our office switched to hot desking about 3 months ago and I really don't think it's working.

the pitch from leadership was pretty simple. They said we don't need assigned desks for everyone since not everyone's in every day, so why pay for space that sits empty half the week. Fine, makes sense on paper, right?

but in practice it feels like the savings mostly just got pushed onto us. People camp out to book desks right as they go live and always hog the best ones for themselves.

If you're in on a busier day you're stuck with wherever's left, which is mostly just a weird corner nobody wants. People also book out a desk for the entire day and then come in for just a couple of hours, like what's even the point of that?

Anyways, I want them to get rid of it, but before I pitched that idea, I wanted to know if anyone here faced this problem, and how you solved it. Any help is appreciated, thank you!

Last week, I hit my spending limit because I had paid a lot of bills. My card wouldn't work because of it, and I only had $8 in my wallet. At the time, I didn't know you could call the bank and have them extend your spending limit.

However, there was a store that had a lunch special: half a chicken with rice, beans, and a drink for $7.50. That was good enough for me.

When I got back to work, I put my plate on the table, and then the owner walked in and reminded me about some supplies in the storage room that I needed to inventory. I went to do it, which took maybe 10 minutes.

When I walked back into the break room, another employee was eating my food.

Of course, I was pissed. All he could say, and he sounded like a little kid when he said it, was, "I thought you left it for me."

I told him, "Did I say to you that this was for you?"

Once again, all he said was, "I thought you left it for me."

This wasn't even the first time he'd eaten another employee's food.

The owner overheard the whole thing and told him to go to the store and buy me another lunch. Of course, he said he didn't have any money.

The owner ended up lending me $20 so I could buy lunch, and he sent the guy who ate my food home for the day.

So, somehow, my $7.50 lunch turned into a full-blown workplace investigation, a $20 loan, and someone getting sent home.

Of course, the CEO has to be smart so that he makes informed decisions quick.

But the C suite where I work make such a brouhaha about always having to work >60 hr/week, and I find it hard to believe them.

My boss retired, I applied for the position as well as the other person with my same title in the department. We were under her in the structure. Neither of us got the job, a newer staff member in a different department did. We’re talking about her onboarding and I feel like if I didn’t get the job I shouldn’t train the person who did. Is that wrong? Am I being immature about it?

I've been working at this job for almost 2 years now and have always had pretty consistent shifts. For the past few months, I've only been given about 2 shifts per week (5 hrs/shift) while all the other shofts are going to the new hires. Not too long ago, they didnt schedule me for a single shift for 2 whole weeks. My dad invited me to go on a work trip with him to make some money. The thing is, he is leaving in 10 days. Is that enough notice to for this job?

Hi Guys,

I am new at a company and my coworker wants a ride to the airport at 5am meaning I have to wake up at 4am.

It seems unnecessary and he should just take an Uber since it's so early. But Im new and also I know its common for coworkers to drop each other off but this seems a bit extreme.

How would you deal with it?

At my company NO ONE uses cameras for virtual meetings. When we have meetings with external people, I notice they always have cameras on, and sometimes even make comments about ours being off.

Just curious if my work is the odd one for not making us use our cameras? Or do many not make them?

My boss has a 1-1 scheduled with me today. Wants to check in with me.

We have recently laid off a lot of key people and as a result workload has tripled for everyone, which means stress has tripled for everyone.

There’s some things I’d like to say if asked to be totally honest but I don’t know if I can, lest I end up on a termination shortlist. I have zero intentions to insult my boss as he is not the problem here but I (among others on my team) really need to vent.

Trust in the top leadership in this org is at an all time low and many of us are talking about walking all around the same time after helping each other quietly find jobs elsewhere.

How honest are you in 1-1s with your boss when you have those? How open and truthful do they want or expect you to be?

There are so many people talking about productivity hacks, optimizing your work day and career, and especially now, automating things with AI, but I'm very curious what the first thing people do every day when they start work. Or maybe the first few things if its a certain process.

Obviously, computers have an operating system, but I'm curious what the human the layer of the operating system is on top of this.

Do you open Slack and look at their messages? Do you open their browser and go to your company's messaging platform or your email? Do you open Claude/ChatGPT?

Maybe people don't discuss this much because it seems obvious and mundane, but hopefully if we get enough responses, it could lead to an interesting thought experiment or reflection for the community.

I had a pretty good relationship with a few coworkers at my last company. On my last day, I even took the ones I was closest to out for dinner at a nice restaurant. They all said things like, "Let's keep in touch."

About a month or two after I started my new job, I texted them just to say hi and see how they were doing.

None of them replied.

I wasn't asking for anything or trying to meet up.I was literally just saying hi. I found it really strange because we got along well at workplaces.

Has anyone else experienced this? Do people just move on that quickly after someone leaves a company?

I've noticed now that I've been working a bunch, that the older generation seemily never want to use their sick leave, no matter how sick they are. I'm fairly young at 30 compared to many at my work, and I actually use mine when I'm sick, that's what its there for. That being said I do try not to waste it. Just wondering why the older generation rufuse to use their sick leave?

One lady at my work was pregnant and having some complications, and was taking a bunch of leave and some of the older ladies were quite ugly, saying that pregnancy isn't an illness. To me it just seems stupid to risk the health of your child

I had one of those moments this week where I realized we're still doing things that would've felt really weird in 2019.

A coworker was sitting in the office... on a Teams call... with three other people who were also in the same building.

Nobody questioned it. It was just normal.

Then I started noticing a bunch of other habits that seem to have quietly stuck around:

• Calendars packed with 15- or 30-minute blocks.
• Slack messages replacing conversations that would've happened at someone's desk.
• Someone joining a meeting remotely because they're on a different floor and it's somehow easier.

It's interesting because some of these changes genuinely made work better, while others just became "the way things are."

What's the workplace habit that became normal after COVID that you don't think is ever going away?

I don’t really struggle with the workout itself. Thirty or forty minutes of training feels completely manageable.

What I struggle with is everything around it.

Finish work, commute home or to the gym, change, find parking, wait for equipment, train, shower, travel again — suddenly a 40-minute workout can take a pretty big chunk out of the evening.

That’s made me seriously understand the appeal of having a basic home gym. Not because I need every machine imaginable, but because being able to start immediately could turn a 90-minute commitment back into an actual 40-minute workout.

For people working full time, what has actually worked for you?

Morning workouts, going straight after work, a nearby gym, training at home, or something else?

I don’t have any other travel for the next few months. So I took the day after having a hard evening to do some much needed housework and relaxing. Anyone else do this?

I (25F) made my 3 months yesterday at a new office job I really like. Problem is, I'm really shy. My supervisor encouraged me that I ask a "crazy or interesting" question during our meeting today, for team building. An ice breaker to start a fun conversation or debate. She will ask me after she announces to the team that I made the full 90 days (meaning I'm officially a part of the team).

She gave examples like "Who would you rather fight, a shark or a lion?" And "If you were a talk show host, which celebrity would you want to interview first?" Or "Is a hotdog a sandwich?" Stuff like that.

So our meeting is in an hour and a half and I researched last night some questions but couldn't find anything that didn't sound cringy or lame. She says she's gonna ask me in front of everyone in the meeting, which usually consists of 30 or more people at once. Do you guys have any ideas of what I can ask that won't embarrass me? 😅

I saw things like "Do you have a hidden talent, and can you show it?" Or "Who would survive the longest in a zombie apocalypse?" Or "If you were a fruit, which would you be and why?" I just don't know. Please help!!

Edit: Okay so we just got notice that our meeting was moved to NEXT week Wednesday, and it's no longer for today... here I was thinking I only had 30 minutes left lol. It's not an emergency anymore but it looks like I have a week more to prepare! Thank you so much everyone for all of your responses! I have 3 top favorites so far. 😊

UPDATE: https://www.reddit.com/r/work/s/luCIbSdx3b

Link to my update above if you're interested!

Every single time I head to the break room and start to heat up my lunch, someone always asks what I’m having. Sometimes not even in the break room. I’m confused.

This is a new gig and my previous job was strictly remote for the past 4 years. It could just be a polite way to strike up a conversation. It annoys me for some odd reason.

Maybe working from home for so long has ruined my office social skills.

Edit: Small talk is the fucking worst. I don’t want to have the same conversations every day. I’m looking for remote gigs currently as office culture is clearly not for me. Seems like I offended some.

.

I used to work with someone (I'll call him Steve) who had a very unusual approach to employment.

Steve openly admitted that he hated working and had developed a strategy around it. He would work jobs, eventually leave or get fired, collect unemployment, and use that time to live his life before repeating the process.

The interesting part is that he wasn't financially reckless. While employed, he lived extremely frugally and saved money. Because of that, when he was unemployed, he could actually enjoy the time off instead of immediately struggling. He has reportedly maintained this approach for around 40 years.

He was not someone who just couldn't hold a job. He was deliberately choosing a different path because he valued free time more than career advancement.

I'm curious how people in the workplace view this.

Is this:

• someone who found a way to optimize their life around what they value?
• someone who is taking advantage of employers and unemployment systems?
• somewhere in between?

Would you consider someone like this clever, irresponsible, or something else?

Edit: To the people asking about health insurance: When he's employed, he gets insurance through work. When he gets fired, he gets low-cost health insurance from the state.

Edit 2: Fun fact, sometimes he wouldn't get fired. At some jobs, where they weren't doing good business, he would volunteer to be laid off. He gets a generous severance package, the unemployment benefits, and guaranteed a good reference.

Union job, great pay, lots of PTO. Mandatory 2 days in office.

Our secretary told the VP she has nothing to do on those days and offered to be "available if tasks come up" as a pitch for full WFH. VP said no. Rules are rules.

But she said it out loud. She framed it as flexibility… isee it as admitting she's redundant. She should have kept up appearances, stretched her few tasks, and only confessed if caught. Instead she gave leadership a reason to watch her and remember her name when cuts happen.

She got nothing and lost her cover. Am I wrong for thinking that was stupid?

I am curious what everyone considers a genuine red flag at work 'not the obvious stuff, but the little things that seemed normal at first and eventually made you realize something was seriously off.What happened?

Might be a dumb question but I feel lost in this field.

I'm 20 years old also not a very feminine women. Recently though I've been needing to get involved in settings where business attire is most professional. Though I wear the correct attire I find the lack of makeup tends to make me look less professional compared to the other women in the field.

I've come to the conclusion at the very least I ahould probably have a more strict skincare routine. I'm wondering if I should be actually considering getting out my comfort zone and using makeup?

It used to be common for people to stay in the same company for a long time. I'm an older millennial and I remember early in my career when job-hopping as seen as a bad thing - it was associated with someone being unstable, unable to keep a job.

But now, 2 years in, you ask for a raise and only get 5%? Start looking for another job. New boss is a jerk? Leave. Got passed up for a promotion? The only way to get that promotion is by updating your resume and going to your employer's fiercest competitor.

Asshole bosses have always existed. Office politics have always been challenging. People pulling the rug from under your feet has always been a thing. So, what changed? Did people try harder to get along in the past? Or take more shit in order to keep a job?

Not the obvious “bad boss” answer. I mean the little things that slowly make you realize you are done.Could be pointless meetings, no room to grow, being constantly understaffed, terrible communication, or realizing the job is just not worth the pay anymore. What was the final straw for you?

What’s something everyone at your job treats as normal but secretly drives you crazy?

Let's say you work in an office, and your coworker works on the production floor. He drives about 30 minutes to work and is already quitting next Wednesday. You heard management saying they were going to let him go today. Would you text/call him and let him know?