Hello there.
Spoiler: this is a long rant.
To preface, I have been reading on r/antiwork for a long while now, and seeing some of the shit other people are dealing with made me want to share my story.
It starts with my first, real, full time job. I was excited beyond belief, corona was just starting to disappear and I was going to finally prove my worth and start making some proper money.
The pay is alright – most would be happy with it, but I am severely below those who work in my field, with almost 1500-2000€ a month. I wanted to rectify that, so I, naturally, began proving myself.
My first year, I ran. I was producing shit left and right, improving the quality of the work and even earned an employee of the month title – five months too late, in my opinion, but I digress. I was pushing myself to the limit and beyond, because I wanted to show what I could do and get a decent pay raise (or at least follow inflation).
Finally the day came for the pay chat. I had all my shit prepared, spoken to many others on how to negotiate pay and ask for more – I was READY.
“Here at company name, we don't really have a discussion about this. We are told what we can give and that's that.”
They gave me a 2,5% increase, resulting in (after taxes) enough money to get, say, fast food mayhe twice a month if you chose something cheap.
(By the way, this was their beat sales year, period. In all their time. But nope, 2.5% raise.)
I was stunned. Dejected. They attempted to win me over with a “remember the yearly bonus (which is less than 400€ if we do well that year, meaning that I cant affect that) and the annual pizza party.
I left without saying much. This was almost a year ago and since then, I've been quiet quitting. The pay in itself isn't the only issue, the workplace is fucking disgraceful. So many people have quit and switched to new jobs, including my boss, which puts me in a precarious situation:
My old boss saw how much I pushed myself and how taxing that was. I got sick more than ever, despite meeting deadlines, I was getting stress symptoms and my mental health was in decline.
My new boss hasn't got shit of a clue. I tried to tell her, but she brushes it off. She's been working in America for the most of her life, so her attitude seems to flip on a switch. For instance, boss said this in a meeting, friday afternoon. “I heard from your previous employer how good you are, but that its affecting you. We gotta take care of you, you're the only one who can do what you can. Oh by the way, have something prepared for our team meeting on Monday morning.”
She. Doesn't. Fucking. Get. It.
Recently I had the most terrifying experience of my life – I got massive chest pains. It lasted a month, and it got to a point where me and my wife rushed to the hospital to figure out what the fuck was going on. They found I had an infection in my heart tissue, that could be linked to my stress symptoms.
Who would've thought. At this point, I realise how bad it is with my mental health. I try to improve, tell my boss about it and ask for two days work from home to cope with the stress (which has always been allowed at this company, and my previous boss even said “if you need three, do it, just ask me first”).
Well, boo-fucking-hoo, after I tell her all of this, along with me seeking a psychologist and trying to take care of myself, she tells me things like:
“I feel like you haven't been working a full week since I started. We can look at part time, but I dunno, might not be possible.” She says, smirking and shrugging, knowing full well she is pressuring me to work more while being sick and burnt out.
There is much more to this story, I just took out a few excerpts. I am at my wits end, and need to contact my union.
At this point, I fucking hate my job. I clock in, do my shit, talk as little as possible, get out as fast as possible, don't attend any shit get-together activities outside the clock.
Fuck this place man. Those of you new to the work life; DON'T GIVE IT YOUR ALL. THEY DONT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU AND WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU, AND WHEN YOU COME BACK WITH ALL THE STRESS AND MISERY, THEY'LL SMILE AND SAY “I don't know man, maybe work some more?”.
Peace, fellow quiet-quitters.