‘The company will crumble if I quit’: Boss guilts overwhelmed startup employee after meeting about burnout, employee has no choice but to leave

Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor

Jul 22, 2024 8:00 AM EDT

This one goes out to all the people-pleasers out there. If you're someone who consistently de-prioritizes your own needs in favor of what is best for someone else, you may have found yourself in a similar work-related conundrum as this employee.

She recently had her first full-time position at a startup and was quickly taking on far too many tasks and responsibilities after the person who trained her quit without much warning. It was not long before the employee started experiencing a serious case of burnout. Meanwhile, there was no raise or promotion coming her way despite all the extra work she was doing every day.

Finally, she decided to confront her boss about the situation, only to be guilted into staying at the company for the sake of everyone else's organizational workflow. Shout out to the folks in the comments section who motivated her to make the right decision about the kind of work-life balance all people deserve––even people-pleasers like us.

For more stories like this, check out this post about an intense coworker feud.