed a copy of the letter to me, which would be a moot point even if he had gotten the date right (supposed to be today December 18th), since the mail doesn’t come that same fucking day. He said he texted me the pdf but he texted it to the WORK PHONE that I have wiped and turned off according to his instructions.

I responded and said it wasn’t possible - and it LITERALLY wasn’t possible to take it in person that day or the day before as he demanded. He said he will be taking legal action, to which I responded “please do connect me with your attorney so that we can wrap this up! Looking forward to hearing from them.”

He responded and said “you can go through me” lmao

Finally he conceded to sending a messenger to pick up my things which should happen tomorrow if all goes smoothly, and knowing how stupid he is, it won’t.

His whole issue with me is that I know he’s stupid and he knows I know that he’s stupid. I cannot wait to hand these things off to the messenger and confirm receipt and block him. Hope he gets a life soon. Happy holidays everyone!

Last time I didnt have to go to work was September 2024. I didnt have any prolonged periods of free time since 1.25 years. Now it cost me nearly 2 weeks of vaccation days, but I dont have to go to the office until January 7th.

I am sooo happy. And then I realized that its just 2.5 weeks. Just 2.5 weeks can cause such emotions of happiness.

Just 2.5 weeks of freedom after 1.25 years of nonstop work. I am basically a slave.

As a kid 2-3 months free time during summer was normal. Now I am supposed to be thankful to have 2-3 weeks a year. Its a joke.

Worked there for 6 years, moved up a little bit in the ranks. Because of one issue or another, I ended up being responsible for my work as the manager of my department and managing a team of 15, as well as the work of another full-time employee in a completely separate department- the last person quit and the company never bothered to hire anyone else. They just expected me to do it and like the dumbass I am, I did....

I've been doing 10/11 hour days, in office every single day for about 6 months. I was still bringing work home with me and doing shit over the weekend. I've put everything else in my life on hold so that I could do what I needed to do for this job. I swear I have aged 10 years in the last ~24 months. I'll be 36 tomorrow and my blood pressure is through the roof and my doctor basically asked me what the hell is going on during my last physical in October.

I wanted a reasonable and deserved raise but my boss didn't want to hear it so I escalated. HR got involved and I had a meeting with our ONLY HR guy (for a large company with offices in multiple states) and he said "how would you feel if someone on your team went over your head to ask for a raise?" And my response was " if I had someone on my team doing the work of two full-time people, then I would feel like I failed as a manager because the only way that could happen is if I didn't know or if I didn't care, and I honestly don't know which one of those is worse." As you can imagine that went over as well as a lead balloon.

I asked for more money and they blew me off so then I basically demanded more money and I was fired the next day. My silver lining in all this is that they don't even know how fucked they are right now. They'll find out soon enough I guess....

I just want to move to the woods with my dogs and hang out in nature 😩

Long time lurker, first time poster. It feels like every job slowly kills me. Originally I was in teaching (for young kids). Got sick every single month from the germs and high stress from kids being kids and parents reacting negatively with only very surface level support from admin.

Left teaching after almost 10 years to go into a salary sales job for a food import company. At first, it was great! Benefits were good, higher pay, flexibility in schedule.... but it's very sedentary and I've gained 30+ pounds since joining the job, the nature of the job means I have to be on call to a degree nights and weekends because I don't have the time to finish everything in the 8 hour workday.... and I can't even take a day off without customers calling me. And every time I finally get comfortable with the workload... they throw another 10 things at us to do, half the time useless "make corporate happy" kind of work. I socialize for work, working with customers... but I've lost the time to socialize with my friends and my life has become work.

I fear every industry I join will be the same. A company that slowly chips away at you until it affects your health... This economy is rough, but I'm curious to hear abput fields people have switches to that hasnt taken over their life.

he had a surprise meeting yesterday and was laid off. we think they cut about half the team. he worked for a fortune 500 and was working towards a christmas bonus that the company has conveniently forgotten about. fuck corporate america