Worker Furious She's Not Being Considered For Her Manager's Job Despite Covering It For More Than A Month
"Then tell them that since you're not good enough, then you can no longer do the job."
CREATISTA | Getty Images | Canva Pro Workplaces, like life, are almost never truly fair, but all too often, it becomes clear just how absurdly inequitable, not to mention predatory, they truly can be.
For a retail manager on Reddit, this kind of situation is rearing its head in a way that's truly inexcusable and has many workers telling her to fight back — even if it means quitting entirely.
The worker is being overlooked for a job they've already been covering for a month.
It all began as so many of these stories do — with her boss abruptly quitting their retail job out of nowhere due to serious health challenges. Being a team player and already having two years of experience at the job, this Redditor rose to the occasion and began covering her boss's job along with her own assistant manager duties.
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In every sense, she's been doing two people's jobs. She's still in charge of all her own duties and attending meetings for assistant managers, but she also has to attend managerial meetings, she has been put in charge of interviewing and hiring the store's large holiday-season staff and running the store solo.
"In every way, I am the manager now," she wrote. So when it comes to replacing the missing manager, you'd think they'd start hiring for HER position and move her into his, right? But that's not how it's shaken out.
The worker was told she was not experienced enough for the job she's already been doing.
Naturally, she applied to the manager's position immediately but heard nothing. When she pressed management about it, she was hit with a whole laundry list of excuses.
She was told her two-year commitment to the job wasn't long enough, and when she pushed back on that, she was told she wasn't sufficiently qualified. But since they're hiring outside the company, she is the only one who knows the internal systems.
All this adds up to something truly galling: "I'm literally going to have to train the new manager," she said. Plus, the position comes after a shift in the company's pay scale, which means it would pay $15,000 more than she's currently making.
Experts say situations like this are part of a trend called "quiet promotion."
Much like how "quiet quitting" involves pulling back on a job in every way but actually quitting, experts have coined the term "quiet promotion" for situations like this, in which you are promoted in practice but receive no reward whatsoever for all the hard work.
It's ridiculously unfair, and it's also really common. A survey by JobSage, a platform for employee reviews, found that 78% of workers have been taken advantage of in this way, with many saying they felt manipulated into the situation by their boss.
Experts are pretty much unanimous that no worker should stand for it, and speaking up is essential. This worker is very afraid to end up without a job, but Redditors were confident that if she cuts off the supply of essentially free work that they are heavily reliant on at the moment, they will quickly remedy the situation.
"Tell them that since you're not good enough, then you can no longer do the job and will only be responsible for your job duties," one person recommended. "it cannot be overstated how powerful a lack of action can be," another responded.
They're likely correct. It's understandable that she'd be hesitant to rock the boat, but calling an employer's bluff often works to your advantage — provided you're actually a good employee, that is.
Even if she's not, though, it really isn't hard to be a boss with enough integrity to give her the dignity and respect of an honest appraisal of why she's not a fit for the job rather than a bunch of ridiculous excuses that don't even hold water. It's the least they can do.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.