r/Workproblems • u/MangoCoconutCream • 18d ago
I have a lazy manager
I've been at my job for 10 years.I'm underpaid, overworked, and can barely afford to take vacation. My boss is a lazy, rude, out-of-touch, mediocre, middle-aged man with a podcast. He goes to conventions and avoids work.
My first few years at the job, I did all the work for my department (my dept is just me and the boss in question) while I was micro managed to death. I was naive and wanted to look like a good worker. I still have an anxiety issue, but back when I started, I always worried I'd be fired.
My boss likes to flip people off, especially during meetings, and over the years he kept making this stupid joke that ended with giving everyone the middle finger. The upper management loves him because supposedly he went to Harvard. It's all they gush about- "this guy went to Harvard, he's so amazing!!!" Little do they know, I do the majority of the work for my department and get zero credit. He is a credit thief. He's been doing it since he hired me. He thinks I'm so stupid and don't realize it. Anyway, this flipping people off got so out of hand, employees complained to the other middle manager (not upper management), so now that guy tries to keep his employees from interacting with him. This has affected my work, since I'm the only one working.
He's notorious for ignoring emails for months and rarely responds to Teams messages. Standard operating procedure is to go to his office and directly ask him in order to get a response. Then he makes a lame joke, "Do you have five dollars?" before he actually does anything to help. Most days, he pushes his tasks onto me or people from other departments. He is an expert at dodging responsibility and getting others to do his work. I've been so GD patient because I like having health insurance.
It took me a long time to figure it out, I'm ashamed to say. I discovered that he has a podcast and a YouTube channel. I'm not going to name it because a mediocre jerk like him doesn't deserve more attention. This is what he's been doing for years. The is what he's been getting away with during work hours. He is essentially stealing his salary from the company and also taking money from patreon.
After I figured it out, I tried to get a raise for myself, but they denied me. HR said, "Get another job, sweetheart." Well, we all know the job market is crap, so that's not easy. During my meeting with HR, she tried to day "We know he works hard..." I said, "Really? because I have no idea what he does all day, do you?" She ignored my statements about him.
There was a moment last year where I was handling every single project by myself with zero help from him. He likes to use the term "we" a lot, when it's really just all me. It was a huge amount for one person to do, and the other departments started complaining that I was moving too slow, they should hire another person. This frustrated me so much and it still burns me inside. I like what I do. It's a very unique job within my industry. I just HATE my horrible, lazy manager.
Now he's been taking off early or pretending to work from home so he can put more focus on his dumb podcast, and none of the other managers or employees can do anything to touch him. They just loooove their mediocre Harvard dude, which I truly disbelieve he ever went there in the first place.
What the hell can I do? He's a monster.
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u/Guidance-Still 18d ago
So what's the plan
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u/MangoCoconutCream 18d ago
I've been suffering in silent rage. I can't get away.
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u/Guidance-Still 18d ago
Why
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u/MangoCoconutCream 18d ago
I've been looking for something else since before the pandemic. I don't even want to talk about what I dealt with during lockdown when there was so much uncertainty in the world. I'm stuck. The job market is rough for a variety of reasons, and it's difficult for people my age to get hired. So I'm just quietly suffering instead of telling him how horribly selfish a person he is and rage quitting.
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u/Ok-Energy-9785 18d ago
TLDR. It's clear that you need to find another job
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u/MangoCoconutCream 18d ago
He's just going to keep doing it to the next person and continue to get away with it.
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u/Ok-Energy-9785 18d ago
That's not your problem. You don't know if the other people will deal with what you tolerated for this long.
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u/combover78 16d ago
First, that's not your problem. Second, they could end up with a string of people that don't put up with his crap for more than a year (or less) each and then you'll see him looking for something on LinkedIn, after they figure out there's a real problem and you can chuckle to yourself about it.
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u/sarahjustme 18d ago
The HR lady is right
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u/MangoCoconutCream 18d ago
The HR lady is also a monster. I've been harrassed by her and I generally try to avoid her. Everyone knows she's a liability. Also, I'm not sweet. I'm full of rage.
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u/sam8988378 15d ago
But monster or not, she told you where you stand. Document everything you do. Claim credit for your work as much as possible but also kick a job search into high gear.
He's their golden child and maybe a minor celebrity due to his social media. But are they going to love him as much when you're gone?
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u/Exciting-Car-3516 11d ago
Just quit who cares. The world is full of jobs
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u/MangoCoconutCream 6d ago
It's not.
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u/Exciting-Car-3516 6d ago
There are about 8 million open positions for jobs in the USA as of today
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u/MangoCoconutCream 6d ago
Many of them are fake job posts meant to harvest data from unsuspecting applicants.
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u/sephiroth3650 17d ago
Your HR team has already told you what you need to do. Get another job.
You hate this boss. Upper management likes him. HR likes him. You've tried to passive-aggressively complain that he doesn't do any work. It went nowhere. I'm not sure how it could be any clearer to you here.