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Insiders Share ‘Dirty Little Secrets’ About Industries They've Worked In

The fact that every industry has its dirty little secrets shouldn't shock anyone. Whether it's by blatantly lying to consumers about a product, taking shortcuts, neglecting hygiene, stealing data, or fudging numbers, businesses implement all sorts of shady practices behind the scenes for the sake of profits. Sometimes it's the employees themselves who develop practices and habits that aren't ideal, but it's understood throughout their profession that it's just the way things are, so they keep doing it. 

One redditor recently started up a discussion about all the dirty little industry secrets people should know about, and the replies are pretty eye-opening. I'll never look at peanut butter the same way again. 

Posted by Mel Dawn
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  • 1
    Font - r/AskReddit u/Thealexiscowdell1 • 3d What is a "dirty little secret" about an industry that you have worked in, that people outside the industry really should know? 20.5k 19.1k ↑ Share
    Via u/Thealexiscowdell1
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  • 2
    Font - ptvipers 3d Not all that much of a secret, but, i used to work in a peanut butter factory, we produced about 25-30-ish. different storebrands ranging from very cheap to stupidly expensive, we had a grand total of 3 recipes, chunky, not chunky and no additives 12.5k
    Via u/ptvipers
  • 3
    Human body - 20 K4SP3R_H4US3R 3d High volume recruiters spend an average of 10 seconds looking at a resume. ↑₁ 43k ↓
    Via u/K4SP3R_H4US3R
  • 4
    Font - RandomRedditCount 3d They put little weights in lipsticks to make them feel more expensive so they can charge more. ↑ G 32.4k

    "Same for Beats headphones" —u/BenHippynet

    Via u/RandomRedditCount
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  • 5
    Font - SComstock 3d I worked at a major jewelry company in the US. When we wanted to buy jewelry, we paid what it costs to make the product (material, labor, shipping), plus 10%. I paid around $115 for a pair of $950 diamond earrings. 13.5k

    "I worked wholesale diamond sales so I had connections throughout the entirety of the industry. Made my wife's 15k+ engagement ring for about 3k" —u/Kreepy_Quoll

    Via u/SComstock
  • 6
    Font - Lone_Buck 3d When the health inspector shows up, a mad scramble happens in the back to clean the kitchen while they start the inspection in the dining/bar area of the restaurant. ... ↑4 17k

    "Yup. One manager will hold the health inspector up in the front of house while back of house is busy labeling and making sure minor violations they visibly see are dealt with." —u/kettyma8215

    Via u/Lone_Buck
  • 7
    Font - OriansSun 3d If your business uses an inventory company, your numbers will not be correct. Û G 9.1k
    Via u/OriansSun
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  • 8
    Font - blueeyesredlipstick 3d There is a lot of money spent every year that decides where specific items are placed on grocery store shelves. If you're at a grocery store that's part of a chain, and you look at a shelf and there's an item that's approximately at eye level, I guarantee you that the company that makes that item paid a lot of money to put them there. There's lots of weird psychological tricks that go on in terms of how stores are laid out. ↑ 12.6K ...
    Via u/blueeyesredlipstick
  • 9
    Font - somecow 3d We touch your food with our hands. Weird. And yes, we wash them so often that they might fall off. That, or you get assoles that wear gloves for 12 hours and never change gloves or wash their hands. ↑ ... 9.5k
    Via u/somecow
  • 10
    Font - too Pentastome 3d Zoos and museums are universally held together with double sided tape. The size or prestige of the organization doesn't matter either. ↑ ... 5.9k
    Via u/Pentastome
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  • 11
    Rectangle - AssInvader93 3d HVAC guy here. Not really a secret but home owners sure think it is. CHANGE YOUR FOKING FILTERS!!! ↑ 47.4K
    Via u/AssInvader93
  • 12
    Font - ianwrecked802 3d If you're ever buying bulk gravel/sand/crushed stone from a local pit/quarry that has scales to weigh the amount of product you're getting- you're getting fucked because you're paying for water. Most of these pits/quarries spray the living fk out of their stockpiles before/during operation to make the material heavier in the truck. Never buy by the ton- always buy aggregate by the cubic yard. It's a measure of volume- not weight. Source: I own a rock crushing business/mul
    Via u/ianwrecked802
  • 13
    Rectangle - unassumingtoaster 3d My billable hours are not the actual hours ↑ ... 8.2k

    "Been there. Especially if you have a quota" —spencemode

    Via u/unassumingtoaster
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  • 14
    Font - resident16 3d I wouldn't say it's mostly a secret but agency staffing firms churn and burn college graduates who are basically thrown in the wild. The recruiter you worked with may be gone in six months and that's why a lot of ghosting happens. ↑ 9.5k

    "Yeah, recruitment and headhunting are not altruist professions. They're not social workers looking out for clients best interests. Story time: I got a high-paying job via a headhunter. After three months at the new place, I realized I hated it, and I quit. Three days later, I got a call from the headhunter, and he was IRATE, YELLING at me over the phone at the top of his lungs. He called me every name in the book, and went hoarse from yelling. Turns out, he gets paid a commission for placing me at that job ONLY if I stay at least 90 days. I just happened to quit on the 89th day coincidentally. So he lost out on a good chunk of money thanks to that." —u/whomp1970

    Via u/resident16
  • 15
    Font - VinnyVincinny 3d The roses you buy at Valentine's Day were harvested around Xmas. It's the worst time of the year to buy roses and I don't mean because they're more expensive. They're also the worst quality because it's a longer holding time between harvest and use than any other time of the year. Never ever ever send flowers through an order processing service. Look at the location you're in or sending to and talk to a florist in that area directly. Don't pick a picture off some external
    Via u/VinnyVincinny
  • 16
    Font - sayan_sniper 3d ex-farmer here. specifically, I worked at a "bio- certified" one. since there were no pesticides or herbicides used, every snail, every bug, every mouse had to be killed "manually" or by having a LOT of their natural predators around, ie. cats. the reason? nobody buys tomatoes, or anything else with snail bites on them ... ↑ 8.5k

    "How do you train the cats to eat the snails? Edit: nevermind, French cats, duh." —u/Just_Aioli_1233

    Via u/sayan_sniper
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  • 17
    Font - ButtfaceMcAssButt 3d People like to think that data analytics is some objective truth when there is sooooooooo much bias and room for subjectivity in data collection, analysis, interpretation, and communication. Oftentimes insights are cherrypicked datasets deliberately presented to make a specific point rather than having the data craft the conclusion. ... 18.3k

    "The numbers don't lie, but the liars do the numbers..." —u/Lord_Blackthorn

    Via u/ButtfaceMcAssButt
  • 18
    Font - BubblyMimosa 3d If it's the first time a professor is teaching a course, there is a good chance they are just one lecture ahead of the rest of the class. ↑ 19.7k

    "And we usually vastly overestimate what's reasonable for people to understand in the course so the first few years are usually harder, with the final exam marks significantly massaged while we cut out the portions of the curse that are too difficult" —u/Kind-County9767

    Via u/BubblyMimosa
  • 19
    Font - jrsinhbca 3d Aerospace has a phrase "Get Healthy in Maintenance." Underbid the contract to win to the work; then they over charge on the maintenance activities. It's an investment strategy that pays well. Many aerospace sites have "cash cows," long term maintenance contracts that keep the money coming into the site. BTW- this is one of the reasons DoD spends sooooooo much. 146.1k
    Via u/jrsinhbca
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  • 20
    Font - EyeBumGaze808 3d Locksmith here. We can get into any lock/door within 30 seconds. All the posturing and bringing out a impressive toolkit and hammer drill is just showmanship to pro long the call out. 30 seconds flat. ... 15.6k

    "I'll never forget when my neighbour in London locked herself out. We waited for a locksmith to come over. He literally opened the car door, looked at the neighbours front door from a distance for about 2 seconds, then pulled out a long bent rod, walked to the door, stuck it through the letter box, maneuvered it around for a couple of seconds, and the door was open. (He undid the bolt from the inside). 100 quid, 15 seconds of work. But you don't pay for the 15 seconds, you pay for the decade of practice required to do the job in 15 seconds" —u/Vedorias

    Via u/EyeBumGaze808
  • 21
    Font - UnderestimatedIguana 3d a very popular local bagel shop/bakery i worked at advertised all of our baked goods were homemade (dozens of muffins, danish, cinnamon rolls ect) and they were not. they all came from sysco, frozen on sheets. many customers would rave about the baked goods saying they were the best they've had. god bless them ↑ ... 14.4k
    Via u/UnderestimatedIguana
  • 22
    Font - Galbert123 3d Microsoft Excel runs the country ↑ ... mininmumconfidence 3d 16.3k Microsoft Excel runs the entire global financial industry. ↑ ← 47k 3
    Via u/Galbert123
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  • 23
    Font - bhellor 3d Wash all of your "new clothes". A very high percent has been worn and returned. 145.4k
    Via u/bhellor
  • 24
    Font - tristanjones 3d When an app pops up with a 'do you like this app?' thing, the Yes button goes to the App Store for a review, the No button goes to an internal complaint process. This on average filters upset customers away from the app store and artificially raises app score by a whole star on average. That is the only way most corporate service apps have 4 stars. ↑ 14.7k ↓ ...
    Via u/tristanjones
  • 25
    Font - ryl371240 3d Bedbugs are actually incredibly common in hotels. It's just that nicer hotels generally have better means of treating them. ... ↑ 47.3k
    Via u/ryl371240
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  • 26
    Font - buttchuggin4life 3d Nobody who actually sorts mail gives a shit about your package. The word fragile doesn't stop them from throwing it 20ft into a metal container. ↑ 18.9k
    Via u/buttchuggin4life
  • 27
    Font - TrailerParkPrepper 3d more product hits the floor and then thrown back on the line than you know. source: worked in a meat packing plant. ↑ 3.6k
    Via u/TrailerParkPrepper
  • 28
    Font - El_mochilero 3d Airlines often make more money carrying cargo than passengers. Also, they have much stricter contracts about delivering cargo on time than passengers. If a plane is overweight, they will usually remove passengers before they remove cargo. 15.8k
    Via u/El_mochilero
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  • 29
    Font - Witch_on_a_moped 3d Hotels don't change the comforter on the beds in between guests unless there's a noticeable stain on it. If the pillows are placed on a chair instead of on the bed at check out, housekeeping assumes they weren't used and puts them back on the bed without changing the pillowcases. All of this is due to cutting corners in housekeeping because the keepers are under strict timers for each room, and they have an insane amount of rooms to do everyday. ↑ 4.4k
    Via u/Witch_on_a_moped
  • 30
    Rectangle - notyourchannel 3d In the consulting world, nobody really knows what they're doing ↑↑ 12k ...
    Via u/notyourchannel
  • 31
    Font - OHLOOK OREGON 3d I've worked in the music industry for 10 years and have access to financials of nearly 15% of all artists' recorded music revenue. Nobody is making as much as you think. The superstar artists who look like millionaires are not, in fact, millionaires. ... 142.7k
    Via u/OHLOOK OREGON
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  • 32
    Font - 01 Aztecman02 3d The Defense Department literally just spends money to spend it without any actual purpose just so they can say it was spent so they don't receive less next year. In my building with 10 men the men's restroom was gutted and remodeled 3 times in 3 years. ↑ 42k ...
    Via u/Aztecman02

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industry ask reddit shady jobs professional job-secrets work interesting capitalism dirty-little-secrets reddit thread business industry-secrets

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