He Didn’t Sink The Ship, But He Sure Didn’t Help Bail Out The Water

I’m working for a company that has just lost its major customer; 60% of the work disappeared over the weekend. Some big fraud case shut them down with no notice.

A plea goes out from the management team to cut costs, only do overtime where absolutely necessary, and don’t order anything you don’t need. Anything and everything helps to save jobs. It’s going to be a difficult few months. They have some customers lined up but it will take time to get things sorted.

A lot changes in those following weeks. The factory is a lot quieter, we lose a lot of familiar faces that are working part-time or from agencies, things that were going to be replaced are hastily repaired, and morale is low. But most people keep their jobs.

Most seem to be on board, but some, like [Employee], only seem to care about themselves and have no grasp on why they should change.

The following Monday after that announcement:

Employee: “I noticed the overtime sheet wasn’t up.”

Me: “Yes, there is no overtime.”

Employee: “I’m not being funny, but shouldn’t you put that up and tell us that? Because I would have asked [Other Department] if I could work there.”

Me: “There is no overtime here, there, or anywhere at the moment. Once that changes, I will let you know.”

Employee: “Oh? Okay, then. The coffee machine is out of milk again.”

Me: “Have you rung the number that is stuck to the machine?”

Employee: “Well, no, but I thought if you had time…”

Me: “I’m trying to do two jobs, and at the moment, you have no work tickets. And it will probably be the same for most of the week.”

Employee: “But it’s not my job!”

Me: “And it’s mine? No, it’s not. Just do something, clean, help the guys on the line. H***, you can help me if you like!”

Employee: “I think I have some stuff to do over here.”

He sat on his phone most of the week, refused to help anyone with anything that wasn’t “his job,” and complained repeatedly about any minor inconvenience. The whole time, the company was struggling to keep its doors open.

[Employee] was “shocked” when the company decided that they couldn’t afford to keep the doors open as current efforts weren’t working. He, of course, blamed everyone apart from himself and complained on social media about how much work companies are expecting employees to do.

Apparently, he couldn’t find a job that didn’t let him sit on his phone all day.