Workplace culture can make or break a job. No matter how much you’re paid (or underpaid), the way employees and managers interact with one another is going to have a huge impact on whether or not you think a job is worth doing.
Reddit user Aviliuss asked, ” What are some workplace red flags that scream ‘don’t work here? ‘” What the commenters said were real eye-openers.
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“‘Work hard, play hard’ = ‘You won’t have a life outside the office, but we’ll pump you full of booze!'”
Another user replied with, “Not a drinker, but decided to give it a go after the place I worked at fired someone that regularly didn’t show up for the “optional” binge drinking happy hours. He wasn’t a team player.” Yeesh.
“If a larger company buys your company out but says ‘Nothing is changing but the name and address that your paycheck is coming from.'”
“But then everything changes.” – Via Gbrusse
A shift in management always means a shift in culture, and it’s rarely for the better.
“Everyone you meet has been working there less than 2 years and it isn’t a startup.”
Via LeeroyTC
High turnover is definitely a sign that the workplace isn’t very good. Or, at the very least it doesn’t offer a lot of development .
“Or the flip side… I once worked in a place where everyone had been there 15+ years except one other person who had just started 8 months before me.”
“Needless to say there wasn’t much career progression and the people there were just counting their years (or days) until they retired and didn’t give a s*** about anything.” – Via personofinterest18
“If all of the other employees look sullen and depressed.”
“If you walk into the office area and feel like you’ve walked into a funeral service. Nobody’s smiling, nobody’s laughing. Nobody looks remotely happy or content. Just turn around and walk back to your car. That is not a good place to be working at.” – Via Jasons_Brain
“The hiring manager who brought you in quit.”
Via Sarged117
I’d argue that it’s different if they get fired or let go, but if the person who hired you quits pretty quickly after you start, you might want to follow them.
“I was brought in as an assistant to the manager of an allied health service. Within 2 weeks she quit.”
“Until I turned up she had been too busy to realise how ridiculously swamped she actually was and how stressed and miserable it was making her. Once I took some of the load off her and she could actually stop for more than 2 seconds, breathe, and take stock of her situation she realised how shit her job and the organisation were. She quit.”
“She actually called me a few days after she’d left, almost crying with relief and telling me how much better she felt already.”
“Then she told me to make sure they didn’t do the same thing to me. It’s been 5 months. They have. I’m looking for a new job.” – Via Fit-Guava-5059
“My manager got fired for embezzlement my first month of my first ever job at 16.”
“That entire place was a s*** show of epic proportions, I was only there a year and I outlasted 4 managers.” – Via pigwigge
Apparently, they worked at a Wendy’s.
“The owners children are in high management / executive positions.”
Via secretbaldspot
Any job where you can just smell the nepotism is going to be a problem. Unless you’re family or a close friend, good luck ever getting a promotion.
“Morning screaming and chants. Ringing a bell when you hit your quota.”
Via mdotca
I’m not the only person who gets, like, cult vibes from those kinds of workplaces, right? They definitely want you to work yourself to the bone and not ask questions.
“If you ever hear a higher up say anything along the lines of ‘I don’t have to do that because I’m a X.'”
“As a manager/owner/lead/etc.… Your job is to support your team, if that means as a store owner you’re cleaning puke off the bathroom floor guess what, you’re cleaning puke off the bathroom floor.”
“If you ever see a boss refusing to help when it’s busy or delegating a task poorly…”
“…(eg the blind guy has to go pick stock while your boss hangs out in the back room taking calls) quit.” – Via GardenSpecialist5619
“I had a job interview a long time ago where I asked if there was any office dress code.”
“The response I got was, ‘Just try not to wear your gang colors all the time.'” – Via BobVilasBeard
“Conveniently small amount of Glassdoor reviews, all glowing.”
“Company I used to work for was awful, and they had loads of 1-star reviews (with a lot of substance behind them). Conveniently enough, they’ve all gone recently, to be replaced by a handful of 5-star ones.” – Via PloppyTheSpaceship
“Extremely high pay for what is a very simple, low effort job.”
“Bonus points if they have a sign that says ‘Now hiring’ outside, year round.
“This indicates that even with a high pay rate, they cant keep people on.” – Via lowexpectationsguy
“When your supervisor and/or coworkers act like they think you hung the moon and stars by the end of the first month.”
“In my experience, this behavior just means that 1) they are two-faced backstabbers who talk s*** and spread rumors about you…”
“…and/or 2) they have very black-and-white thinking, and you’re handling a time bomb.”
“Meaning if they think you’re an “amazing” person, and you do one little thing they don’t like such as make a mistake or ask them to correct something, they do a hard 180 and decide you deserve their eternal hatred.” – Via Choice_Bid_7941
“One thing I look for when interviewing onsite is checking out peoples desks as I walk through the halls.”
“If there are no personal effects or décor in workers cubicles, then that makes me think people just hate being there. I think if there are decorations, people are more comfortable and enjoy their job and workspaces and it’s likely a more friendly place to work.” – Via nice_touch
“If you get asked in interviews about how you deal with workplace conflict and how you get along with difficult personalities.”
“If they’re asking about how you deal with difficult customers, that’s one thing. If they basically ask how you handle a toxic work environment, it’s going to be a toxic work environment. I very naively learned this the hard way.” – Via nosuchthingasa_
