Worker Losing Their Housing Doesn't Know How To Stay At Their Work From Home Job
They've found themselves in an entirely impossible situation.
Vlada Karpovich / Pexels An employee wrote to Reddit asking for advice on a seemingly impossible situation. They explained on the subreddit r/antiwork that they don’t know how to approach their boss with devastating news that they’re about to become homeless.
The worker, who is losing their housing, doesn’t know how they’ll stay at their work-from-home job.
They explained that they’ve worked from home since before the pandemic, but the pay at their company hasn’t kept up with their cost of living. As they stated, “with a rise in rent, I’m about to be homeless in about a month. Plans A-G fell through and I’m running out of ideas.”
They said that they previously asked their boss for a raise, who told them she only gives “merit-based raises.” They explained, “I had to fight for a cost-of-living raise that I only got after telling her I’d leave if I didn’t get one. Still tried to leave, but had a massive medical emergency that put me on leave for months.”
Photo: Taryn Elliott / Pexels
The employee is at a loss, “still stuck at the same place, worse health, and less likely to get that raise which probably wouldn’t even secure me a new apartment around here anyway.”
The worker thinks the only option is to stay with their parents, as they can’t afford rent in the area while at their current job.
They added clarification at the end of their post, stating, “I’m coming to the end of a 12-month lease of a place I’ve lived for 4 years and have been planning to move out for six months. We only got hit with issues in the last three months, which upended all our plans and our initial backup plans.”
People in the comments responded sympathetically. Some suggested that the employee talk to their boss in the hopes that she would offer a raise; others suggested that the employee try and find a new job.
The employee came to the comments section to offer additional details. They explained that they’re chronically ill, and are considering going to full-time disability, though they’re working while they still can. They said, “I’m already applying to new jobs and don’t expect to get help from my job.”
They also explained that they moved to their current location in order to be closer to their family, but “cost of living shot up way more than expected since I moved here and now I’m stuck.”
Their last-ditch plan is “to go on long term disability and leave the state to get treatment at a specialist facility. I’d probably have to leave most things behind.”
Photo: Andrew Neel / Pexels
According to Statista, in “May 2023, prices had increased by 4 percent compared to May 2022 according to the 12-month percentage change in the consumer price index— the monthly inflation rate for goods and services in the United States.” The site also reported that “the annual inflation rate in the United States has increased from 3.2% in 2011 to 8.3% in 2022.”
As rent rises in cities across the US, salaries haven’t kept up, meaning that people like this employee are finding themselves in impossible-to-navigate economic situations. It seems clear that something within our national landscape has to change, in order for people to have their basic needs of survival met.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers work-related issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.