Full context: I work in a warehouse, and sometimes when fulfilling orders, my coworkers and I will chat for a minute or two. One of the leads walks down the aisle, “Are we just talking or doing work?”
Mind you we were discussing the projects my coworker missed last week.
A few hours later, same thing happened. Same freaking lead comes up and asks the same thing. We were discussing a baby shower we were throwing for our pregnant coworker on Friday At Lunch, at Work.
Now at the morning meeting, they say that we can’t be chatting “Cause it’s not being productive.” And anyone who doesn’t feel like being productive will be sent home.
Said managers and leads have no problem sitting for 30 minutes discussing football.
I know for some it may come off as us just screwing around killing time, but granted when working 8 hours with two 15 minute breaks and a lunch, you don’t actually have much time to do anything in that free time.
Ok vent over.

Stumbled onto this: https://paridoku.com

Fun game. Scratches the same itch as wordle. But for soduku.

We're relocating our office in the next few months and need to clear out a pretty large amount of furniture from our current space. Desks, chairs, filing cabinets, conference tables, basically everything. We'd love to donate or recycle what we can rather than just tossing it all in a landfill, but I'm honestly not even sure where to start with this process. I've never looked into it before.

Has anyone here dealt with office furniture liquidation or decommissioning services? I'm trying to find something affordable that won't eat into our already tight moving budget, but I also want to make sure we're being responsible about disposal. Would really appreciate any company recommendations or insights into what's a reasonable price range for this kind of thing. Located in the US btw. Thanks in advance!

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I come in only twice a week and the place smells like stinky socks. It's been an issue since the new guy started coming to work i thought maybe I'll come on days he's not at work but it turns out he comes to the office everyday and doesn't have a fixed schedule..

I know it's him cause the smell gets worse up close and it's a reprieve when he steps out on breaks or for lunch.

So far I come to the office early in the morning from 7 am and leave by 2 pm. He enters the building at 11 am so I'm actively avoiding staying long.

I don't think I'm close enough with my other colleagues to risk talking about him I don't partake in gossip as much either. Also add to the fact he's an Indian immigrant my comments might look racially charged.

Should I just pull the band aid and bring this to HR?

The office is really small with max seating capacity for 40 people. So I can't just move to another place. Our main office is miles and miles away.

How to survive in this Corporate Life? Is it normal to asking ? My energy already turn to negative energy.

Looking for better binder dupe alternatives, thanks!

"How many of you felt your soul leave your body when you realized Diwali is on a Sunday this year?"

How do you handle resistance to change when you're the one driving innovation?
I've been the person on my team who pushes new ideas to solve real problems. One of my projects delivered a clear win, and I thought it would open doors.
Instead, I've noticed a pattern. Every time I build something, I account for everyone's opinions and logic, but at end they will give completely new reason and it becomes a reason to push back. If I don't meet every expectation, the feedback becomes "your tool is not helping us, so we cant use.

I have heard repeated comments that you are not showing big success story.

Recently, colleagues replicated the same ideas using AI, and the same outcome is now accepted with the comment "you can't expect 100%." That's a standard I was never given.
Their idea is being passed as breakthrough.

I know favouritism and double standards exist everywhere, and I'm not trying to change that.

What I want to learn is how to steer through it. I am doubting my own talent/credibility now.

I'm drained and considering quitting, but i don’t have any other skill to survive. I need time to plan this. Meanwhile i want to keep my confidence and. Skill sharp.

I have recently been dealing with some people in my organisation that I barely know. Many of these people have little pictures of themselves on their work E-mails. I notice that, amongst the people that I am dealing with anyway, the men tend to look like they do in the office. The ladies select photographs taken when they were so impossibly glammed up that I don't know who they are. Is this normal ?

The title says it all. I cannot for the life of me find tri-panel folders that I can customize completely. I don’t want to just add a logo. I’ve check company folders and am waiting on a quote, but other than that, there’s nothing!

Number of pockets doesn’t matter as long as there’s at least one.

If this matters to you all, the folders are for sellers when they list their house with us. We want to add FAQs and “how to” stuff. Just basic info on a folder where they will keep all important selling-related docs for their convenience. I’ve been designing a two panel folder on vistaprint but they only have two panels. We are in need of three. Price is not a huge concern.

Please help! I would love to know if y’all have any recs or know of anyone that can do this!

1. Me gustaría saber los intereses de las personas que trabajan en oficinas o en horarios de oficina. Actualmente pasamos mucho tiempo sentados detrás de un ordenador/computadora y no tenemos tiempo para salir a hacer nuestras compras. Con esto me refiero a salir a buscar un regalo para el cumpleaños de un compañero, el adorno que "nos toco" para el próximo festejo de la oficina, tener todo lo necesario para una cena romántica en una sola caja, etc. Entonces, que les gustaría o les facilitaría encontrar en una plataforma de compras por Internet como Amazon, Mercado libre, tik tok, etc. para ese tipo de eventualidades si todo el día estas en la oficina?

So I’m 3 months in my new job in Lithuania, company is a marketing agency without actual owners, ceo, stakeholders in Lithuania. Company really never talks to its owners which are in New York. I’m junior media buyer and we are team of 30people, we have managers of different roles and one team lead which is our head. That’s a short intro where I work.
So I feel weird that I’m working for minimum wage for 3 months and then it should increase but I’m getting sick of paying for every present to team members. Team lead wants to gift a present for employees when they are new to work, when they go out of work, when it’s their birthday and that’s crazy cause in 3 months there was like 10 birthdays, 10 leaves and 14 new employees. Every time I have to give 15-20$ to gift fund. How do I say no, what do I do, or am I crazy and that’s normal? And they buy the person some expensive ass bottle of champagne or some experience gift. Pls help

i was working in an IT company for 2.5 years before getting laid off. the last 6 months was hell.

the first 2 years were really good, my manager was friendly, understanding, nice, i was able to interact with her without any inhibitions, i was allowed to speak freely etc. i had a good connection with all members of my team, especially with my manager who was a clear extrovert and conencted with everyone at the office. All was fine, then suddenly one day, out of nowhere, my manager was yelling at the call. so much that i became so upset that in the next week's team lunch outing, i became silent and withdrawn. By the end of the lunch, she personally asked me why i was so silent and if anything was wrong to which i politely said im fine. then she said that her behavior in the last week was upsetting she would apologize to which i politely said it was fine and not a problem. and she was being nice as usual so i was like this might have been an one off incident.

i thought she realised her mistake but then the very next week, the same behavior continued and she started becoming too critical of my work. i gave my 200% but still there was no positive response, only neutral or more critical response if not yelling. since she was very positive and nice for 2 years almost, i genuinely believed that i was at fault but this continued for 3 months before i realised there was something wrong with her and I found that one day after meeting with her superior, she immediately called me into a meeting and started becoming critical and arrogant.

i realised at the moment that i was her punching bag. the whole team felt the change of her behavior and became more formal and less casual to her, but i was the one taking maximum damage. i was not the best performer, i was average and doing the frontend bugs that nobody bothered to fix, kind of like low level jobs in software terms. there was another person who was doing worst as well so i was not the worst performer either. i was assigned the entire responsibility of frontend although it was not that complex like backend. my manager suddenly started being critical that i didnt know enough backend, to which i did my best and showed progress but she didnt respond positively.

i was also managing an offshore team and she started demanding more progress from them as well. coming to my story i became distant, never spoke casually, avoided her, even asking help professionally. i asked it from another person who was actually nice and the nicest person i ever met in my life. mind you this was in 2023 end and when layoffs were peaking and i was scared that talking back would eventually get me fired.

i also found some new change in other employee behavior and one person literally started bootlicking my manager and i was surprised. i thought he was a person with integrity. but he survived. day by day the constant nagging at team meetings continued. one time when i called her to ask a question, she was like " what do you want?" in an angry and dismissive tone and at the end yelled " now go " like she was dismissing a dog. i felt insulted.

at lunch hour, people from all teams gather and discuss over the meal. i never participate in it coz i found my manager was gossipy and her best friend who was a manger in another team was too much toxic and i hated the convos as they dominated the topics and most of the time it was negative and hate propaganda against their superior. i avoided the lunch meetings with the excuse that i eat my lunch late and i am a late sleeper so i eat all meals later than usual. i also buy lunch from outside many times so i wasnt expected to sit at the lunch gossips.

one fine day as i was passing them, avoiding any contact with my manager, she shouted " cant you see we are all here!" in front of everyone. i was shocked, and i didnt want to start a conflict, so i stated silent. this was during the 2nd last month of my job. at that time the very thought of her gave me irritation. one day i was running on the treadmill and i saw a notification on my phone from her and i literally felt a wrench and knot in my gut because i was too irritated at her!

that night she was asking for a help from a team member and it was at night. usually i would be the first one to respond late at night but if not others will respond too. but that night nobody responded and i too wanted to ignore but since my situation was precarious i thought maybe helping her would actually cut some slack and i responded half an hour late. the next day in the stand up meeting, she said she was disappointed in everyone that nobody responded.

the week before my firing happened, she was at peak micromanagement. she asked me to solve a problem regarding an issue and i was immediately on it. when i think i usually look out of the window as it is my habit. for that, she asked to look into my screen to think. i got agitated. then during the same meeting, as i was solving the problem i was asked to solve, another problem was being discussed and i was not focusing. then she asked my why i wasnt taking noted on this problem as well to which i replied agitatedly and surprised " you just told me to solve the first problem how can i do 2 things at the same time?". then for the entire meeting she kept mum to me. that was the first time i got a little courage to talk back as i was too pressurised and realised maybe i can safely talk back to make her shut up. mind you i didnt yell or abuse or do anything. that same day i made up my mind to look for another job. i was exhausted. i started to leetcode. mind you i also started doing leetcode a month back but the work pressure was so much i couldnt continue. but now i was determined.

the next week she was on vacation and i was fired at that time. the person who fired me said the call has been made afer discussion with my manager. and the following month, the poorest performer was also fired.

If you have made this far, please tell me what i could have done and in future what should i do to avoid being in such situations?

Day 1 Job 1. I was 21. My manager was trying to teach me something. I was sitting in my chair and she was behind me. My elbow touched her breast. I didn't move my elbow as I don't want to acknowledge it. I was acting as if nothing happened and was listening to her for 5 minutes without moving. And I know she knows that my elbow touched her.... The manager was 27. Respect the age gap and please don't find any sexual angle.

Dear behno/ girls lemme know how you want to be deal in such case. I'm an introvert and if I had said sorry to thora awkward ho jaata.

I am an office assistant. The office I work in doesn’t have facilities to host families in general much less those with juvenile children. Last Friday, at 9 am, I was assigned to monitor 2 families; 4 people total. One family had a 10 year old child and the other had a one year old child. The assignment was initially supposed to be shared between me and another employee, but the other employee was absent, so I ended up covering it alone in the employee break room. The one year old understandably cried and screamed for extended periods throughout the day. Screaming children are a specific stressor for me.

Throughout the day, I communicated with supervision regarding the families' needs and also requested and received a 30 minute break. A couple of coworkers checked on me, verbalized that I seemed unhappy/not okay and asked if I needed anything, and I asked whether anyone was willing to swap assignments. Nobody did, and no relief was provided until 3:30pm when 2 coworkers were assigned together saying they were covering until 4pm. Both relieving coworkers were unassigned.a s. available to assist after lunch.

At one point, the supervisor approached me and questioned my "attitude" while I was still in the room with the families. I explained that the environment was extremely stressful for me and that I had to take medication. Later that evening, I ended up having a break through panic attack.

What has me concerned is that there seems to be a broader workplace narrative that I have an "attitude". Coworker AA openly says they don't like me but cannot identify any specific interaction where I said something inappropriate, only that AA doesn’t like the way I talk to people. The supervisor has commented. “I don’t know what’s going on between you and AB”, I do not personally have a problem with AB however I am aware AB has told people to forget everything I’ve taught them and repeats that “[I am] a liar, and I don’t do liars.” When asked, there is no example of what I am lying about.

There was also an odd comment from the supervisor, who said she was surprised by my attitude "considering all the drama from the last few weeks." When I asked what drama she was referring to, she said, "Never mind."

I recognize that I was visibly stressed that day. I was not cheerful and was stoic. I was not at my best. However, I did communicate my needs, requested assistance, stayed late on the assignment, and completed it.

If you were a supervisor or manager:
•Would you view my behavior as an attitude problem?
•Should I have handled the situation differently?
•How would you respond if an employee appeared stressed but still completed the assignment?
•Is it reasonable to ask people to identify specific behaviors rather than discussing vague concerns about "attitude"?
•I'm genuinely looking for honest feedback, including feedback that disagrees with me. I'm trying to figure out whether I'm missing something.

For women working demanding jobs, I’m curious about how you manage your energy and health alongside your work commitments.

Have you ever had a day full of meetings, deadlines, or important presentations when you were dealing with fatigue, poor sleep, period symptoms, or just feeling physically off?

A few questions:

• Has this happened to you recently? What was the situation?
• Do you plan your workday differently when you know you might not feel your best?
• Do you use your calendar, a health app, notes, or anything else to manage this?
• Would knowing in advance that tomorrow might be a particularly demanding day change how you prepare? If so, how?

I’m especially interested in what people actually do today, rather than what they think they might do.

Would love to hear your experiences!

For context, I'm just starting what's essentially a secretary job (don't wanna get into details tbh but I'll say that the place has around 10 employees and they're pretty tight knit) and i was wondering if it'd be too bad or inappropriate to show up to work with a wig now and then. Definitely not now or any time soon since tomorrow is gonna be my first day and i wanna get integrated into the office and get into the rhythm of things for now. But some time in the future, if i have a bad hair day and i know for sure i won't be meeting with anyone important that day, would it be acceptable to wear a natural color wig? Obviously no crazy colors or styles, but i have one long black wig I've been trying to style (never worn it out yet) and it's obviously different from my natural hair, which is brown and currently really short. I'm genuinely asking, this is my first job ever so idk

I worked on an IT help desk at a university for about a year. Every week I'd help someone who was stressed because Outlook stopped syncing, a file got shared with the wrong people, or they couldn't find a Teams meeting link five minutes before it started.

What stuck with me is that most of them weren't bad with computers. They were just never shown how these tools work. They got a laptop on day one and were expected to figure it out.

Now I'm curious how common that is outside a university, like in an office, hospital, or anywhere.

1. What tech thing at work frustrates you or slows you down the most?

2. When it happens, how do you usually deal with it?

Not selling anything, just trying to learn. Even a one-line answer helps!

Recently, I attended two interviews that made me think twice about the organizations I might be joining. In both cases, the people who left me with a negative impression of the organization were the HR professionals themselves.

Let me narrate the two incidents.

Incident 1

I received a call from an organization looking for someone to head its Corporate Communications vertical. My interview was scheduled with the Head of HR.

I assumed he would ask me about my professional background and share the company's expectations for the role. However, he started asking me questions about Corporate Communications. Apart from one question, most of his questions were irrelevant to my profile, and he seemed to be trying his best to come up with questions about a domain he had little knowledge of.

The irony was that he was questioning a subject matter expert.

Within 15 minutes of the interview, he had given me a clear impression of his own understanding of the subject, while also offering me a sneak peek into the kind of organization I might be joining.

I would have appreciated being interviewed by someone with at least a basic understanding of the profile. That would have made the discussion more meaningful and productive for both parties.

Interactions like these can adversely affect an organization's brand value, especially when the HR team is the first point of contact for prospective employees.

Why wasn’t my reporting manager part of the interview, when he or she would know the role and its requirements better than anyone else?

Incident 2

An HR professional from another company called me and asked me to share certain documents, such as brochures and newsletters, from my current organization.

I was taken aback by the request. I politely told the HR professional, "I'm sorry, but I'm not authorized to share these documents for my personal benefit, as they are the property of my organization."

However, the HR professional insisted that the documents were needed to show her boss, who would shortlist candidates based on them.

I asked her a simple question:

"Would you allow your employees to do the same when they attend an interview with another organization?"

The answer was silence.

Based on these interactions, I decided not to join either of these organizations, as the interviews themselves raised questions about their clarity regarding the role and its expectations.

I am not sure whether my decision was right or wrong. However, I believe we cannot afford to ignore the early warning signs of a workplace we are considering joining. Sometimes, the things we overlook during the interview process become the very reasons we start looking for another opportunity soon after joining.

An interview is not just an opportunity for an organization to evaluate a candidate; it is equally an opportunity for the candidate to evaluate the organization.