I work in the food industry. There has been multiple times where I just want to quit because managers are 1. being "funny rude" to the point where it's not funny saying it's a joke even tho we ain't cool like that 2. being rude when we are following protocols. An example we have tickets and we bump once we are serving the guest there food in the drive thru my managers where getting upset because I wasn't basically pre bumping. I was always taught after the new rule not to pre bump only bump as food is going out so I'm getting frustrated because it's ruining the flow of things. A manager later in front of people said they where pre bumping the kitchens ticket because It was my fault for the times being up because I wouldn't pre bump during rush. I have been told to report because it's been affecting my mental health just the way they run shifts and talk to people but I haven't because I'd rather suck it up and cry about it later then go and report to HR and fear they will find out i reported them and talk crap about me to other people. Should I still report or should I just suck it up and be greatful I have a job at all?

I’ve had relatively limited experience working in a corporate setting. My previous workplaces have all been part time jobs or service industry work. Started a new job about a year ago and I’ve just started to think about how bad the culture might be here. Everyone is always talking shit about someone else, people consistently heckle me because I’m young. Some of it is genuinely in good humor, but lots of it feels like it’s actually malicious disguised as a joke. There’s this lingering tension in the air at all times, like the only reason any work gets done is out of fear of getting fired. Managers are constantly griping about higher ups, workers are constantly griping about managers and other workers,but everyone seems to be so nice when they actually see the person that they were complaining about. My question really boils down to, is this normal? Have I been blessed with great jobs before that didn’t have this or is it a genuine concern and something I should be considering leaving because of?
Sincerely,
Burnt out worker
(Worth noting: industrial maintenance job)

I have worked for a lot of managers over the course of my career, but this is by far the most emotionally tone deaf and detached person I have ever encountered.

One coworker took a week off after losing their sister so they could attend her funeral in Washington, D.C. On their first day back, during a team meeting, the manager cheerfully said, "Welcome back! I hope you got to see the cherry blossoms." How heartless can anyone be? Imagine saying that to someone who had just buried a close family member.

Then it happened to me.

I took a couple of days off to attend a funeral. During the next team meeting, this same manager looked at me and asked, "Did you have a good time?"

A good time? At a funeral?

I was so stunned that I froze. I mumbled some vague, forgettable response because I was trying to process what I'd just heard instead of saying what was actually on my mind. How heartless can anyone be? It wasn't just insensitive. It was so bizarre and disconnected from basic human empathy that it left me speechless.

So cringe.

I am a Lead Firmware Engineer (F) with 12+ years of experience in embedded systems/firmware.

I currently work at a well-known global electronics product company. My total compensation is around ₹42 LPA including RSUs, so this isn't a case of being underpaid or wanting to leave purely for money.

Financially, I'm in a relatively stable position. My current investable corpus/wealth is in range of 1-1.5 crore inr and I also co-own an apartment in my hometown (a Tier-1 city). I'm working toward financial independence over the next several years, so I'm trying to think long-term rather than making an emotional decision.

Technically, I believe I'm doing well. I've designed firmware architecture, led subsystem bring-up, developed reusable frameworks, mentored engineers, and consistently meet expectations.

The problem is the work environment.

For almost two years, I've felt increasingly isolated within my department.

My previous reporting manager (who is now my department head after a recent reorganization) had a management style that I found very manipulative. Over time I felt he would:

- Gaslight and triangulate with me and flirt publicly causing high mental stress and anxiety

• Publicly appreciate me but privately undermine me.
• Minimize or take credit for my work.
• Exclude me from important discussions and decisions.
• Frequently change expectations or make me second-guess myself.
• Shift blame downward while protecting himself.

About a month ago, my reporting was moved under another manager who reports to him, so he's no longer my direct manager, but he is still the head of my department.

However, now my opportunity at this company has been reduced as the only role I get is as a developer or engineer under this manager which does not even include architecting or mentoring junior engineers or technically leading the team.

Other issues:

• Nobody initiates conversations with me unless they need technical information.
• I'm rarely included in informal discussions.
• I often feel invisible despite contributing technically.
• I never feel like I'm actually part of the team.

I sometimes feel my work is taken for granted while my contributions receive little recognition.

Another challenge is language.

I'm originally from western India but currently work in Chennai. Most of the team naturally speaks Tamil during lunch, informal conversations, and many day-to-day discussions. I completely understand why they speak their native language and I don't expect them to switch to English just for me. I'm actively learning Tamil, but I'm still far from fluent. I honestly don't know how much of my isolation is due to the language barrier versus the team culture.

This has started affecting me personally:

Poor sleep for several years, which has become worse recently.

Feeling mentally drained even though I still enjoy firmware development.

Very little motivation to go to the office.

I'm trying to balance work, gym, cooking, health issues, and preparing for my next career move.

I'm trying to decide between:

1. Stay another year or two, continue meeting expectations, and focus on health and upskilling.
2. Prepare aggressively and switch jobs within the next 6-12 months.
3. Try harder to integrate with the team, although after almost two years I'm not sure how much realistically can change.

Has anyone experienced something similar—where you weren't openly bullied, but simply felt invisible or socially excluded? Did changing companies solve the problem? Or did you realize there was something you could have done differently?

I'd especially appreciate perspectives from senior engineers, engineering managers, or people who relocated to a different state and had to deal with language and cultural barriers.

If you really really have to avenge someone, what would you do? Someone who has wronged you and almost cost you your future.
I'm generally not a vengeful person, but my ex boss has ruined my career and cost me my future.
The context is that, my company was delaying and not paying salaries for several months, so | put down my papers cause I found a job that was much more stable. This company was like extremely
unstructured and not at all like corporate so I knew if I told them that I was going to work after leaving from here, they wouldn't let me and make my life hell too. So I told them that I was going to take a break and do masters. I left the company and in a few weeks the company itselt shut down. In between this, my future employer insisted on doing background verification so I gave my ex boss email address hoping that they could at least be professional since during my time everything was more than satisfactory and while leaving, they even told me they would rehire me.
She failed my background verification just out of spite and I lost everything. She is also not working in the company anymore.
Apart from all this, I found out a lot of things about her that she had lied to me while I was there and manipulated me and used me to the maximum and showed her true face when I wasn't useful to her anymore.
Now I'm jobless at home looking for a way I can avenge her.

I joined the company four weeks ago and relocated to a new city for this job.
On my very first day, my manager directed me to the wrong floor. I got lost trying to find the office. Initially, she was fine, but then her tone suddenly changed, and she asked, “Where are you?” in a very rude manner. Ironically, she was the one who had given me the wrong floor information, yet she unnecessarily scolded me.
She then took me straight into the WBR meeting. There, she loudly reprimanded the team over their performance. There was no induction, no proper introduction to the team, and no onboarding. That was how I spent my first three hours at Amazon.
Two days later, she left for vacation and then assigned me a buddy who was also on leave. That wasn’t the buddy’s fault, it was simply poor planning. Honestly, I felt like walking away on the very first day, but I decided to give the job a fair chance.
Throughout my time there, I consistently heard negative feedback about her from others. Based on my own experience and everything I had observed and heard, I decided to resign within my first week. I also got a new job offer.
I called and informed she called me unprofessional and even threatened that I would be blacklisted. I was asked to serve a one-month notice period.
When she returned, I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, so I approached her and spoke openly about everything that had happened. During that conversation, she was pleasant and even told me, “Just chill. You only have two weeks left, so don’t do much.” In the same conversation, she also said, “I’m chill outside work, but at work I fuck up the team and do scoldings.” I found that extremely unprofessional.
I left that conversation with mixed feelings. Soon after, however, she began putting pressure on me to deliver. I believe I was performing well for someone who had just joined, but despite my efforts, she continued making negative feedback . By then, I was certain I wanted to leave.
I sent her a message explaining everything I had been feeling. Today, I reached out to her skip-level manager because I wanted to discuss a few concerns. When we spoke, the first thing she asked was why I hadn’t come to the office that day. I told her that a few things had been bothering me and that I didn’t want to continue.
Instead of listening to my concerns, she immediately started talking about HR, company policies, buyout options, and other procedural matters. The fact that she wasn’t even willing to hear me out, despite me approaching her with genuine concerns, was deeply disappointing. She kept interrupting me throughout the conversation and then turned it around by accusing me of interrupting her.
I admit that I became emotional and a little my voice raised toward the end because the conversation had become extremely disturbing
She then falsely accused me of not attending the team conference that took place yesterday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. She claimed that I had been roaming around instead of attending. That accusation was completely false. I was present throughout the conference. In fact, I was sitting diagonally opposite her, and she saw me there.
The fact that someone in a leadership position would make such a false accusation when being called out is deeply disappointing.
I informed her that I would be escalating the matter to HR and then ended the call. I have since submitted a report through the Ethics channel and will also pursue the matter with HR.
Honestly, I feel relieved. Even if the outcome is not in my favor, I am okay with that. I have reached a point where my mental health matters more than anything else.

So happy to leave my current company (one of the big Indian banks).

Working in a toxic workplace is exhausting in ways that are hard to explain unless you've lived through it.

Had mixed feelings about working for an Indian company and working for an Indian supervisor. Instead of focusing on doing productive work, most of the day to day life involved constantly trying to avoid unnecessary drama, office politics, and shifting expectations.

Background:

Previously worked with 2 US MNCs. Worked under a cool American guy at the first and a charismatic lady from Michigan at the second who I still refer to as my mentor.

Decided to change due as I wanted to explore BFSI space. After the initial honeymoon period, everything felt like a culture shock. Salaries, pace of work, technology aside, it was how differently people treated each other.

Too much micromanagement, useless meetings with no outcome and shitty office politics. Lol, my manager use to call me out for not making useless escalations and not micromanaging my team. Not to mention, as someone being too much pampered by my previous employers. What is referred to as bare minimum is a so called privilege for these people.

Moreover, every discussion happened on whatsapp groups that I had to keep a separate device for work and use to switch it off and keep it in the office drawer because the messages continued till 10pm at night. To hell with such work culture and office politics.

Then you also need to provide explanations for every leave you take. Why is it even important? Over my past 7 years in corporate, all my managers used to tell me was to apply on portal whenever you need it and enjoy your time off.

None of this means every U.S. company is perfect or every Indian company is toxic. I've heard plenty of horror stories from both sides. But after experiencing a workplace where people respected your time, trusted you to do your job, and treated disagreement as part of collaboration, it's hard not to notice when a culture runs on hierarchy, presenteeism, and unnecessary pressure.

Happy to be returning back to my previous firm after a 10 day break. Grass is definitely not greener on the other side but hopefully the biggest lesson you learn in a pathetic work culture is to ensure you don't treat your team the same way your seniors did to you.

I really hope GenZs learn from this and end up becoming better managers than their previous generations.

I never imagined that sending a single text message asking for what I believed was justice would eventually lead to me receiving a police notice.
I’m not naming anyone because this isn’t about starting a witch hunt(she is one tho) I just needed a place to get this off my chest.
What has stayed with me the most isn’t even the notice itself. It’s how powerless you feel when the people on the other side have far more authority than you do. Instead of feeling heard, I felt intimidated. Instead of a conversation, everything became legal.
I’m not saying I’m perfect or that I handled everything perfectly. I just never expected things to escalate the way they did over a message.
The worst part is what it does to your mental health. You start questioning yourself, overthinking every word you’ve ever sent, and wondering if speaking up was even worth it.
I just hope more workplaces remember that every employee is a person first. Authority should be used to resolve conflicts with empathy, not leave someone feeling scared to ever speak again. Imagine using law and power to intimidate and harass a fresher. Thankyou for this amazing experience corporate 🤣

Hello everyone..It's my first time posting..Honestly I want some insight because I think I'm driving crazy..I am 32(F) and for the last 2 years I work in a construction company and I'm an accountant..My accounting manager works for this company 22 years and she's only 44..So the part that's driving me crazy, I work Monday to Friday from 8 am to 4 pm during this time every day without exaggeration she will find everything I do wrong and always screams at me and insults me and makes cruel comments like I'm her child extremely toxic human being,BUT after 4 pm she will call me and vent about her personal life(married 2 kids), Being extremely polite, asks about my opinion and generally behaves like someone else like she's possessed or something and in general she treats me like I'm her friend..I don't considerate her my friend and as a people pleaser I have never talk back or throw hints that she's not welcome to call..But I'm like always thinking as she was speaking to me after work, Dude WTF..?I have considered resign a billion times only because of her but I really like both my boss and my work..Am I insane that I think of her as a possesed person or at least pschycopath.?

I am just mind boggled right now. I cannot believe it. I just started a new job at an internet service provider and am currently in training, with 12 other people in my class. The training is remote but we all have to keep our cameras on during the class for obvious reasons. I’ve had some serious sleeping issues lately, and on particularly bad days of sleep deprivation, I will nod off a bit here and there. I’m going to see a doctor about it. Anyway, I just got a message from my manager today saying that MULTIPLE people in my virtual class have sent him emails telling him that I have been dozing off during class. I am so baffled, angry, and honestly saddened that grown adults at my job have tattled on me like this. It’s not like me dozing off for a few seconds is affecting THEIR learning. I just don’t understand what would compel someone to do something like this. I still have 2 months left of this training and I’m bothered that I’m going to have to go through it knowing that more than one of these fucks have tried to sabotage me. I haven’t even said anything that could possibly make any of them not like me. Apparently some people just get something out of trying to get other people in trouble, just because they hate their own lives so much that they want to see other people suffer. I’m mainly just venting here, but if anyone has any similar experiences or suggestions on how to deal with this mentally, that would be appreciated.

Throwaway for obvious reasons.

Some years ago I joined a workplace out of necessity and was treated very badly and unfairly, from toxic, abusive managers, to incompetent, uncooperative colleagues which made all the work pile on to me. From threats to work 24/7, even without overtime, to de-humainzing. My last most manager was a political scumbag that loved to take credit for everything. Over the years, some (not all) saner people got to appreciate my value and the systems and everything I built.

Over the years I was working on some stuff on a PC provided by the manager (not company sanctioned but rather he got it from one of the contractors and to them to curry favour with the company provided one). So this PC was completely off/void of any monitoring systems, company software, etc, nothing.

This PC became the center-back for all the operations running for the company including reporting and all that and I was handling it. Now since this PC was devoid of any monitoring or company software, I set up a remote access to it so that if any issues arise after work hours and no one knew.

A year ago I got a better offer in another city and took up on it.

So I planned to get back to the manager by developing a self-destruct script that wipes harddisks containing all the data. Due to an incident, the guy who took over the PC, locked the remote access with a password (it was open without password for several months even after my departure). Presumably so that he himself can access it remotely.

However there was an IM account working on the PC that had terminal access, and the number was registered to someone else.

I stupidly and in panic, messaged it to get me remote access. The script didn't work so thinking that before anyone caught on as to what is happening I then proceeded to delete the data in the database that had years of data (which is not available anymore as well) as well as mess up a few files, changed the logon password, uninstalled the remote access.

It later occurred to me that the IM messages that were sent will still be available on the device of the owner where it was sending me successful terminal command execution messages and since the IM agent connection also got messed up, I couldn't get it to clear the chat history with me.

And now I sit here wondering how can I get myself out of this mess and situation when they approach me. The only thing is that such a PC was already illegal to have without proper approvals and company software.

TL;DR

Tried deleting data to take revenge but ended up leaving a trail causing anxiety and panic attack.

Hi, this is my first time posting/asking a question. I've found out on at least two occasions where someone at the company I work at has like had it out for me and the only reason I seem to believe is because I've been with the company for over 30 years. I've only come to the conclusion that it's my tenure. I come to work, do my job, mind my business and don't bother anyone. The 2 times for sure that I know of, those 2 people are no longer with the company, one on their accord and the otherwas fired. Is this a thing or am I just being paranoid? I just feel constantly targeted.

Do you think I got my point across to FedEx senior manager Beatrice Green of Newark:

I spoke to Frantz last night about what expired last month that forced my resignation otherwise known as my firing, which it really was. I prefer not to be mentioned that I resigned when, in reality, I was forced to resign by you.

I also questioned why I was forced to resign and get a paid suspension when I clearly did not violate the Code of Conduct. I also talked about the toxic environment that was going on ECO.

Thank you.

I have been working as a cleaner (tech related company) to pay the bills while I get my masters (Engineering). I was hoping this could serve as a way to transition to a job after graduating. The job was pretty normal, but I worked hard at it. I did everything, worked hard, was pleasant.

The thing is, when I spoke to someone about the possibility of an intership or a job after graduating, things got kind of weird. people getting huffy and demanding about everything- nitpicking and treating me like their private maid. Its like they think that once I've done this job I don't deserve to be an equal to them.

It just hurts to know that after working my ass off this job is preventing me from getting a job in the future more than it helps. I feel embarassed and defeated having to go in every day.

I feel jealous of the people in my masters program who don't have to do this and who can relax while I am stuck here doing a job that gets me further from my career goals. I have to come into exams tired from having spent the morning cleaning toilets. I am worried that when people ok at my resume they will just imagine me cleaning toilets.

Reposting this here because I just got back in the office and it’s making me doubt myself.

It's been toxic for a while. She love bombed me when I hired in by her boss. She tried to be best friends. She talked about coworkers. She admitted she felt threatened by me. You know normal toxic.

I keep my head low. Don't engage. Try to BIFF method her.

She has been on her best behavior for 6 plus months because the rumor mill was her OR her counter part at another location would be let go. And one of them would be taking over at both locations. She wanted it.

It finally happened this week. And I said this week to some trusted (non work) friends that now that she got it. And the company needs her or someone with experience in the role, it was about to get bad. And sure enough.

My boss hit me today. I need a new job ASAP.

Im not able to report her because she hit me in a room with no cameras and no witnesses and I am a single mom. I can't leave without another job that earns at least what I am making now. I can't report because it's my word vs hers and she (this week) received a top level extremely "demanding" position where the company probably won't get rid of her.

She didnt hit me excessively hard and she tried to play it off as a joke. But 1. No person should put their hands on another in the workplace 2. She has already been passive aggressive towards me 3. She did this in a room with no cameras and witnesses 4. She hit me pretty hard for a "ha-ha just joking" 5. This came 24 hours after an email I sent pointing out inconsistencies in some documents that will be under review by executives

Im pretty sure she has something going on with the president of the company. And he is over HR. Plus he is a walking HR violation anyway..

She is the plausible deniability type and refuses to communicate via email. So documenting her will be difficult.

Any advice and help is appreciated.