What has happened to workplace standards, morale, and professionalism in recent years?

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BoopingBurrito@reddit

I think at least in part its the inevitable end result of a couple of decades of employers refusing to provide any training beyond whatever they can source for free on the first page of a google search.

Its still pretty normal for promotion to happen from within, and so you get people being promoted who have never had properly formal training in the role they were in (unless they did it from their own pocket) and moving into roles where they then aren't given any training in how to succeed.

This is particularly true of management and leadership roles - managing people isn't actually an innate skill, its something that can (and should) be taught. And the ability to strategically plan and to implement those plans isn't an innate skill, and its also not the same as project management which is the free elearning that most new senior leaders get told to do.

Also, as an aside, yes I know that in a select handful of professions/industries qualifications being provided and continuous professional development are the norm. But those are a very limited selection of industries and roles.

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RepublicLiving5358@reddit

Totally this - British businesses (especially small-to-medium sized businesses) chronically underinvest in employees. I think part of it is emotional: there's such a nervousness around risk, and part of it is economic: low/no growth encourages businesses to be short-termist.

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Unfair_Fly3053@reddit

I've stopped caring at work. We're over worked, underpaid and sadly they're making more kay offs..which means more work.. but the companies profits are still climbing. It's greed that's killing the workplace imo

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_Dreamer_Deceiver_@reddit

Because why put more effort in when you're not getting a pay rise or whatever else motivates you to work.

If I do more than I should, I'm still being paid the same as the person on my team that's doing the bare minimum

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Glittering_Vast938@reddit

This is why I don’t try anymore. I’m polite and respectful but just do my job. No more.

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Personal-Rip-8341@reddit

this is why you don't get a pay rise

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Glittering_Vast938@reddit

Still didn’t get one when I did try.

What’s the point?

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Personal-Rip-8341@reddit

keep going, be better than the rest, become a billionare and stop wasting time posting on here like the rest of us?

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Lynvor@reddit

I've been mentally checked out of my job for two years. There is no indication of any pay rises depsite us doing 'better than ever' financially. No internal promotion positions in the last 3 years, there isn't even any roles for to sidestep into, just completely stagnant.

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Tough_Path9129@reddit

i feel that bud

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Historical_Project86@reddit

That happened to me. I was told that any promotion within the team would be a case of "dead man's shoes", then 3 months later a contractor team-mate was made permanent with the title I wanted to be promoted to. I voiced my disgust, then luckily managed to leave a few months after that. This was 2018 though, it's easier said than done today of course.

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LateFlorey@reddit

This is what’s happening at my company. It’s been raised at every quarterly staff survey, senior leadership knows it’s a massive problem. I’d say around 30% of people have been there longer than 4 years as people come in, learn and have nowhere to progress, so they leave after a few years for more money and a promotion elsewhere.

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Glittering_Vast938@reddit

Could’ve written this myself.

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iaderia@reddit

Yes same. I’m lucky to be in the 40% tax bracket (I earn about 51k) but the tax bands haven’t increased in multiple years with inflation. So I am just shrugging at trying to get promoted. I know that like half of my increase is gone. Its very discouraging

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CoffeeTastesOK@reddit

I found out rather quickly that the reward for completing work quickly is more work.

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YchYFi@reddit

People expect more from you when you put more in. Isn't worth the aggro.

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Only-Tutor7115@reddit

That's very true. If you demonstrate that you are very capable they just pile on more work.

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No_real_beliefs@reddit

Good at sweeping? Here’s a bigger broom.

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YchYFi@reddit

People expect more from you when you put more in. Isn't worth the aggro.

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Honey-Badger@reddit

Because why put more effort in when you're not getting a pay rise or whatever else motivates you to work.

I do agree. Just that I also enjoy my job, I am tired of it but I find on the days where I have motivation I do enjoy things more if I'm proud of my work. I have colleague who like me have been doing this job 10+ years and some of them just allow all the minor little things ruin their day, they do minimal effort (fine thats on them) but they also seem to be deeply unhappy about doing minimal effort.

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fire-wannabe@reddit

I think that opinion is covered here.

https://youtu.be/cgg9byUy-V4?si=kZckurjbq5JzE4_e

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East-Tower-6759@reddit

standards are the lowest I have ever known them!

it comes down from the top ''upper management'' not caring and trickles down to the rest of us,

I don't see it getting any better anytime soon,

the thing that is missing is care in management, why should the workers care, come in do the bear min and get paid at the end of the month and repeat

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Guillotine_Strike892@reddit

I think, way down, people are of the mindset that it’s all pointless

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canberracanary@reddit

In my experience (NHS) the drop in standards is largely due to weak managers, not helped by employees who have never been told "no" before, then accuse bosses of bullying. Who is going to risk having a grievance submitted against them because they told a young nurse off for being habitually late, or using social media while on duty, or not adhering to the uniform policy? It takes a strong, brave and fair manager to ensure standards are consistently met and there are not many of those kinds of managers left.

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Historical_Project86@reddit

Perhaps more and more people are finding it difficult to cope with the structured work day (a relatively modern concept) and the ridiculous need to be seen to be doing something all the time, especially when that is combined with an almost constant feeling that they are next in line for redundancy.

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Suitable-Season-4847@reddit

You an always go and forage for food and see whether you prefer that?

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ExecutiveChimp@reddit

Yes it's a shame there's no third option. It's either 9-5 or foraging.

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Suitable-Season-4847@reddit

Bit of farming? Dead by 30 due to crop failure?

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Historical_Project86@reddit

It's almost as if all the common farming land has been appropriated by the wealthy, mostly of Norman descent. How odd.

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GreenhousePlum@reddit

Yes it's all dates back to the enclosure of the commons and the Industrial Revolution. A system that was designed by and for the rich but most people are so heavily brainwashed that they think 'it has to be this way.'

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Historical_Project86@reddit

Indeed. I'm always wary when I put this forward because a lot of people simply don't want to believe it.

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GreenhousePlum@reddit

I am guessing you're familiar with Buckminster Fuller! He was talking about how ridiculous and unnecessary our system is back in the 60s. I knew as soon as I graduated that we were living in a brainwashed dystopia but it took me several years to find anyone else who could see it.

Thankfully now many more people especially Gen Z can see it but the majority are still locked into the 'you work hard and you earn a living/work isn't fun that's why it's called work' mentality. Instead we could be living in a post-scarcity world like in Star Trek if there was the will for it. The problem in my opinion has always been that the rich are still successfully brainwashing the majority into thinking there is no other way for us to live, when this system is relatively new in the history of humanity and it's based on power, control, abuse and manipulation.

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YchYFi@reddit

This work day has been into motion for decades. It isn't a new concept.

For some reason I couldn't see your response.

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Historical_Project86@reddit

Because you deleted your comment. My response that it's actually much longer than decades, but still not what humans are used to. Very few native tribes around the world have such a regulated day, and in the UK we didn't either. Agricultural labourers would have maybe 30 days working 14 hours a day every year, they would work according to necessity. The rest of the year, the length of the working day and the tasks they had to do would change.

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YchYFi@reddit

I deleted it because I couldn't see your reponse. It was in my notifications but not ok the post for me.

My grandparents were farmers they had long working days. My dad's side was more industrial, mining and other assorted. Half day Thursday though for market. That's been phased out though.

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Historical_Project86@reddit

But what your grandparents did in the winter would not be the same as what they were doing in spring, I assume. The working day has become regulated but also monotonous.

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YchYFi@reddit

The animals still need feeding at the same time even in winter. Some tasks may vary but the working day was the same and the length. We don't have crops just sheep and cattle. My uncle and his family do this now.

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exhausted-pangolin@reddit

Yeah but why now. It's not like that hasn't been the case for decades. (Public sector excepted of course)

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Only-Tutor7115@reddit

I'm public sector and can honestly say that my work is scrutinized day in day out and the organisation I work for has run what are basically redundancy schemes for the last three years.

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Historical_Project86@reddit

Redundancies have certainly ramped up, the frequency and brutality. Horror stories from people out of work for months or even years after redundancy piles pressure on those still in work, hanging by a thread. Graduates who thought their job in Starbucks was a temporary blip 5-10 years ago are now realising that there is competition for their jobs and actually this may not get any better. This is causing people to "wake up". The work day has always been forced and stressful, but when your job is safe and disposable income is good, you can overlook the negatives. Just some random thoughts. On the other hand, from what I've seen there are still plenty of people who can continue to pretend/believe in the 9-5 life, so I think it depends how sensitive you are to these things.

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Unusual_Sherbert2671@reddit

This is me, 10 years of Monday to Friday 8--5 has worn me down, everyday feels the same.

I don't come into work all happy and talkative, not blaming anyone but myself for getting into work

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YchYFi@reddit

This work day has been into motion for decades. It isn't a new concept.

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Historical_Project86@reddit

More than decades. But, you know, humans have been working for a lot longer than that.

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CensorTheologiae@reddit

It’s education, healthcare, law, hospitality, social care - industries where people’s lives are directly affected by the quality of work being done

All of these are fields where skill has been deprecated from the top down. Doctors are now being told they can be replaced by PAs who have a fraction of the knowledge or skill; professors are being made redundant and entire departments abolished. It filters down.

There's a bit of long-term profit mentality going into the destruction of public services, too, but there's also the post-Thatcher public belief in no society, only individuals.

Recent scaling-up of AI gives managers the feeling of competence without actually having to have the skill. And six years of people getting covid repeatedly is doing measurable damage to their cognitive capacity.

Any one of these factors would be damaging. All of them at the same time...

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spaceprinceps@reddit

> post-Thatcher public belief in no society, only individuals.

How did Cameron's "Big Society" (small government) square with that?

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CensorTheologiae@reddit

It went quite nicely with it as a continuation. It was essentially a slogan framing the consequences of austerity as somehow positive, but which in reality meant the outsourcing of ever more public amenities to the third sector. I found it a dreadfully cynical phrase.

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spaceprinceps@reddit

It says to me "not our problem": big society small government. Which together with no society only individuals makes it pretty anti social as a historical platform. Either that or as you said, bs slogans to cover up for the policy of doing less for people

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jc456_@reddit

Blame immigration. Seems to be the solution for every other UK sub at the moment.

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Competitive_Pen7192@reddit

It's when you turn it on it's head and these people think if migration falls to zero then everything magically improves. Houses become affordable, jobs for all that pay well...

Got called out for suggesting that migration being halted won't do a thing to get houses affordable. Apparently the extra abundance of houses will mean they fall in price so everyone can afford one, was even told it wasn't a hard concept to grasp. That told me!

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spaceprinceps@reddit

You didn't explain why that logic was faulty, its a supply/demand argument, looks legit.

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Competitive_Pen7192@reddit

Looks legit if you're rich.

Supply and demand with housing isn't the entire story. Are there hordes of regular people knock on the door of estate agents with money ready to go? It's far more likely, especially with the way certain parties treat the regular folk that the released stock will just be bought up and rented out by those with money. Then it's back to being at the mercy of landlords.

Unless central government heavily regulates this then it won't make the slightest difference in making houses affordable or available for the common person.

Not sure I trust any government to do the above.

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spaceprinceps@reddit

Its value will universally drop, the existence of landlords, and by extension even blackrock who buy cheap housing in times of devaluation, can't stop the benefits of there being lower house prices for average joe, on rents and on purchasing. The existence of landlords doesn't take away from that, they're a factor not the totality.

Released stock just seems magical thinking it will relieve pressure and modify prices. Which will in turn increase the money in peoples pockets. I dont think ive missed anything.

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Competitive_Pen7192@reddit

Well that's the ideal... But unless it's carefully managed it'll just put that extra wealth into the hands of those who already have it.

If house prices fell drastically I'd probably scrape up everything spare I had and buy to let something. That shouldn't happen but you can bet plenty more would do that to capitalise and leave the folks at the bottom in the same boat they're always in. Except they can't blame foreigners this time.

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spaceprinceps@reddit

You're still aiming that it's a totality not a factor and adding that it needs regulation to have positive effects, like there's a landowning class with infinite money, I invoked black rock for just that reason but it's still not a totality. The ultimate point being you use this device to deny there is any logic to the idea that immigration declining would have effect on house prices in any given timeframe. You acted like this was nonsense

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jc456_@reddit

I see you already got downvoted for your logic once again! Have my upvote.

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spaceprinceps@reddit

What was the logic? I didn't understand why this premise was faulty

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MasterpieceAlone8552@reddit

Bloody foreigners. Coming here and taking our morale!

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Curious_Arm_893@reddit

I've definitely noticed the quality drop at my work in the last 2 or so years.

Upper management seems to be a lot more flip floppy than ever about what direction we're heading in. The high level guidance seems to change with the wind. One week is make it this, next week it's make it how it was again.

Middle management seems to be totally making it up day by day and not doing any kind of long term planning.

And then the people actually doing the work seem to be constantly overloaded, confused and making all sorts of "oh I didn't think of that" kind of mistakes.

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Intelligent_Put_3520@reddit

It's pretty much guaranteed that any promotion will go to a family member or close pal of the higher ups. Same with training and development.

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Alth12@reddit

We are in an economy where the only real reward you get, unless youre at director/board level, for working hard and efficiently, is...

More work For the same pay

So yeah, eff em.

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DaddyK3tchup@reddit

Anyone up for a general strike?

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Random_Nobody1991@reddit

Might happen sooner than you think and this is coming from someone who is pretty far away from being on the left economically speaking.

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Far_Assistance1480@reddit

Will never happen. Brits are too meek.

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Bossman_Mike@reddit

And in most organisations, reach a certain level (and not even that high a level) and you can more or less do whatever you like with little consequence.

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kitch793@reddit

Let's not forget the tax incentives that directors are entitled to as part of their compensation packages. Accommodation can be provided for at extremely low costs comparative to market as a BIK, shares which have different tax applied to them, bonuses etc.

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Far_Assistance1480@reddit

We’re getting paid pennies, what do you expect?

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wildeaboutoscar@reddit

We had our exec team implode a few months ago (completely done intentionally, they didn't need to do it as things were finally stable) and even a good chunk of our directors are now 'interim' so it's a nightmare getting any kind of decision made or feedback given and communication was shit to begin with.

I am expected to produce reporting to the new people's standards without being told what they are and they don't even know what they want themselves. They provide no feedback whatsoever and the structure has become very corporate and closed ranks as people start asking for any kind of communication or clarity. They say they are listening but never actually show it- then they wonder why our customers feel the same way about the service we provide.

If they listened and acted on what the people who are being paid to investigate (in a data driven way) are saying then they might be in a better spot.

If you have to say you're listening, you're not really, are you.

Ultimately with the wider environment I'm glad I have a job, but I wouldn't be surprised if a merger was on the horizon.

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Broccoli--Enthusiast@reddit

2% pay rises, not replacing staff, watching the bosses waste money on bullshit.

Inflation erroding the pay rises, world going to shit , living standards in freefall

I just don't give a shit about my work because they don't care about me.

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dopexvii@reddit

Minimum wage minimum effort?

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EndearingSobriquet@reddit

COVID is still here, there are usually two waves a year. The average person is getting infected around once a year.

COVID-19 Leaves Lasting Changes in the Brain, Even After Full Recovery
Even mild cases of COVID cause brain damage.
COVID shrinks the brain and accelerates cognitive decline.
A landmark study in 2022 in Nature Medicine showed that in each subsequent infection has a 2-3 fold greater risk of organ, tissue, and systemic damage than the prior infection.

It's damaged enough people's brains to show up in population wide statistics:

Conclusions: The study suggests that acute COVID-19, regardless of Long COVID status, is linked to an increased risk of car crashes presumably due to neurologic changes caused by SARS-CoV-2.

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/01.wnl.0001051276.37012.c2

People are crashing their cars more often due to it, it's not a big leap to suggest it might be affecting their performance at work too.

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Not_Wrong_Tho@reddit

People are overworked and underpaid in almost every profession in UK right now, and i don't know if it's just in my industry (hospitality), but even where incentives exist that should in theory push excellence, the incentives themselves aren't worth the effort to meet the unrealistic standards you need to achieve to get there.

Most people give a shit when they're given a reason to give a shit. When you feel like you're being exploited for pennies so some rich fuck CEO, or wanky political can 'narrow the margins' by expoiting you, people are going to give less and less of a shit.

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Long_Wait_3078@reddit

Life in general at all levels is just people doing their jobs.

They are counting down the hours until the end of the day and then counting down the days to the weekend

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Kittygrizzle1@reddit

Shit management, overworked staff and shit pay. Some volunteers now have appraisals. Why?

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GreenhousePlum@reddit

Yeah it's true that they're now using volunteers instead of employing people. I have always volunteered but only in 'turn up if and when you can' type of volunteer jobs where you're doing something enjoyable in a nice team but when I enquired about a few recently they wanted to invite me for 'a trial shift' with strict start times and if I couldn't make certain shifts I'd have to find cover! Absolute madness and totally exploitative.

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captainclectic@reddit

lmaoo

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GuybrushFunkwood@reddit

I worked night shift at a supermarket for 2 years from 1999 to 2001 and all we did was shoplift, drink, have affairs and just generally fucked around from 10pm to 6am. You sure it’s not just rose tinted glasses about the past?

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quaranteenagedirtbag@reddit

Yeah I'm surprised how many comments are taking as read the premise that standards have fallen. Based on what evidence?

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Instalab@reddit

My boss would invite us to striptease parties. I don't think standards have fallen, actually, opposite.

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GreenhousePlum@reddit

Blumin eck

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Random_Nobody1991@reddit

I think they’ve fallen in some respects. I’m on my way to the office in jeans, trainers and a t-shirt under a jumper. Back in my parents day, or even before Covid, I’d have worn a shirt tucked into smart trousers with a pair of smart shoes too. Nobody cares however as I do my job and most other people aside from those at the very top dress more casually.

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quaranteenagedirtbag@reddit

Sure, but the OP is talking about competence and effort, not about clothes. You might think dressing formally is a lowering of standards, but I'd argue it's just evolving norms, and not indicative of any other metrics of professionalism declining.

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fadgebread@reddit

Shops don't even open 24 hours any more.

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YchYFi@reddit

A night shift at a supermarket doesn't men it is open to the public.

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_testingdude@reddit

Any jobs going?

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White_hammer82@reddit

Sounds like the same experience at a cash and carry I did nights at. Probably did a hour or 2 of work a night

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btwright1987@reddit

Sounds very supermarket. Shelf stacked as a teenager and saw all of the above.

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Snebze@reddit

Cuts... been working in the same place for 20 years. We only ever get cuts. Department is still doing exactly the same job, but has gone from 15 people to 3. I met an old-timer who was doing my job 25 years ago, and he told me that we used to have 20 people circa 2001. The building has started to crumble and (non-biological, thankfully) trash has piled up because the company refuses to pay to have rubbish taken away. But... gotta have them cuts to pad the profit margins!

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IllExample3639@reddit

Boss is using ChatGPT to run the business and solve problems, line manager is using Clade Code to make bad code for the website, customers are using Gemini to write 10 page nonsence 'legal' letters to the company, suppliers are using AI generated product images that look nothing like the product, my wage doesn't go up, my rent doubles every 2 years for you'll forgive me for not coming to the office with a smile

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rubertine@reddit

People can’t afford basics like housing or food let alone anything that may be considered fun. Working 40+ hours a week and having nothing to show for it/being exhausted breeds apathetic employees.

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shelby862@reddit

IMO you have answered your own question in your first paragraph "management either ignor it or contribute"

When I worked for a small business in the mid 2000 a few of us got put on leadership diploma training where we learnt about Maslow hierarchy of needs etc and I remember our trainer saying no one leaves a bad job only bad management.

Unfortunately that business got shut down during COVID and the small business I work for now (non leadership role) you can really tell the the people who have been promoted is down to experience/knowledge of the business and not for communication/people/leadership skills.

The team morale is shocking, communication is even worse and there is no structure the business owner comes in once a week and the second in command is unapproachable and unprofessional.

As the saying goes a fish rots from the head down.

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Frugal500@reddit

Not only low wages but no investment in you in most places. No career progression and stretch posts going to externals because it’s cheaper than teaching someone to do it

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Mrpietromj@reddit

Some of my managers are the most vile, horrid people I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. They killed my ambition to work hard. I think some of the loss of morale is due to things like that and also the fact that wages are shite where I live.

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thecatspajamas__@reddit

I’ve worked in healthcare for 10 years as a therapist. Things have got so bad in every aspect. For example, we have appraisals every year, they ask us what areas we want to develop in and every year I’ve asked for a specific training and have been told no. I asked to self fund it but have more flexibility for me to attend, they said no. I said I would self fund AND do it outside of my working hours but would like to know if they would let me use this training in my job role, they said no. Then they complain we don’t have enough therapists with this training! This year they’ve taken away parts of our roles that gave us variety, like line managing and supervising and asked us to see more patients instead. They’ve told us to come in more for face to face work but taken away our clinical spaces and no more common areas. So work looks like a long commute to a room with no windows, seeing no colleagues then back to back patients. We have no development opportunities and no pay rises because I’m at the top of my band. Oh and I’m only 34 so if it’s like this now what motivation do I have to continue in this career in the public sector.

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Spiritual-Tip-4086@reddit

Its the fault of Government. They are taxing us into poverty so wages are worse than ever, high minnimum wage and national insurance means that workplaces dont want to hire.

Its a recipie for disaster

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Ok-Muffin-3864@reddit

You pretend to pay us, we pretend to work

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likeyournamebutworse@reddit

Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

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Anglo-Euro-0891@reddit

If you really are in the UK, then you would know it is "got", not "gotten".

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FluffyBunnyFlipFlops@reddit

I worked really hard for years. Worked evenings and weekends. I took on responsibility WAY above my pay grade. Delivered programmes of work worth £18M with full responsibility. Tried to get a promotion. Got kicked around for two years. Gave up. Just doing my job now.

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WeSavedLives@reddit

From my experience everyone is stretched and just trying to scrape by.

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nowdoingthisatwork@reddit

My pay is pathetic. They expect us to be sat ready to take calls the moment start time hits and to be ready until the last min of the day. If we go over we can claim it back as TOIL, but funnily enough, it's rarely possible to use it. Every so often, they try to get us to agree to have it paid as overtime. The responsibilities of the role keep increasing, the work load increases, yet we're expected to do it in less time. They can't keep new staff, and the more experienced, better trained staff are burning out and leaving or end up taking sick leave.

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Tough_Path9129@reddit

im on that boat, but the cherry on top is that everyone quit and im by myself in the office with a mosquito manager to my right

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Frosty_Leg4438@reddit

Look up “end stage capitalism”.

I realise it’s the trend for students to shout about this, but I do think there’s some validity.

Humans need, amongst other things, community purpose and pride (+ normal Maslow hierarchy stuff) and a lot of jobs nowadays frankly don’t really need doing and the people who do them are dispensable and it’s resulting in a collapse.

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Dapper_Otters@reddit

Orwell was bemoaning end stage capitalism a century ago (Keep the Aspadistra Flying), so unless it has a very long tail I'm not convinced we're in it.

It's more a series of ups and downs.

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Left-Ad8904@reddit

I wouldn't say that's the case. It's more to do with phones and peoples attention just being shot all over the place. There is no common culture or community anymore. Everyone watches different things on youtube, or netflix.

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MrReadilyUnready@reddit

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MrReadilyUnready@reddit

What

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Fine_Cress_649@reddit

Alienation of labour innit.

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Confident_Yak_1411@reddit

It’s what happens when protecting profit margins and shareholder dividends matters more than looking after workers.

I can’t remember the last time I went somewhere/used a service and received exceptional care.

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Kithulhu24601@reddit

Yup! Noone feels connected anymore, its a world of alienated ghosts with occasional glimmers

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privateandconfident@reddit

People are slowly realising that we are all being used by the billionaires who don't want to pay their taxes whilst we, the workers, are also bearing the brunt of the demise of capitalism. Why should we work ourselves to death for very little reward and also for very little societal progress or even sustainability? Please stop criticising fellow workers, as per your post, and instead look at the systemic factors impacting on all of us who are trying to make a living in the "technofeudalism" we are now living in.

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JavaRuby2000@reddit

I think people took a long hard look during COVID and worked out what they really need to live on and how much a work life balance is worth. The middle class have also seen their wage stagnate through the minimum wage catching up with them and the working class have realised that even though the min wage has increased above inflation it's still not enough. And everybody has seen the top 1% salary ratio move from 15times the average in the 1980s to 180 times the average in 2025.

On top of this people are bombarded day and night with social media and YouTubers showing off holiday destinations, nice cars, nice houses. If these luxuries are not attainable and even the basics are a struggle through regular 9-5 graft then why bother. People will decide to just fit into their slot and try and make their way through life without burning themselves out.

You want people to put the effort in then they need to be rewarded properly. I don't work in education but, I know one or two teachers and that should be an 80k a year job at the absolute minimum in the UK. The same goes for the other sectors you mention.

People are being exploited and they are starting to realise it.

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Successful_Buy3825@reddit

My firm has laid off ~40% of the workforce in the last 18 months. Everyone outside of senior management is just trying to get by & get out before their turn is up

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QuickTemperature7014@reddit

Wage inflation is terrible. Pay low, get low effort.

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CryptographerMore944@reddit

Pay peanuts (plus ever increasing cost of living), get monkeys.

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brodeh@reddit

Maybe one day employers will get a copy of the full works of Shakespeare for our efforts.

[-]

Historical_Project86@reddit

"To be, or not to be, that is the ml;KJ; DSAHLLKNGNKLVSD SANJJhhfkjl dsd"

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CoffeeTastesOK@reddit

The blurst of times?! STUPID MONKEY!!

[-]

Honey-Badger@reddit

Yeah I recently learnt how little some of my junior colleagues were on and it really was a case of "Shit I think if I was on that I would care even less than they seem to".

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Historical_Project86@reddit

Yeah, it's gone from caring because you want that bonus and the all-inclusive holiday, to caring because you prefer not to be homeless. At some point, being homeless does seem like the better option, to some.

[-]

zwifter11@reddit

You say that, but you need to negotiate and justify a payrise.

Companies won’t give you a payrise unless you a worth it. You need to show the company what value you bring.

Why should they pay you for low effort. If you are making costly mistakes or turning customers away?

[-]

QuickTemperature7014@reddit

The point is people have been getting real terms pay cuts for years and have become demoralised.

We’re not talking about giving people pay rises for increased effort. We’re talking about keeping people on the same equivalent wage for the same effort as last year.

[-]

TheBeAll@reddit

Minimum wage has doubled since 2008. Way above inflation

[-]

MrReadilyUnready@reddit

Most people earn above minimum wage. What's actually happening is minimum wage is rapidly approaching wages which were previously considered good because said wages are not increasing in line with inflation.

Basically the middle are being squeezed like always.

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TheBeAll@reddit

Completely true. Middle income earners should be checking out and finding new jobs. But it is funny that minimum wage earners are paid more in real terms yet their performance at work is abysmal.

[-]

MrReadilyUnready@reddit

Minimum wage, minimum effort. If you're paid minimum wage it means your bosses would pay you less if they legally could, therefore they do not value you one bit.

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TheBeAll@reddit

There it is, if the government put minimum wage up to £100k a year you would still complain.

Your career is a ladder. You have to work at a higher grade before being promoted there, that attitude will leave you on minimum wage for the rest of your life.

[-]

MrReadilyUnready@reddit

I've never been on minimum wage. And the job market is so screwed at the moment that working harder does not equate to getting paid more.

[-]

woogoogoo@reddit

It's not 100k though, it's barely enough to live on , and there are only so many promotions to go around

[-]

Impossible-Shine-439@reddit

This is true but the extra costs of this to businesses have meant wages for promotion jobs and progression have stagnated and now catching these roles up so why would anyone want to progress to extra stress, bigger workload for an extra £20 a week?

In saying this I'm not saying minimum wage shouldn't have gone up but promotion should be worth pursuing and have gone up with it, even if not the same.

While I'm on the soapbox, a few other things that should be illegal are unpaid breaks, you can't go to the pub and get pissed it's still company time. Basic rate overtime, by the time you're getting overtime you already have the full burden of tax and NI so you're not even getting your normal hourly rate for it.

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ComparisonVisible574@reddit

Unless you ask for it generally

[-]

pajamakitten@reddit

Most people just want a pay rate that reflects the cost of living.

[-]

CryptographerMore944@reddit

My dad supported our household on a single income. That's almost impossible now and my Dad was significantly less qualified than myself. It's nothing to do with effort and everything to do with wages not catching up with rising costs since about 2008.

[-]

Urist_Macnme@reddit

I have to appraise my team annually.
They all do a fantastic job under incredibly difficult circumstances while remaining professional. I recommended them for the highest pay rise.
I was told to stop giving such glowing reports, as according to the higher ups, there is always room for improvement.

Even if you are worth it, and of massive value to the company, they will fuck you over.

Do the bare minimum, and make them thank you for it.

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Imaginary_Finger7844@reddit

This is what's happening at my place of work.

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Random_Nobody1991@reddit

Probably because the only reward for working hard these days is to be given more work. If employers aren’t willing to increase pay, allow for more promotions (even temporary ones like secondments) or fund training to boost development, they can’t complain when their staff do the bare minimum.

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Obvious-Water569@reddit

Everything is expensive as fuck, our wages barely cover living and the world is on fire. Forgive me if I'm not breaking my back with a smile on my face.

[-]

Direct_Taste_3844@reddit

It's not just the bad pay, its employers are now routinely trying to operate on minimum possible staffing levels meaning everyone is overworked and burned out.

If somebody calls in sick or takes a holiday theres rarely anyone available for cover. If it gets busier than usual theres never anyone to pick up the slack.

I have worked in offices where it's basically impossible to be pro-active because we were forever playing catch up and falling further behind due to being understaffed for the workload we had and management had no interest in hiring anyone else. This resulted in more and more people taking sick leave (at one point during peak busy hours an 8 person team could often be down to 1 or two people).

[-]

SuddenSquib@reddit

The pay is poor, sure, but the other factor I’ve noticed is university graduates in management.

There’s a lot of inexperienced young people going straight into management roles, looking to prove themselves without any experience and they’re just causing havoc.

[-]

Redsfan1989@reddit

IT and DEI are the culprits.

[-]

Fun-Meal-9839@reddit

23 years ago, when I was 27, I met a lovely 27 year old lady. This was before dating apps and social media, the way you got to know someone was dates on the weekend and lots of long phone calls on week day nights.

On one of our long phone calls we were laughing about how being 27 meant we no longer seen as the young graduates and our bosses were starting to demand more from.us.

She used a phrase I had never heard until that point;"Fake it to make it"".

When she explained that it was a common phrase I immediately got worried for society. To my mind, who would ever fake their way to success and then double back to learn all the things they lied about knowing. More likely they would continue to fake it and just play politics to hide their numerous shortcomings.

23 years later, I think the "fake it to make it" generation has now matured and they fill management and senior leadership positions in offices around the country.

That's exacerbated by the chain reaction of B's hiring C"s and C's hiring D's.

[-]

Thestickleman@reddit

No one cares anymore which is fair enough. Especially when it's obvious you mean nothing at work and are just a replaceable number.

Why work hard when it often dosnt get you anywhere

[-]

Ok_Economist7901@reddit

in my experience (NHS) the higher you go the more meetings you go to and clip boards to take care of. The B5s are rushed off their feet, on the shop floor, trying to deal with ever more paper work to cover the trusts arse. Meanwhile the B7s are in an office shooting off emails, sorting out the staff raffles, making brews. Not saying it’s not stressful when the shit hits the fan but there are 4 of them, so the pressure is lessened. Before covid we had managers that cared, did clinical shifts, knew who the slackers were. Now they haven’t got a clue.

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Separate-Milk-7301@reddit

We as a generation need to think outside the box and start creating opportunities. Offices are saturated, people will take less than what you’re taking to do more . Hence the low wages and heavy expectation. There’s competition for jobs. I think the urban lifestyle is saturated . We need to promote another kind of lifestyle we’ve looked down on and forgotten. We have land , and finance but not the people. Everyone wants suits and computers front of them. I realise the work environment is now very toxic and unhealthy for the system . It’s not what it used to be. Agriculture isn’t glamorous, but there’s wealth lying ladden and Mother Earth is in need of love . Media has whipped the minds of many of us. Over consumption, no healthy lifestyle and overly comfort, to the point we have cooked food delivered at our doorsteps. I think that’s dangerous . This also messed up our desire to meet people , some of us don’t know our neighbours ! We don’t want to greet . It seen as wierd behaviour.

We can’t go back to those days, but we have a future we can look forward to for ourselves and the (kids) if we have any at this point.xx

[-]

LuHamster@reddit

UK work culture is really toxic and bad and I say this as someone who works in Japan and in a Japanese company. The last British company I worked for was horrible. The turnover was so high I counted in different departments, lower and upper management, 30+ people were fired or just quit in the 3 months I was there. Never again.

[-]

FirefighterKey9179@reddit

why do you think this? what’s particularly bad about british companies?

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LuHamster@reddit

Office policies so common, no concept of actual breaks is common (aka eating as your desk while working), overtime is so common but just accepted and people gaslight you into thinking it's normal. Poor pay, lack of bonuses or promotions. In a lot of fields they treat you as you should be grateful just to be working for the company.

I could go on but I've worked in 4 countries and UK work culture is so toxic.

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Cielo11@reddit

I do deliveries for EVRI as a side job.

Had over 25% pay reduction since 21'.

The only way to respond to that is to get rid of the parcels asap. Which creates the shitty service people see, I pay all the costs of running a vehicle than get crap pay for the effort. I know I'm getting scammed so why should I care about quality?

The company gives zero shit about service quality. All it cares about is an idiot like me turns up and removes a van load of parcels from the depot then dumps them somewhere at the addresses. Because then it's marked as successfull delivery and they can justify the money they make, But pay me pennies for doing it = huge profits.

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apple_kicks@reddit

I once got a good pay rise and it motivated me to work harder than before. I had real time reward and I could see future it would benefit. But if you do hard work and see no reward out of it you get depressed

Low wages, high cost of living, no retirement or home ownership. People go into a slump

[-]

rosstafarien@reddit

Employers stopped caring about employees. We are now in the "find out" phase of this experiment

[-]

audigex@reddit

Minimum wage minimum effort, babe

Admittedly I’m on more than minimum wage, and I do put in proportionally more effort

But fundamentally people don’t feel like the economy is working for them, their job barely seems to pay the bills etc

As a result, more and more people are checking out of the workplace. They turn up, do the minimum for get their pay, and go home

Working harder than the bare minimum isn’t rewarded, so why bother? I watch people all the time who work hard, go above and beyond, put the time and effort in… and then face the exact same redundancies when the company decides it needs even more massive profits next year

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Objective-Bad-4051@reddit

I was thinking the other day, that morale has largely followed a reduction in ironing clothes for work

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BrilliantPrudent6992@reddit

Who has time for ironing? Genuinely.

My partner and I are fortunate to have a cleaner who will clean the house a couple of hours a week. We realise how fortunate we are, and never take it for granted, but between our busy, often high pressure jobs, we honestly don't know how people have time for chores like ironing.

Between cooking, working, washing clothes, food shopping, and general life admin, we are both knackered by Sunday and just want to relax.

[-]

callisstaa@reddit

I fucking love ironing tbf. Put some chill tunes on and get straight into that flow state then before you know it all your clothes look great.

As far as Sunday activities go ironing is up at the top for me.

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Objective-Bad-4051@reddit

You have to make the time friend

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exhausted-pangolin@reddit

Seriously though like the other guy said. Back in the day social media or Internet wasn't a thing you could waste your time on.

Iron whole watching a TV show you don't care about, or for 20 mins before it's time to head to the pub.

Lots of dead time without the endless void of the internet to suck all your attention away.

I bet if you did a no phones and live-iplayer-only week you'd realise just how much time you do have when there's no other attention sink

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BrilliantPrudent6992@reddit

I don't have social media aside Reddit, and I probably watch an hour of a series 3-5 days a week. I don't have a TV licence.

You're right, I probably could find the time to iron, but it's not something I care about enough to want to do it. My clothes are never that creased and I WFH.

My point was I think generally, most people are more stressed and have less time availaabke.

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Wishmaster891@reddit

spend 20 mins less on reddit/social media. Sorted

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BrilliantPrudent6992@reddit

Don't own an iron, checkmate.

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Feeling_Pen_8579@reddit

I haven't wore a suit since Covid, usually a hoodie, jeans and whatever shoes I find.

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Objective-Bad-4051@reddit

You can always iron some bedding, or if it is a cold day, you can give your undergarments an iron.

[-]

mohawkal@reddit

The world is on fire, our leaders are corrupt and in some cases pedophilic rapists, inequality keeps increasing. Who cares about giving 110% anymore? For what? So some shareholder douchebags can get an extra bump in their windfall? Fuck that. I'll live my life and work can take what I care to give them.

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callisstaa@reddit

The big one is the cost of housing imo. If working hard doesn’t easily afford you somewhere to live then what’s the fucking point.

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Potential-Living-676@reddit

Box ticking.
Women YES
BAME YES

rather than quality and experience of individuals.

[-]

Left_Mushroom7592@reddit

Minimum wage minimum effort. Sorry not sorry.

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New_Line4049@reddit

With stagnant wages and increasing cost of living people dont feel valued anymore. Add to that theyre working harder (more hours, more responsibility etc) to make ends meet it leaves people burnt out. There'll have the impact you mention. Plus remote working dissolves the team spirit.

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CeeApostropheD@reddit

There's a "dead psychology" (for want of a better term) that exists at companies that I've never heard anyone describe before, so I'll give it a go, in what will likely be a messy post but let's try...

A company is born. The founders have all the ideas to make it work in their vision, so they recruit and train to make sure all functions and departments are working just so. The company is working exactly as per the handbook. The perks are all there, such as double time for overtime, "job and knock", time and a half for Sundays, ability to accrue annual leave over time, etc. Decades pass, owners die or sell, replaced by new owners who don't have the way of their company in their DNA. They see trained staff and assume it's a given, that that's how it will always be, so when layers of management (as with the owners) move on from the company, the way is lost even further because everyone assumes the machine just works, as it always has, with everyone trained and understanding. But it doesn't. The way gets lost, the correct training gets watered down to tickbox exercises, everyone is winging it, and it becomes a personality game, where all staff work in a reactionary fashion to the whims of the up-aboves, who are themselves doing the same thing all the way up to CEO level.

At various stages, long-serving staff decry the new culture, disillusioned and disbelieving that the way will ever return. They leave. The perks mentioned earlier are disappearing as the up-aboves don't see the value of them for the underlings they never see. New staff who recognised the excellence of their veteran colleagues understand how much bleaker it's about to become without the guiding lights; without the heavyweights. So they leave, fed up (among other things) of not being supported by the up-aboves to train the new staff to even their own by-now-limited vision. Eventually companies end up a direction-less husk of their former selves - nobody caring about the standards, nobody caring about proper training, nobody caring about the results, nobody caring about the spirit. A chain of staff and management so demoralised and distrusting of the spirit that it descends into a revolving door of staff coming and going, until it ultimately meets its demise. Because the last person/people who cared for and understood the business left long long ago.

Or something.

[-]

mata_dan@reddit

Yeah exactly this, it goes in cycles per company, and it's a particularly bad thing in the UK specifically but we can see parallels in some other countries like the US, Japan, South Korea.

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Realistic-River-1941@reddit

We are at the same place, aren't we?

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Wrong-booby7584@reddit

I see you've studied my organisation then?

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DigitalStefan@reddit

I left an employer that was initially fantastic, really had their shit together, had some smart, talented people working for them, paid decent wages and had a great culture.

Then they made massive blunder after massive blunder all because one co-founder couldn't see past his own ego.

Anyone with real talent left or was made redundant because they were being paid relatively well.

Toxic, incompetent, dishonest managers got hired, accelerating the exodus of talent.

RTO mandate ruined their much-touted "flexible employer" status as well as the greenwashing they occasionally attempted.

Gender pay gap invesgitation was loudly announced as a precursor to putting things right. It wasn't right after 12 months and they just didn't talk about it after that.

They bought every single one of their "industry awards".

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mata_dan@reddit

Yeah companies in the UK regularly go through that cycle, it's some kind of strange thing we tend to do. There's that, but it affects individual compainies differently, and there's a general overall malaise so I'm not sure which the OP has noticed.

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mata_dan@reddit

There is something going on, but, generally it feels like the way companies are run in the UK tends to lead them along 5-15 year cycles of getting screwed up then potentially recovering and then repeat.

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RikersPhallus@reddit

What scares me is this isn’t just random office jobs. It’s education, healthcare, law, hospitality, social care - industries where people’s lives are directly affected by the quality of work being done.

You’ve been to all these places. Have expertise in all of them. And you were able to do study at each place for a long enough time, and gather significant data to determine that they’re all as bad as where you work?

No wonder you get nothing done.

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DurgeDidNothingWrong@reddit

The search for stress on Google seems to show something.

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Kian-Tremayne@reddit

There have always been shit and/or lazy people. I’m speaking from three decades of experience here. The workforce has always had a range from the superstars to the unsung heroes to the competent and then ranging down through the mediocre (ok as long as nothing out of the ordinary puts them under pressure) to the ones who really need some help and ending up with the guy who inevitably is going to get fired but it hasn’t happened yet.

What may make things a bit worse now is the knock-on effects from Covid lockdowns. Working from home has a lot of benefits, but it also means people who were starting out at working the time missed a formative experience of working in an office and with a team around them.

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Ok-Measurement-1575@reddit

It was fucked long before lockdown.

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Ok-Measurement-1575@reddit

2014~ is when I first noticed it.

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Next_Sort_7473@reddit

I think covid and work from home has had a massive effect on people's motivation towards corporate office jobs. When you start spending more time at home with your family it gets harder to stay motivated for a meaningless office job.

This is my personal experience but I've definitely noticed a change in people's motivation since covid, and I've worked for 4 different companies since 2020. People seem to generally care less about work and younger generations even more.

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WarriorDerp@reddit

It's fucked mate. I don't think I know a happy bloke that isn't on sniff or stiring shit for the fun of it.

The managers are 2 faced lazy pricks, no one wants overtime, things constantly sent back by customers for the parts being fucked, 0 accountability, all the office staff consist of 4 families, some of the floor staff and manager too, the place is a fucking mess of wrap and banding, lift trucks pissing more oil than the saudi's, out-dated ventalation and extraction. To be honest, when i started I wanted to do everything, prove I could do well and actually keep the job, but fuck me does it grind you into the dirt.

But, it means i can feed, clothe and home the people I love.

[-]

GL510EX@reddit

My bonus this year was the smallest chocolate bar that Lidl sells, and a 1.5% pay rise.

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_rushlink_@reddit

The only time I've ever worked hard is when I've been needed.

People who want to work will do so if they have a purpose, without it they'll do the bare minimum and collect their paycheck.

[-]

TheSouthsideTrekkie@reddit

Chronic understaffing and under resourcing, tolerance of toxic management culture, lack of genuine opportunities for growth, wage stagnation, laissez-faire approach of senior leaders and number on a spreadsheet becoming the be all and end all regardless of your field.

Be honest, would you go to work every day if you didn't have to? I know I certainly wouldn't now, although even a couple of years ago I would have answere yes out of a sense of loyalty. People are seeing that work doesn't get them a secure standard of living, a decent quality of life and the chance of a decent future but you are expected to do what would have been 3 people's jobs years ago. Almost everyone I know is operating on a chronic level of burnout, there's only so long you can go before you start to check out.

I used to love my job, I am now looking for an exit. This has been hastened by toleration of a toxic manager by senior management. This person is a terrible leader, arrogant, narcissistic and has taken credit for ideas I have come up with, has been allowed to punish me for speaking out with converns, now gives me more work than is realistic and uses my disability as an excuse to blame me when I can't do what is realistically 3 people's job. After spending years trying to see the best in her and trying to just deal with her headgames I am done, and I have also lost respoect for people who know exactly what she is like and have the power to do something but don't because they want an easy life. If anybody ever tells you the third sector is a better place to wok don't believe them, we're just better at emotional blackmail.

Somethign has to give, and what is currently giving fastest is people's investment in a system that ultimately just uses them up and throws them away without offering them anything.

[-]

Prestigious_Risk7610@reddit

It won't be popular to say but we have massively diluted rewards and consequences - minimum wage is now the highest in the world as a share of median wage - we have the most progressive payroll taxes in the world (comparison between effective tax rate of low and high earners) - benefit support further closes the gap between pre and post tax incomes - whilst redundancy is pretty permissive, and employment tribunals are off-putting to claimants. It is also the case that termination for poor performance is pretty difficult outside of very measurable roles such as contact centre.

All this encourages doing the bare minimum. Why put effort in when the rewards are so weak. Sadly this spirals as it puts a big drag on productivity and that means limited cash available for pay increases...and what is available is mostly consumed by the above trend minimum wage increase.

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Chazzza23@reddit

I left my last job after new management came in and made it just a horrible place to be. Manager up their own arse, sitting in an office and leaving on days it gets busy, and slagging off and moaning about staff behind their backs. Why on Earth would I choose to work for this person?

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Logical_Classic_4451@reddit

The dickheads get promoted and the decent people get shafted. And what they pay isn’t enough for a decent life most of the time. They’ll replace you without thought whilst you give up most of your life for it… F ‘em. They are getting exactly what they deserve .

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Wrong-booby7584@reddit

This.

If you want to get promoted then ignore all problems and suck up to your manager. Never tell the truth to leadership if you want to get ahead

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fblthpthewise@reddit

People act their wage at work. Wages are shitty.

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Clit_Master69420@reddit

business school curriculums.

theyre churning out midlevel managers since 1990 or so, steeped in efficiency protocols.

optimization must be squashed, decisively & permanently.

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WildWanderingRedHead@reddit

I work in a team of excellent people who keep it all together. The problem is not the staff its the line managers and the senior staff who are hopeless at communicating, have questionable ethics, lie constantly and create toxicity.

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dbxp@reddit

I haven't seen that where I work.

I saw you mention education though and it's no secret that teachers have been slowly burning out for years. On the healthcare side the burnout from COVID and the lack of improvements during the recovery are well known. Some hospitality roles have always been reliant on low paid part time workers with just enough professionalism to stay employed.

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Orient666@reddit

The share of income (GDP) going to workers is low compared to history.

Assets are doing all the work, producing all the income and many people's jobs are glorified bean counters or PowerPoint admins. The wages reflect this.

If you work hard the marginal tax rate for a basic rate taxpayer with stufent loan is 37%

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Janko_Saurus@reddit

COVID - or more specifically Lockdown has had a massive part to play. Many people haven't recovered physically or mentally from having to isolate for so long. Many also are unaware that going through lockdown has had an effect on them.

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Content_Somewhere225@reddit

I love nostalgia. This reminds me of when i thought everywhere was falling apart, just before I realised it was always thus.

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flipflopcuntflaps@reddit

GET OUT with your measured informed opinion

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pajamakitten@reddit

It's an anecdote though. Their experience might not reflect the general consensus.

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flipflopcuntflaps@reddit

If there's one thing reddit does it is not reflect the general consensus

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Xelanders@reddit

There’s a long way for things to fall.

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Content_Somewhere225@reddit

It only feels like falling whilst you're accelerating.

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BubblySoil7965@reddit

Nope, you're right. It is happening pretty much everywhere. I thought it was just corporate but it's everywhere....it's terrifying, especially in healthcare.

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thewhowiththewhatnow@reddit

I’ve been working in the same place nearly 20 years. What you’re noticing is not a recent trend. Everywhere I worked before that had a good share of idiots.

You can only draw the water that’s in the well.

Not everyone is thick as fuck, but a lot of people are thicker than that.

Me, I’m just a regular idiot.

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WhalingSmithers00@reddit

This isn't new. The people who fucked about before you hung around long enough to be become managers and no's pretend they never did.

[-]

captainclectic@reddit

Since COVID, I feel like professionalism and standards have dropped off significantly. COVID was used as an excuse for a lot of things but it's become the new norm.

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surfrider0007@reddit

No point in performing for F-all in return is there!!?

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-fin_0@reddit

Everyone's too exhausted. Everything's too expensive.

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CuteAssociate4887@reddit

I've noticed for years,the people you think should be promoted get over looked and people who you wouldn't have guessed would ever get the promotion do get it.

That's happened in a few companies I've worked for in the last decade.

Also very few companies value their staff and generally there seems to be that attitude of if your not happy then go somewhere else,we will replace you easily.

On top of pay stagnating,companies coming up with excuses to not match pay rises with the cost of living so effectively your worse off year on year,yet somehow post increased profits,then release a memo or presentation to tell you all about it and thank you for your hard work effectively rubbing your nose in it,I can't say I'm surprised.

[-]

parallax3900@reddit

Between the crisis and the champagne - enjoy it

[-]

Sparknight@reddit

Minimum wage = Minimum effort.

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MemesSucks2@reddit

I think we're all just older and see it more. 80% of people at your workplace have always done not a lot, you just have to be somewhere a while to see it

[-]

Paradroid888@reddit

We've had a change of leadership at my place. To say the new guy has no vision is an understatement. It's just cost-cutting and getting rid of people. They are cutting back all sorts of benefits and generally enshittifying the experience to coerce people into leaving. We aren't overstaffed either, not by a long way. Then one guy handed his notice in and they tried to tempt him to stay with a big raise. It's so desperately broken.

[-]

Dave_Tee83@reddit

Incompetent management. Cutbacks, restructures, redundancies, meaning one person is now expected to do the work that three people used to do. All while year on year getting poorer due to wage stagnation and the squeezed middle. Meanwhile the people at the top just keep getting richer and squeezing the rest of us more and more. No job fulfilment. High stress.

Yeah standards, morale and professionalism are gonna go outta the window.

[-]

karkonthemighty@reddit

I've seen it plenty of times where people are told if they work real hard and put the overtime in, they'll earn a pay rise.

They never did.

It doesn't have to happen to too many people before word gets around and people don't bother anymore, working exactly the amount they are contracted to. All in all it guts morale and professionalism, but for one year they got a couple of employees being very available and working really hard.

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FactCheckYou@reddit

blame the greed of the executives for enshittifying everything

[-]

Diligent-Worth-2019@reddit

Gen Z entered and showed everyone you can get by without giving a flying fuuuuuu.

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Redditreallyannoysme@reddit

It's because the poles left and exposed how much they were covering for lazy incompetent Brits.

The competent Brits won't fill in for the idiots to the same degree.

[-]

AirconGuyUK@reddit

Past 4 years have been 0% pay rises. I am down in real terms almost 15% since 2019.

Of course I am apathetic.

[-]

AnAncientOne@reddit

It's not just the workplace, country feels screwed.

[-]

Avacado7145@reddit

Atrocious management. I’ve had managers that I ended up having to manage and tell them where they’re going wrong. Offices are shit. Pay is shit. The list is endless.

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Fancy_Arugula5173@reddit

Inflation has been crazy the last 5 years. Pay increases haven’t.

Only so many times people can receive under inflation pay rises whilst company’s post record profits and executives rain in fat bonuses before people lose motivation.

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Bitter_Excitement242@reddit

Money. Lack of.

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Correct_Elk2320@reddit

Yep no point in serving corpo interests only siphoning off profits.

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soggyarsonist@reddit

I think it's the long term consequences of understaffing and piss poor wages coming home to roost.

People are just tired

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BitterFootball4874@reddit

I’ve just joined a firm that acquired a smaller firm last year. There’s clearly a degree of animosity about the whole thing and for some reason they seem to be pushing me forward as some sort of mediator a month or so in. It’s not my job description (I’m senior but not that senior) and it’s starting to cheese me off. The points that are causing tension could be solved with just a bit of communication, but it really feels they could have solved a lot of it by now with just a modicum of effort

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Fraggle_ninja@reddit

If you are being pushed to fix something that’s perhaps isn’t your job and no one else wants to fit that could be corporate scapegoating.

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exhausted-pangolin@reddit

I've seen such immense, staggering entitlement from people in my company (remote).

It's just wild the way people expect things to work. Like they've forgotten it's a job with a contract, and not a fucking hobby.

"I no longer wish to continue discussing this issue with that person" ITS YOUR FUCKING JOB! Nobody was rude you just don't like being disagreed with

Or deciding you're just going to go and work in cafes all day every day, despite being ISO compliant and that being not allowed. Like, you wouldn't just up and leave an office to work in a cafe? What makes you think working anywhere but your home office is acceptable?

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Fraggle_ninja@reddit

Oh this is a good point! And yes there has been an absolute decrease in professionalism and think you’re correct - it’s because they don’t like being disagreed with or compromising. Sad and frustrating times.

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Fraggle_ninja@reddit

No one seems to do their job anymore - everyone just seems to do a bit of what they fancy, and it’s chaos. I thought it was just weak leadership at my place (of which there has been an exodus of leadership in the last year) or bad hiring because having skills and experience doesn’t seem to matter much and I think they hire on vibes. But maybe it’s not just my place.

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WholeAccording8364@reddit

It all started with people using " gotten"

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bahumat42@reddit

Social contract broken

Working hard doesn't improve peoples situation. People's pay barely covers the necessities let alone a luxury.

It grinds you down after a while.

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CanIhazCooKIenOw@reddit

"Computer says no" is a british stereotype that rings true.

I have been here for more than 10 years and what you describe is what I get for most services, public or private.

General apathy that has only been made worst with the recent cost of living crisis.

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argosafe@reddit

Yes, the decay in professional conduct technically and especially in management is palpable. The saying that People leave managers not jobs has never been more prolific. I've seen incompetence I never thought possible in the last three years. and it goes unpunished.

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xxxxxxxxxooxxxxxxxxx@reddit

Back when I worked in the public sector I found it extremely frustrating how impossible it seemed to get rid of people who didn’t even pretend to contribute anything.

I would be picking up the tasks of at least 2 of my coworkers and our team was constantly behind deadlines.

This was back in 2013.

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richbun@reddit

What is this BS about poor pay. When I was a kid we were lucky to get a week in Bournemouth as a holiday, drove around in a 12 year old shed car, wore hand me down clothes, played footy with a punctured ball, and Findus Pancakes were seen as a treat.

I love on one of the poorest areas around and everyone is away abroad at least once a year, leasing a brand new car, wearing brand new clothes, even if Shein, getting takeaways delivered often, getting their Turkey teeth and still got change for an iPhone and Sky sub.

You don't know you're born.

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MyDadsGlassesCase@reddit

I work in IT and I'm going to sound like my dad here but when you remove the requirement to look and act professional from the workplace then of course everything else is going to suffer.

Prior to lockdown I was in work 5 days a week, suited and booted. I had a Teams interview at the beginning of the year for a job at a legal firm and both of the panel turned up with t-shirts on (one was a Huel tshirt too). Two jobs ago my colleagues turned up to client Teams meeting in casual gear (not even smart casual).

I would have thought that it went without saying that when you are representing your employer you should be as professional and respectful as possible. I didn't take the job because if they can't be arsed to dress the sane way they expect of me then there's no mutual respect.

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jack5624@reddit

I have noticed no difference in quality. If anything the companies I’ve worked for have got better over time.

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Glittering_Vast938@reddit

What industry?

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jack5624@reddit

Finance

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highrouleur@reddit

Where I work we're just being cut to bare bones, people leave and aren't being replaced. We're taking on basic work from other sites because they haven't got the staff to perform at a minimal level.

Prizes are introduced supposedly to celebrate our best staff as a way of motivating people and they're to people that are widely known to be not well regarded.

We still carry on but we look at what's going on around the company and it's fucking embarrassing

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Waffle0calypse@reddit

It seems more and more one has to wear a lot more hats while working and getting paid to do a job that used to only take one.

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turdinabox@reddit

Where I work is utter chaos. Nobody can do simple things. Constantly having to ask for basic things repeatedly gets soul destroying

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Glittering_Vast938@reddit

Some of the managers at my workplace have no manners. Never a please or thank you. Things like this matter.

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Strong_Quiet_4569@reddit

They can’t do anything better though, because they think that belittling others is a perk of the job. They think that’s what power is.

The more they do it, the more vacuous they become, and the more they feel entitled to take their misery out on staff.

The younger generation doesn’t have a cost benefit to listening to David Brent talk shite.

People are nopeing out of that. Not worth putting up with someone else’s manchild.

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TrashLost3835@reddit

Remote working. Lack of critical thinking

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Terrible_Set3245@reddit

I work for a local authority within the social care sector. I’m honestly embarrassed about how poor our services are we offer and feel sorry for the vulnerable people in need we are supposed to be supporting. All senior management care about is a good CQC rating and staying within the shite budget set by executive leadership team from their ivory towers. Fuck my job.

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EchoMaterial5506@reddit

You worked in "Education, law, hospitality & social care" all in the last years?

Maybe your workplace has but I don't see how much can make such sweeping statements regarding other industries.

Smells like a bait post to me.

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