Woman Calls out Managers for Making Employees Stay Back Late; Her Views Resonate With Netizens

Toxic and stressful work cultures across offices in the US are a result of the corporate urge to maximize profits by encouraging employees to hustle, at the expense of their personal lives. It is ridiculous as well as inhuman how managers keep asking employees to stay back late or call meetings five minutes before a shift gets over. In an age when social media has become a common space for workers across the world to unite and share their issues, TikToker @lexiefirment's video about toxic work culture has amassed 286.8K views and 32K likes. She started the video by narrating her experience of getting screamed at by a 50-year-old woman for leaving five minutes early.

Lexie gave social media users a glimpse into the work culture at her office where her manager wants everyone to be present at dedicated staff meetings. Lexie does not understand the concept of making employees stay back even when they have completed their work a few minutes before their shift is over. She asked the viewers, "Can we just have an adult-to-adult conversation of like if all my work is done, and it’s three, even 10 minutes, 15 minutes before I’m supposed to leave? Can’t I leave?” But the managers are asking people to forcefully sit and do nothing. Forcing employees to stay back late and being blind to their needs lowers the morale among workers and leads to poor employee retention.

Other users also chipped in with their experiences. @lexi commented, "My logic is if I show up 5 min early I can leave 5 min early. Those couple of minutes are huge during traffic." @TravelingOne commented, "It’s a kindergarten world out there. Have weekly Circle Time Show & Tell - have to show personal items and give stories about them. Me: Book: Art of Psychological Warfare." @manduh commented, "One time my manager said 'I was too excited to leave on time' so he made me stay an extra 30 minutes. I was like 17." @Ms. Murray in Middle School commented, "And if they’re gonna track that, can I please get paid for the hours I work OVER contract time??"

Many people opposed the managers asking them to stay late despite them completing their work. @no commented, "All while management is salaried & gets in late & leaves early." @Ri commented, "One of the hardest parts of graduating from college and getting a full-time job was losing all sense of personal freedom as far as getting work done...like it regressed all the way back to 2nd grade?" @PomSkwd commented, "I leave at my actual time and people still make comments. Why would I stay past my time?" @meeks3333 suggested, "I cannot wait till our generation changes the dynamic of working…I know we will turn this system over." 

Clearly, the common sentiment is that companies and their managers must relax and let the employees feel at ease instead of constantly keeping them under pressure. Most of them are working late just to impress their bosses and get a promotion by adding no real value to the company and its products.

You can follow (@lexiefirment) for more insightful content.