'It worked like a dream': Incompetent boss tries to demote engineer after designing machine for $1 million order, gets hit with devious revenge

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Feb 25, 2024 4:00 PM EST

When you get a new job, the kind of boss you work with can really make or break the experience. Somebody who is competent and cares about the employee experience should be the bare minimum that we can expect, but sadly, not everybody gets that in the workplace. There are truly terrible individuals out there (in every sense of the word) who occupy positions of professional power.

The one saving grace of all this is that occasionally, hard done by workers can get their revenge. This was the case for one engineer posting on Reddit about an unpleasant job situation that they had wriggled out of in style. Their boss demanded they create a machine to fulfill a large company order, then announced that they intended to demote them to operate it—they couldn't get away with hiring somebody externally to operate it on the wages they were offering.

Needless to say, the Redditor declined and began to look elsewhere for work. Before they left, they were asked to write instruction manuals for the machine. This is where the fun began.

 

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  • 01
    r/ r/MaliciousCompliance u/sparkzz32 • 1d Boss can't hire with wages so demotes me instead. Ok, but it'll cost you £1m. M
    via sparkzz32
  • 02
    A few years ago I worked at a janky, two-bit company. The boss thought he was Billy Big and God's Gift simultaneously. He had such a big head, I'm surprised he could get through doorways. He used to drink beer at his desk for lunch and would often arrive at work late. He was also an insufferable muscle-bro and walked around as if carrying rolls of carpet under each arm.
    via sparkzz32
  • 03
    A few months into my time there, the company starts winning large orders so he asks me to set up a small scale production line to increase capacity and tells me the new hire will be situated there. I design it, set it up, test it all works and I'm feeling a sense of pride with what I've accomplished - it worked like a dream. I was confident it would work really well for the new hire. Because I'm an engineer by trade, everything was perfect and only I knew how to fix the broken . Nobody else aske
    via sparkzz32
  • 04
    A while later there was an issue, he couldn't hire anyone willing to accept such a wage and boring work. So Billy Big had a bright idea to demote me and make me governor of my creation. No way, not for £9k less. I immediately started job hunting and I told him if that's your final offer, regard tomorrow as my final day. He panics that he's committed the company to a £1m order due for shipping in 3 days time. During his alcohol fuelled panic, he tells me to write up highly detailed technical manu
    via sparkzz32
  • 05
    I created Word documents with convincing titles like 'Technical Manual - Product Version 2.0' and 'How to Do This Precise Task'. Inside the documents were for example, the surprised Pikachu face, and Bubbles. from Trailer Park Boys looking lost. Then below just one line of text reading, 'This manual contains all the information I could find or was given'. The file sizes would also indicate a lot of text was contained within thanks to the images, therefore at face value they looked legitimate.
    via sparkzz32
  • 06
    I saved them to my laptop in an equally legitimate looking folder that afternoon. Early the next morning I came to work to collect my belongings and do some handovers, and found the laptop had vanished. I said my goodbyes to my colleagues and looked over to see him looking incensed with a beer in one hand. He was so angry he didn't look up from his desk.
    via sparkzz32
  • 07
    A friend told me later that the company missed the production deadline despite him working 12 hour days to try to catch up. Apparently the client was extremely off! Don't screw over good people.
    via sparkzz32
  • 08
    FeteFatale 1d "This system was designed and implemented by a higher pay grade Engineer. As I'm just a low-paid production line worker I am unable to produce technical manuals for the widget-maker thingy." Regards, OP
    via FeteFatale
  • 09
    The 9lobaldude 1d got what he deserved! Well done
    via 9lobaldude
  • 10
    dharmon555 1d What kind of product were you producing $1,000,000 of in 3 days with one line operator? No specifics, just generally. : Reply 4 350 350 shavedratscrotum 1d I've worked in factories where its ~10% value add. Most of the money is in the material. So 1m order only requires 100k of conversion.
    via dharmon555
  • 11
    Kineth 1d "So you have a million pound order and can't pay a decent wage to people and want to then try and short me out of OVER 9000 pounds? Hahah get proper mate!"
    via Kineth
  • 12
    ThePrinceVultan 1d insufferable muscle-bro and walked around as if carrying rolls of carpet under each arm. Over here in the US we call that ILS, or Imaginary Lat Syndrome, where gym bros walk around with their arms stuck out acting like their lats are so big they can't pull their arms any closer to their body lol.
    via ThePrinceVultan
  • 13
    ecp001 1d A better manual would have phrases like "make sure you never PRESS BUTTON B BEFORE PRESSING BUTTON D it will not PRODUCE AN ACCEPTABLE PRODUCT"
    via ecp001
  • 14
    Senor Tron 1d Seems like the mistake was not having the time/ resources to have all that stuff documented when the production line was first set up. Having a bus factor of 1 is always bad planning on the part of management.
    via SenorTron
  • 15
    Fortnight98 1d that boss but why weren't the manuals part of you creating the line? Documentation on how to use the thing is as important as the thing : Reply StnMtn_1d I don't think boss 413 ↓ was very bright. : 43 ↓ sparkzz32 OP • 1d The thing was critical. But the planning of such a project was not. If he spent more time being involved and less time day drinking, I doubt any of this would've happened.
    via Fortnight98
  • 16
    Chaosmusic 1d Because I'm an engineer by trade, everything was perfect I've known engineers my entire life, including my father. This statement seems a tad, shall we say...optimistic. : Reply sparkzz32 OP • 1d Yeah it was a bit of humour. Clearly I needed to make it more obvious, much more obvious because this is the internet. 4凸
    via Chaosmusic
  • 17
    Wodan11 1d "Insufferable Muscle Bros" is now my next band name.
    via Wodan11
  • 18
    Nevermind04 1d How did he demote you without breaching your contract? : Reply 4 3 ↓ sparkzz32 OP • 1d He tore up the contract. As I said, he was a : : Nevermind04 1d And you didn't immediately see a solicitor? 4 42 ↓ sparkzz32 OP• 1d No, I found another job instead. Let them implode by themselves.
    via Nevermind04
  • 19
    Psychological Arm335 1d I like that you spent most of the first paragraph destroying him : Reply sparkzz32 OP • 1d Thanks, it was very cathartic writing that 43 ↓ ^^ SEFE
    via Psycological_Arm335
  • 20
    Godnessy4 1d I would have paid good money to see him present the document to his boss only to find out it contains Pikachu :D, nice 1, hope u got a much better job.
    via Godnessy4

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boss manager malicious compliance revenge ceo reddit thread Reddit company engineer machine
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