• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

As a White-Collar Worker, I am Often Astounded at How Incompetent Most Office Workers Are

Gaf Zombie

Gaf Zombie

The Fallen
Dec 13, 2017
2,239
Like, you've got Linda making 85k to run a few macros every month and send out some finance numbers. Meanwhile Gabriela, the janitor that cleans the office when Linda leaves, is 2x the worker and 5 times more intellectually curious. But she's pulling in 25k and struggling to keep her kids fed. It's crazy because I think humanity would be much more productive if everyone had a legit shot.

But yeah, I've been in a few offices now in my career and...most of your coworkers don't know shit (maybe unless you're at an Apple or McKinsey or something).
 
LuigiMario

LuigiMario

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,933
More mad about CEOs making millions by being assholes than someone just makin a salary by doing the minimum tbh
 
farmland

farmland

Member
Oct 30, 2017
619
I'm not, most white collar jobs are bullshit jobs. They don't even need to exist honestly (and that includes my job too).

EDIT and btw most white collar jobs aren't even that hard to do, despite the degree inflation so it's no surprise really that many people doing them aren't very smart.
 
skeptem

skeptem

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,745
I feel personally attacked. But really, I look at some VPs at my company that no joke, sit around day trading on the job, and don't feel too bad about Tim in IT browsing reddit for 50% of the day.
 

Fanuilos

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
4,128
Yeah, critical thinking isn't a strong suit for some of my coworkers. When they run into a problem their go to is to immediately ask for help, not even try to figure something out.
 
meowdi gras

meowdi gras

Member
Feb 24, 2018
12,616
The business world seems like the Cape Canaveral of the fail-upward type. It's positively gravitational for the biggest idiots and headaches to wind up at the top.
 
Samenamenick

Samenamenick

Banned
Nov 20, 2017
932
Manchester, NH
Yeah, its the norm imo. Generally out of your control unless you're in a leadership role. If you're someone that feels more competent just do the best you can, build relationships with those 'in the know' that can help you move forward, and hopefully the chips fall in your favor.

As for Gabriela, do the above, plus get a degree. In whatever. Just get a degree. Sometimes you're screwed no matter what though, then you gotta leave and hope the next place you land is different.
 
captmcblack

captmcblack

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,060
And yet, if you're not the right kind of person, or went to the right kind of school, or have the right kind of connection, you can't even get a bullshit job to be incompetent at.
 

cecilpaladin32

Member
Apr 24, 2018
3,605
These days, it seems like critical thinking doesn't really matter much for many office jobs. Just knowing some basic syntax and Excel/Power Point skills is far more useful/valuable to employers, seemingly. I don't feel like I've ever used any of the critical reasoning skills that I learned in high school/college at virtually any of the jobs that I've been in.
 
RiOrius

RiOrius

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,073
I've heard this a lot, and I've been kinda curious: how does one get a bullshit office job like these? 'Cause I've had some real trouble with doing actual work in software development jobs, and if it's half as easy as people say it is to just coast by in a cubical somewhere maybe that's what I should be doing with my life...

Programming was fun in college, but the real world sucks. Gimme dat easy money, pls. I can do Excel, no problem.
 
jph139

jph139

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,366
RiOrius said:
I've heard this a lot, and I've been kinda curious: how does one get a bullshit office job like these? 'Cause I've had some real trouble with doing actual work in software development jobs, and if it's half as easy as people say it is to just coast by in a cubical somewhere maybe that's what I should be doing with my life...

Programming was fun in college, but the real world sucks. Gimme dat easy money, pls. I can do Excel, no problem.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Honestly, it's just right place, right time. I was a temp at a bank, the department happened to be expanding at the time, and I proved I wasn't incompetent, so I got a position. Now I work from home, lay around 75% of the work day, and contribute nothing meaningful to the world. Living the dream!
 

Fanuilos

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
4,128
RiOrius said:
I've heard this a lot, and I've been kinda curious: how does one get a bullshit office job like these? 'Cause I've had some real trouble with doing actual work in software development jobs, and if it's half as easy as people say it is to just coast by in a cubical somewhere maybe that's what I should be doing with my life...

Programming was fun in college, but the real world sucks. Gimme dat easy money, pls. I can do Excel, no problem.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Nepotism honestly.
 
turbobrick

turbobrick

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,063
Phoenix, AZ
RiOrius said:
I've heard this a lot, and I've been kinda curious: how does one get a bullshit office job like these? 'Cause I've had some real trouble with doing actual work in software development jobs, and if it's half as easy as people say it is to just coast by in a cubical somewhere maybe that's what I should be doing with my life...

Programming was fun in college, but the real world sucks. Gimme dat easy money, pls. I can do Excel, no problem.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

This. I'd much rather work a brainless office job if I can make decent money. Programming is a lot of work.
 
subpar spatula

subpar spatula

Refuses to Wash his Ass
Member
Oct 26, 2017
22,084
It's OK, y'all will be applying to be janitors once more and more companies catch on that you're not really working from home and the company still runs fine.
 

Deleted member 2802

Community Resetter
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
33,729
Gaf Zombie said:
Like, you've got Linda making 85k to run a few macros every month and send out some finance numbers. Meanwhile Gabriela, the janitor that cleans the office when Linda leaves, is 2x the worker and 5 times more intellectually curious. But she's pulling in 25k and struggling to keep her kids fed. It's crazy because I think humanity would be much more productive if everyone had a legit shot.

But yeah, I've been in a few offices now in my career and...most of your coworkers don't know shit (maybe unless you're at an Apple or McKinsey or something).
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
en.wikipedia.org

Dan Price - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

One guy tried to pay everyone 70k.
 
Viewt

Viewt

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,801
Chicago, IL
Oh yea, definitely. Most people spend at least half their day watching YouTube videos. But we get away with it because SO many people do it and no one wants to fuck up the game by calling it out.
 
lazerface

lazerface

Banned
Feb 23, 2020
1,344
As a general manager who oversees 5 automotive shops, I deal with incompetence on a DAILY BASIS. I seriously love the guys I work with but goddamn do I feel like a glorified babysitter lol.
 
LoadingErrorMTL

LoadingErrorMTL

Member
Aug 4, 2020
1,267
giphy.gif
 
theme park joe

theme park joe

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,201
PIT
Gaf Zombie said:
Like, you've got Linda making 85k to run a few macros every month and send out some finance numbers. Meanwhile Gabriela, the janitor that cleans the office when Linda leaves, is 2x the worker and 5 times more intellectually curious. But she's pulling in 25k and struggling to keep her kids fed. It's crazy because I think humanity would be much more productive if everyone had a legit shot.

But yeah, I've been in a few offices now in my career and...most of your coworkers don't know shit (maybe unless you're at an Apple or McKinsey or something).
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yes, as someone who's "white collar" (in manufacturing engineering so more polos and jeans than white shirts) this is very often true. Lots of times its people who had to be fit into roles as demands changed AND who are not curious to improve things.
 
Red

Red

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,636
Gaf Zombie said:
Like, you've got Linda making 85k to run a few macros every month and send out some finance numbers. Meanwhile Gabriela, the janitor that cleans the office when Linda leaves, is 2x the worker and 5 times more intellectually curious. But she's pulling in 25k and struggling to keep her kids fed. It's crazy because I think humanity would be much more productive if everyone had a legit shot.

But yeah, I've been in a few offices now in my career and...most of your coworkers don't know shit (maybe unless you're at an Apple or McKinsey or something).
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I've noticed the same. I worked many times harder and had a much greater impact at my last job, making $24k/year, than I do now, making $90k. It's revolting the way we value work, and what work we value.
 
Zukuu

Zukuu

Member
Oct 30, 2017
6,809
Because you get paid for the work/experience you had not the one you do.
 
evrythngwastakn

evrythngwastakn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,531
I'm a teacher and this is also true. Far too many people who have stopped giving any fucks (or never did to begin with) but are too far along into their careers to start over. So we get people using the same old worksheets from 1997 and getting mad when they're asked to start doing anything else.
 

nitewulf

Member
Nov 29, 2017
7,193
I mean even if you're at McKinsey you're pretty much prettying up generic PowerPoints...
 
bionic77

bionic77

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,888
Luck is the most important thing in life.

You can find shit like that all over the place if you keep looking.

If shit is good all you can do is appreciate that you were lucky enough to get in that situation.
 
Septimus Prime

Septimus Prime

EA
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
8,500
In my experience, the people who fell like they're the only competent ones are usually the least competent.
 
Saucycarpdog

Saucycarpdog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,301
The sales people in my company like to act like the business revolves around them and the place wouldn't exist without them.

In reality, however, most of them just surf social media and dick off during the 60% of time they are not on a call or creating orders.
 

Jason's Ultimatum

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,363
I'm a senior cost basis associate for a large financial firm. I started out making $45k in 2017 and now make $50k. Our department is not easy and people know that. Yes, we have simple tasks but man the insane workload compounded by some difficult analytical and research skills makes me feel depressed.

We are so micromanaged during the pandemic and working remote we have to send an email to our leadership when we clock in, when we take our lunch break, and when we finished our shift. Also, we have keep track daily a One Note report on what we plan to do and then what we accomplished.

Meanwhile I know people within this he firm making double and hardly have any work. Thank goodness i passed my 7.
 
AlecKoKuTan

AlecKoKuTan

Member
Oct 29, 2017
2,256
Irvine, CA
When shit hits the fan, queries or macros break, etc... it's really about being able to fix things asap, right? Unless you contract those jobs out, a lot of the time your sort of on call. Also, I imagine you're being paid to be a critical thinker. Unless your doing clerk level data entry...
 
Tuck

Tuck

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,577
I once had a senior associate making 150-200k per year ask me how to copy and paste.
 
Mammoth Jones

Mammoth Jones

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,298
New York
Gaf Zombie said:
Like, you've got Linda making 85k to run a few macros every month and send out some finance numbers. Meanwhile Gabriela, the janitor that cleans the office when Linda leaves, is 2x the worker and 5 times more intellectually curious. But she's pulling in 25k and struggling to keep her kids fed. It's crazy because I think humanity would be much more productive if everyone had a legit shot.

But yeah, I've been in a few offices now in my career and...most of your coworkers don't know shit (maybe unless you're at an Apple or McKinsey or something).
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's not that they don't know shit. It's just they only gonna do what they absolutely need to in order to not get canned. I've worked nights/weekends just to get told I did an amazing job and knocked it out the park and fired the next week along with half the office.

LoadingErrorMTL said:
giphy.gif
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

tenor.gif
 
Midramble

Midramble

Force of Habit
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
10,454
San Francisco
Yeah, as my career grows I realise more and more that the differences in salaries don't match the differences in effort/expertise/assumed risk. The curve should be flattened. It makes me more and more socialist every year.
 
Last edited:
III-V

III-V

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,827
I've only ever worked at a small company, but we all hold our own. Anyone who sucked never hung around too long.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.