Unfortunately, it’s never surprising anymore to hear about employers treating their employees like they are expendable. We’ve covered many stories about bosses being unreasonable, acting delusional, or perpetuating the idea that we only live to work, but I have to say, this situation is a new one. Time and time again, ignorant bosses have to learn the hard way that treating employees horribly will always backfire, but I have never seen a manager sabotage their place of work quite like this. It’s truly a masterpiece!

Below, you can read the full message that was sent to a staff of dive bar employees, and later shared on the Antiwork subreddit, as well as an interview with Matt, the man who shared these screenshots online to call out the toxic manager. Let us know your thoughts on this situation in the comments, and if you have ever had to deal with a termination-happy manager like this, we would love to hear how you and your colleagues responded. 

One manager has recently gone viral for sending his employees an abrasive message about the status of their employment

Image credits: Jorge Zapata

Image credits: Mattias504

We reached out to Matt, the man who shared these screenshots on Reddit in the first place, to gain some more insight on the situation. “I am friends with the owners of the restaurant connected to and also managed by the same bar manager,” Matt told Bored Panda. “It was wild for me to watch such an awful mess unfold so publicly.” We also asked if he knew what happened after these messages were sent out. “From what I understand, the manager got away with it, and the bar is shut down. All of the bands and pop up food scheduled have cancelled. The manager is being bought out of his partner owner status in the previously mentioned restaurant.”

When asked if he thinks it’s common for managers to treat their employees like this, Matt told us, “Employees being treated as an expendable resource was very common before Covid. Now, the smart operators value their staff and do what they can to make work sustainable. With shortages everywhere, you cannot afford the constant turn over.” Lastly, Matt added that his post was intended to garner support for the Banks St. Bar staff. “New Orleans came out in full support and essentially ‘cancelled’ the managers that are responsible,” he shared. “Only time will tell what happens with the bar.”

The local resident who shared these screenshots kept the conversation going in the comments

It is interesting to see messages like this from the manager of a bar because nowadays, most employers are doing everything they can to cling to their best employees. Amidst the Great Resignation of 2022, one fifth of workers plan to quit their jobs, and many employers complain about how “nobody wants to work”. (The reality is that nobody wants to work under awful conditions, but some employers have no self-awareness…) Wouldn’t it make more sense to incentivize these bartenders to work harder by providing raises, bonuses and better benefits, so they don’t start thinking about going somewhere else? Shutting down the bar, conducting interviews, training an entirely new staff and taking the time to get the bar back up to working full capacity would be a massive inconvenience, not to mention how much money it would cost the business. 

Even if some of these employees were satisfied with their positions prior to this incident, it is very unlikely they would want to stay now. Being told that you are expendable and being treated without any respect does not encourage anyone to work harder. It pushes workers to go find another place of employment where they will be treated and compensated fairly and have actual job security. In fact, although most workers who intend to quit their jobs in 2022 are hoping to earn more money, over two-thirds of them also want to find more fulfillment in their jobs. And it is not very fulfilling to be tossed aside and have to beg for your job back when you had been working their already with no issues.

It is crazy how quickly power can go to people’s heads. If this manager had thought logically about the consequences of firing an entire staff, they likely would have realized how ridiculous that is. But now, I’m sure they are regretting their actions, either due to being ridiculed online or for having 0 employees show up for their “re-interviews”. I sincerely hope none of you pandas out there have had to deal with managers like this before, but if you have, let us know how you navigated that situation. Did you quit to find a job elsewhere, or was that manager eventually given a taste of their own medicine and terminated from their job? And finally, if you have a little bit of cash to spare and are interested in helping out the employees who wrongfully lost their jobs at Banks St. Bar, there is currently a fundraiser for them happening online right here.        

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