Hindsight is 20/20, particularly when looking at an entire armada of red flags, but when we are young, we often lack the experience to really understand what is what. And unfortunately, unscrupulous managers and bosses see impressionable young people as a gold mine of cheap labor.

One man detailed the time he let a friend talk him into a part-time job which turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. From unclear work times to time off being denied, the job was filled with a kaleidoscope of poor communication, exploitative practices, and the sort of pressure from the boss that some readers said reminded them of a cult.

Some jobs get worse the longer you stay at it

Image credits: Mental Health America (MHA) (not the actual photo)

A man shared the time he was invited to a gig only to learn just how dysfunctional the company was

Image credits: Sora Shimazaki (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Flo Dahm (not the actual photo)

OP shared some other details after readers wanted to learn more

Image credits: u/Whidog

A bad boss can make a functional business a disaster

Image credits: energepic.com (not the actual photo)

After some time in the job market, more experienced workers will begin to realize that certain positions absolutely rely on high turnover as a way to weed out workers who actually make demands and might want to be fairly compensated. The sad truth is that there is a subset of people who either need whatever payment they can get or do not know any better and will simply allow themselves to be exploited. If you have perhaps been living under a rock, then it’s important to make it clear now that many managers do not really have moral difficulties exploiting workers and, indeed, many positions positively incentivize it. Many positions will come with nice bonuses if the manager manages to cut costs and this tends to come at the expense of the time, energy, and mental facilities of the employees. Worker protection laws don’t exist because some bosses might be randomly sadistic, but without them, there is really no reason why a business wouldn’t try to squeeze every penny out of a person.

Of course, often enough, this sort of dysfunction is also a result of poor management. Despite the “obvious” fact that the person at the top and making decisions should be the most skilled and experienced, reality shows that often enough they are clueless at best and cruel at worst. Just the act of being promoted can be a catalyst for this sort of behavior. Being chosen to be the boss can lead to an inflated sense of self, which ends up simply leading to the person being less aware of mistakes and flaws and more likely to disregard advice. It also creates a “vertical” distance between the tasks and the boss themselves, leaving them less aware of what is actually going on. OP was in a strange spot, as his friend seemed to believe that this company was working as intended and not a disaster in the making, but in most cases, a toxic boss mistreating one employee will lead to worse conditions across the board, as other workers learn what to expect.

Toxic managers often attempt to hide their own flaws and incompetence

Image credits: Pavel Danilyuk (not the actual photo)

Now, a truly clueless and pompous boss is one thing, but some are well aware of their failings. This gap between ability and expectations often leads to certain managers being deeply defensive as they lash out at others to mask the fact that they do not really know what they are doing. Despite their best efforts, most people, OP’s friend excluded, can pick up fairly quickly when the person at the top is a moron. It’s not surprising that over half of US workers that left a job of their own accord cited terrible managers as one of the most important factors. A good boss can as easily make a company as a bad one can break it. The aforementioned study also found that compounding dissatisfaction with “less-than-ideal work environments” was another important factor in employee turnover. While this phrase is pretty vague, it’s not hard to see all the ways a boss or manager can easily make a work environment significantly less than satisfactory.

OP was right to bail on this job as soon as the red flags became too glaring. Three days may have been a bit long, but some people spend years in toxic work environments, ultimately suffering from burnout, PTSD, and worse. On the other end of the spectrum, many businesses need to seriously evaluate how they pick and assess manager effectiveness. Studies show that three out of four resignations in the US could have been prevented if the company took timely action. This might not matter to businesses that rely on exploitation, but even “respectable” companies will often acknowledge the fact that employee satisfaction is directly connected to productivity, then do nothing to promote it. So ultimately it’s up to employees to take a sober look at the job and figure out if they want to stay on.

He also answered some questions

Most thought he was lucky to only spend three days “on the job”

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