Worker Complains To Her Boss That She Is Incredibly 'Burnt Out' & 'Stressed' Only To Be Told The Company Would 'Crumble' If She Quit
Her boss tried to guilt her into staying instead of fixing the issue of her being burnt out.
fizkes / Shutterstock; Reddit In a time when many workers are feeling the effects of being burnt out while at work, such was the case for one woman, who was given a mediocre response from her boss about the decline of her mental health.
Posting to the subreddit r/antiwork — an online forum where people share their work-related struggles and seek advice — a woman explained that she has been working for a start-up company for the last year and a half, but within the last few months, she's been feeling stressed from the amount of work she has to do.
She revealed that she's been feeling burnt out and stressed by her boss and the workload.
In her Reddit post, she wrote that right after graduating from grad school, she landed her first adult job at a start-up. While the job wasn't completely in the field she wanted to work in, she knew that she could use it as a stepping stone on her resume.
For the first several months, the job was fine. "Everyone there on my level came from academia so we were all figuring it out together," she recalled. The only issue seemed to be with her colleague who was supposed to train her and show her the ropes, but she learned wasn't that good of a teacher.
Seven months into her job, her colleague who had been training her suddenly quit and she was given all of his work in addition to the tasks she still had to do. "I also inherited the two people he was supposed to train to function as a prep team that just left undergrad and had no industry experience either."
Photo: voronaman / Shutterstock
"No instructions, no standard operating procedures, no notes left behind at all," she added.
Due to this, she and some of her coworkers decided to call a meeting with their boss about who would be hired to replace the colleague that left. After months of speaking with their boss, a replacement was finally hired and she was able to get some workload taken off her plate.
While she didn't have to worry about her former coworker's "big project," she was still given all of his other tasks.
After going to speak with her boss about her high levels of stress, she was told the company would 'crumble' without her.
"It got to the point where I told my boss in our weekly one-on-ones that, while managing still, I was incredibly burned out and stressed," she continued. To her boss, she even listed the initial tasks that had been part of her job description, and what she was being asked to do now.
She told her boss that she could either be given a higher compensation to reflect the work she has to do, or they could work together on redistributing her tasks to someone else.
Photo: Dragon Images / Shutterstock
"I was then told by my boss that the 'company would crumble' if I left. I am an overthinker and people pleaser by default. The amount of stress and pressure that [was] put on me was nerve-wracking," she added.
Her boss' response was incredibly lackluster and she admitted that she can no longer take the pressure that has come with her added workload, given to her without her having any say about it.
"My OCD has flared up to an alarming rate from the stress increase and every weekday is dreaded. I'm desperately searching for a new position that will get me out of there," she wrote, inquiring how she should go about her situation while being a "people pleaser."
Many employees in the workforce have been feeling the effects of being burnt out which leads to an unproductive work environment.
According to research from Future Forum, of 10,243 full-time desk-based workers polled in six countries including the United States and the United Kingdom, over 40% said they are burned out.
Nearly half (48%) of 18-to-29-year-olds said they feel drained compared with 40% of their peers aged 30 and up, while women (46%) reported higher levels of burnout than men (37%).
Burnout can often result in decreased productivity, reduced concentration, and poor job performance. Employees may even struggle to meet deadlines, make mistakes, and have difficulty focusing on their tasks.
When employees consistently experience burnout and high levels of stress, they are also more likely to consider leaving their jobs, which seems to be the case for this particular woman.
In the comments section, many Redditors encouraged her to think about her own needs and not the company's.
"If the company crumbles without one specific person, then the company is badly constructed, badly managed, understaffed, and won’t survive anyway," one Reddit user pointed out. "If they won’t listen when you repeatedly tell them, then they’ll have to learn the hard way. You can’t keep them warm by setting yourself on fire."
Another user added, "Tell them if they need you, then they'll pay you more. YOU need to go where it benefits YOU. If you get better benefits and higher pay at another business, it's not your problem if this one fails."
Recognizing and addressing employee burnout is crucial for both employees' well-being and the success of organizations. Employers should constantly strive to create a supportive work environment, encourage work-life balance, and provide resources for stress management.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.