Author: Olivia

A local restaurant has a help wanted sign in their window. The sign says “Now hiring cooks. Pay from $28 an hour”. So I applied and received a call for an interview. During the interview I was told the position pays $18 an hour plus tips. I asked if they can guarantee $10 an hour in tips since the sign says “from $28” not “up to $28”. They said no since tips can fluctuate. Do these companies realize “from” & “up to” mean two different things? Are these types of bait and switches illegal? Is this why no one wants to work anymore?

This was a question presented to me at a job interview. In the moment, I said something like, “oh, well, I would prioritize, and work really hard and get it done.” Thinking in the back of my mind, “Huh. I do not think I want to take this job now.” After the interview I called them and declined and told them to proceed no further in the process. I have worked this kind of job before, btw, and I can tell you from personal experience that there is no scenario in which the aforementioned should ever happen. it is the kind of job where there is a lot of downtime and employees need to space their work out carefully. Any scenario in which someone is given an hour's worth of work and asked to do it within twenty minutes is one in which management has seriously procrastinated their own responsibilities…

Does anyone else have a cry session in their car on the way to work? Lately, I have been sobbing uncontrollably before I go to work. I hate my boss, I'm not too fond of the company, I hate the industry, etc. I think about driving my car into a wall at 100mph on my way to the office most days. I live for the weekend now and it sucks. Weekends feel like a 30min lunch break. It fucking sucks and I hate my life.

A few months back I posted that I moved jobs within the same company and initially it was better. But the honeymoon phase has worn off and the same problems of my old organization are creeping in, except this job requires 75% travel where my old job required none. On the times I don’t travel we are considered to be doing “admin” work but I’m never assigned anything and there’s no direction from my managers on what to do when I’m not out on trips. I have an interview with a different company today. Hoping that goes well cause I am already checked out of this job and tbh the company after almost 8 years there

Exactly one year ago, I was called into my manager's office. I had been working hybrid (3 afternoons at home – barely hybrid) because my elderly dog was in end-stage heart and kidney failure. I was trying to take care of her the best I could and spend quality time with her while I could. My manager said, “It seems like she'll be around for a while, so we're going to need you to come back to the office full-time.” I was speechless. Five weeks later, I had a job offer from a company that was 100% remote – and when asked the question of why I was looking for another job in the interview, I said, “My current job won't let me work from home to be with my dying dog.” Never been so honest in an interview and never got an offer so quickly. I had six really…

Throughout the 90s and 2000s a slew of regulations required fast food retailers to prominently display basic nutritional info for their products in their establishments. Some, though I’m not sure if the particulars, post this info right next to their menu items. I think most of us can agree this was a net positive for consumers. It made it easier for me to make informed choices related to my health. However, part of my decision to patronize any retailer (food or otherwise) depends upon how they treat their workers. I try as much as possible to patronize unionized retailers, or failing that, ones that least flagrantly exploit their workers. I suspect many people are like me. I do my research, as much as possible, but that takes time and effort. Sometimes, the information isn’t readily available. Retailers go to great lengths to hide this info from their own employees, never…

I’m an engineer, office guy. Before lockdown, 40 hours a week, with the very rare “emergency” where they’d request that I work OT. During lockdown, all the jobs dried up, so I opted to go to a construction site of ours for a year. They ended up keeping me for TWO, and the whole time was mostly 7/12s. I got to make money, but I was far from home (more than a thousand miles), and I ended my assignment burnt out. Office culture was different upon my return. Tighter schedules, much more pressure, and now, while not “required,” a lot of pressure for OT. We’re understaffed and under-scheduled, and there’s been a big push to get more office and less WFH days out of us. I am well and truly burned out. So are my colleagues, considering we’re going through a period of attrition, losing some amazing and brilliant engineers.…

I’m an engineer, office guy. Before lockdown, 40 hours a week, with the very rare “emergency” where they’d request that I work OT. During lockdown, all the jobs dried up, so I opted to go to a construction site of ours for a year. They ended up keeping me for TWO, and the whole time was mostly 7/12s. I got to make money, but I was far from home (more than a thousand miles), and I ended my assignment burnt out. Office culture was different upon my return. Tighter schedules, much more pressure, and now, while not “required,” a lot of pressure for OT. We’re understaffed and under-scheduled, and there’s been a big push to get more office and less WFH days out of us. I am well and truly burned out. So are my colleagues, considering we’re going through a period of attrition, losing some amazing and brilliant engineers.…