'Made to apply for a position I've already been doing for five years...': Floundering employer forces workers to reapply for their own roles

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Nov 7, 2023 1:00 PM EST

You wake up every day and drive into the office to do your job… and there's a comfort in that dull mundanity, a consistency. You've got a mortgage to pay and a family to feed, so you're happy (enough) and more or less resigned to the arrangement. Yet, as time goes on, you find yourself doing more and more work, your coworkers are leaving, and no one is being hired to replace them, leaving their workload split up amongst those remaining. The company is floundering—that's easy enough to see—and under vague promises of promotion and increased upward mobility, you work overtime to help other struggling workgroups remain on their feet, but as you go along, you can see things slipping further and further. Now, your company is saying you're not doing enough, and they want you to reapply for your role, calling it a promotion—but repackaging it as something more or less the same as what you were already doing. 

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  • That's more or less where these workers found themselves when they were asked to reapply for their roles, in kind of a workplace Hunger Games where only a few of them were going to be selected to continue to participate in the bloodbath of their workplace…

    See their account of events below, along with readers' responses from the thread where they originally shared their story.

  • 01
    r/antiwork. Posted by u/KoaPlyr615 2 12 hours ago Being made to apply for a position that I've already been doing for 5 years... Our management team over the past year was tasked with finding out why our entire department reported being exceptionally unsatisfied with our jobs. Everyone has the same complaints - overworked, underpaid, and no possibility of advancement. Their first initial response? They held a little virtual rally and basically told all of us, "we hear you, but here's why you're
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 02
    When that shockingly didn't work, and the responses to their supposedly anonymous surveys got even worse, management was directed to again find out why that was, (surprise - everyone still had the same complaints) and this time create a little plan to improve things. Their solution? More virtual meetings so we all feel more included, bare minimum increase in the base starting pay for new hires (having no effect on anyone that has been there for
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 03
    years of course), try to create a structure for advancement, and the best part - a competition to increase our monthly numbers... even though we repeatedly told them we were overworked, and were now understaffed due to the number of people that had left since all of this began.
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 04
    At this point I pretty much threw in the towel. I'd been trying to advance for a few years now, but after such a tone deaf response I had no faith in the company, which is sad because they did at one point actually show some promise of being the type of place that would be amazing to work for. I began looking for other jobs with no luck. In the meantime, someone I greatly trust within the company told me to hold on a little longer as the "advancement plan" was in the final stages and would soon
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 05
    Lo and behold everyone recently got an email saying they were excited to announce the new structure which would allow advancement within the department. The new structure? A "new role" crammed in between the title everyone currently has and the team lead position. There's only a few spots open however, and you can't be promoted into the position- you have to apply for it. At this point in the email I'm thinking, okay fair enough. And then I get to the job description.
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 06
    It's word for word what I and at least a dozen others have been doing- For the last. Five. J. Years. Are you kidding me? I lost my . And to top it all off there's rumors it doesn't
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 07
    come with any bump online pay. It's like they actively disdain their employees, cause there's no way you trying to fix things this badly. All that said I've decided to apply anyways. That way if I do get turned down, I can tell them everything I've been doing is no longer in my job description and to move all that work away from me. Unreal.
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 08
    TLDR: company is trying to implement a new position after employees complained among other things that there was no room for advancement. The job description for the new role is what I and a dozen others have already been doing for the past 5 years, there's only a few spots, you have to apply for it, and it might not even pay more.
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 09
    Cezzium 12 hr. ago I wish i had some great advice for you. this is so deja vu - i work in a technical niche so rarely do they come after us, but i have seen numerous rounds of people having to reapply for jobs
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 10
    And of course it is almost always right before the major holidays because most are on a fiscal calendar that ends august 31 so they take a month or two to crunch everything. and management wonders why people are unhappy. 216 Reply Share
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 11
    tandyman8360 11 hr. ago lazy and proud At my old job, executive management decided to participate in the "Great Places to Work" survey thinking they were an awesome company. We were not a top company. They tried to sugar coat the results. Behind the scenes, execs tried
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 12
    to get the survey company to give them more granular (identifiable) data, but they wouldn't do it. Eventually, management decided we were a bunch of ingrates and limited their polling to free survey monkey results. 4 100 Reply Share
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 13
    Bitbatgaming 12 hr. ago . This is either quiet or loud firing. Get your resume and preparation ready 85 Reply Share
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 14
    Complete-Ad2227 · 11 hr. ago My company told all of us on my team that, "Our clients said that they don't trust us, so we are making everyone do a certification and you have to take a test to show that you know how to do your jobs."
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 15
    We were like what? You hired us and we literally passed an interview process to be doing this job. And i've also been doing this job for over 2 years now. Absolute clown .... 4 63 Reply Share
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 16
    BikeCookie 10 hr. ago ● Start submitting fake resumes for people that don't exist Reply Share 26 Charleston2Seattle 5 hr. ago ● OMG. I love this idea! 46 Reply Share
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 17
    ineedatinylama · 12 hr. ago You are getting fired. Get your resume in order. 70 Reply Share 20 ●●● KoaPlyr615 OP. 8 hr. ago Knowing what I do it's Less this than made to continue stagnating at a dead end job. Reply Share
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 18
    Marine__0311 6 hr. ago My position was being eliminated and I applied for a position I had done before. I had several years experience doing it. I had led the company in metrics and had won several awards for top performance, including two national level ones. I was told I wasnt qualified.
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 19
    The person they chose had less than two years experience doing it, and wasnt even close to me in any qualification. He was chosen solely for the fact that he was making 50% less than I was due to my time with the company. ↑ 13 Reply Share
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 20
    Shadowpriest 10 hr. ago I guess do a test run of applying and interviewing for that position whilst applying and interviewing outside that company. I wish you good luck with a pay that matches up to all the work you've been doing. 412 Reply Share
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 21
    sold_myfortune - 5 hr. ago The job description for the new role is what I and a dozen others have already been doing for the past 5 years, there's only a few spots, you have to apply for it, and it might not even pay more.
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 22
    This is beyond bizarre. It's clear that OP and his co- workers are the draft horses and management are the coach drivers. The number of horses grow fewer and fewer due to attrition and management's answer is to whip harder and faster. 481 Reply Share ●●●
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 23
    Much Development7084 · 6 hr. ago It's all just a distraction. To keep you from doing what you're already doing. Job hunting. 4 7 Reply Share
    via u/KoaPlyr615
  • 24
    IHQ_Throwaway. 8 hr. ago Apply for the position. If you get it, you will have a higher title to put on your resume, which can help land you a better job. Try to take on some more varied tasks or projects, especially anything requiring "leadership". Focus on things you could make sound really impressive in an interview. Use that to bargain for a higher salary someplace else. Do it for yourself, not them. 46 Reply Share
    via u/KoaPlyr615

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