Greetings everyone at r/antiwork, this is my first post here and I honestly don't know where else to put this little rant of mine so I might as well write it here. This isn't nearly as bad as being screwed over for medical insurance or not having overtime paid so management can have a nice fat bonus, but this whole series of events still makes me furious just thinking about it.
So a few years ago I started working my first job in sales, won't say which industry just to possibly reveal too much info. I so just happened to have a knack for getting people to hand over their money over the phone and I quickly became one of the better salespeople on the floor. The company was a typical “wE're A fAMiLY heRE” places but it was my first sales job so I was too dumb to notice.
It eventually got to the point where I started staying several hours overtime after the others in my team had left to close more clients, bear in mind I was the only one doing this at the time, and I ended up being the top performer by far. I legit worked my arse off not just to get paid more but for a genuine sense of satisfaction. I even gave some of my clients to other coworkers who hadn't made as many sales to not fall behind their target.
I started to hear whispers from the others that this month I'd be declared the exalted “employee of the month”, which involved a little ceremony in front of the entire floor, a certificate from the VP of Sales and a welcome cash bonus. I sincerely wasn't even thinking about aiming for that but now the thought of having some sort of recognition for my hard work spurred me on.
End of the month rolls around, everyone gathers for the big monthly meeting and the time comes to announce the employee of the month.
Aaaaaaaand it wasn't me…
Someone else got it because our genius VP of Sales deemed that the clients that they closed performed better later on. To give some context, once my team closed a client, they would go to another department to be retained, and their performance depended largely on the retention agent's skill. We had no control over which agent they went to in any case, some burned the clients, others treated them well. It would be like rewarding a McDonald's employee because the fries they prepared gave less people indigestion or something.
Anyway… It came as a total shock to me but I don't hold it against my colleague, they were just as surprised and had no say in it whatsoever. But this was the first slap in the face that made me realise this company doesn't give a shit about hard work.
I still worked hard at my job but the lustre was gone. As soon as I could I left that company and went somewhere else. Eventually after some time I ended up working at a different company with largely the same team I had at the first place.
And here comes more disappointment…
I managed to make lightning strike twice and once again worked my arse off to be top performer. This time I was actually rewarded with a paper and some money and felt like I was on top of the world. And the next month I did the same. Again I got my little certificate and a round of applause.
But when it came time for payday and I checked my payslip… No performance bonus as promised!
I spoke with my manager and he nonchalantly said “yeah nah I dunno, maybe they made a mistake or something. I'll ask accounting and see if you'll be paid next month.”
Narrator: They never paid
So I said fine, I'm not some idiot working extra for free. I mentally kind of zoned out and stopped going the extra mile.
Now some time later it was my birthday. Every time an employee had their birthday the company or coworkers would usually get a cake and people would do the whole happy birthday song routine, and you'd get some gift set from the company like a personalised thermos, mug and a hat.
It's a bit silly when you think about it's a sweet gesture especially when it's your coworkers who you've spent several years in the sales trenches with. And that month was hell me for me on a personal level so a birthday cake from friends would have meant a lot more than usual.
So on the big day I had noticed there were a couple of cakes on the receptionist's desk that afternoon and thought “oh boy one of them must be mine!”. Sure enough, a couple hours later I see some coworkers stride through the office holding a cake, walking towards me. I blush sheepishly and prepare to say “ah thanks guys, this really means a…”
Aaaaand they just kept walking. And walking. All the way to the other side where another coworker also had their birthday and they started singing and clapping.
“But u/theyve_gone_to_plaid” you're all screaming now. “What about the second cake you mentioned?”
Well that went upstairs to someone in accounting or something.
I turn to look at my team and realised nobody cared to remember my own birthday. When in the past they had made a big deal out of others'.
I thought maybe HR forgot to tell them (Since it was usually them who reminded different teams about their coworker's birthdays ahead of time).
Nope. HR did not forget. I got a message on Slack a bit later from one of them “come and pick up your present” with a tone like they wanted me to move my car.
I walked a few metres to the HR enclosure and the lady opened the glass door just enough to stuck out her arm, hand me a nondescript backpack (yeah they had cheaped out on the presents in the meantime), wish me happybirthdayallthebest and rushed to close the door.
I stood there confused for a moment and walked past my coworkers back to my desk, backpack in hand with a “happy birthday” card signed by no one dangling off it.
They realised a bit later what had happened and started with the birthday wishes but honestly from that day on I tuned out. Months later and for various other reasons (with a bit of help from this sub) I left that company and sales altogether, and now I'm at a place that is both less stressful and with more thoughtful coworkers and staff.
I know in the grand scheme of things this sounds a bit petty and childish, but it's instances like these that slowly made me realise I needed to get out.
So, with my salty rant over and apologies for the entire PhD dissertation, I wish you all the best out there and hope you all find a career that makes you feel satisfied and most importantly, pays well for minimum stress and effort.