Boss gives manager more work after they complain about their workload which includes covering vacant positions: 'Those employees quit 8 months ago'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Oct 16, 2024 6:00 PM EDT

Being consistently overloaded with work in an organization where the expectations are completely out of touch with reality is a soul-sucking experience… always falling short, no matter how much time and effort you put in.

Let's face it: if your team is "understaffed" for a long enough period of time, it's pretty safe to say that your employer has no intentions of hiring anyone else, and they consider it to be an ideal staffing level. It's only when productivity and customer satisfaction start slipping that they might consider doing something about it, and they'll probably still just blame their exhausted and burned-out, overstretched workers first.

This manager, who is responsible for 35 employees, shared with their boss how they felt extremely overwhelmed by the amount of work they had to do, which included "specialized" positions that had been vacant for eight months. Their complaints fell on deaf ears, with their boss choosing instead to throw their weight around, writing up their team members and giving the manager more to do.

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    via Vitaly Gariev
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    My own manager assigned me more work when I told them I was overwhelmed with tasks I manage 35 people in my department. I expressed to my own manager how overwhelmed I have been covering my job, my old job, two specialized positions, and anybody who calls out sick or is on leave. My manager controls the budget so I do not have any say in how many staff we have. We are always understaffed.
    via SayMilkJeremy
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    Their first response was for me to write up everyone who has a trend of absences because I shouldn't be covering that many desks. The two specialized positions? Those employees quit 8 months ago. Not sure how to write them up. And I'm not writing up employees when they go on vacation or catch Covid again or when their family members die or they have babies.
    via SayMilkJeremy
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    I explained this to my manager so their second response was to assign me to cover another person in another department in addition to my regular duties. This other departmental employee will be gone for two weeks.
    via SayMilkJeremy
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    8Karisma8 29m ago. Quit now while you still have your sanity and are not part of the sinking ship. If you stay, the culture will def negatively affect your performance and your health.
    via SayMilkJeremy
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    JustMyThoug... 10m ago I don't think this structure is sustainable. Sounds like you need to promote or hire 3-4 team leads that report directly to you.
    via SayMilkJeremy
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    Scary-Cartog... 36m ago It sounds like your manager is trying to help you. First, they asked you to document your staffing needs. Then, when you expressed that you didn't have the bandwidth, it sounds like they gave you someone else's already trained staff to support your work while that manager is out. Is it possible that you actually need help delegating?
    via SayMilkJeremy
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    These_Lettuc... . 10m ago 35 people is on the extreme end of the feasible workload, either start delegating some of your reports to be leaders and have people report to them or find a new job before your health is wrecked
    via SayMilkJeremy
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    YJMark • 6m ago. Sounds like both you and your manager need to develop as managers. For you - I recommend structuring your org in a way that works better. You are spread too thin across everyone. Create some sub- groups with leads. Then you can focus more on the leads.
    via SayMilkJeremy
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    Your manager should be helping and supporting you with that. However, that does not seem to be happening. At this point, you should ask yourself if it is worth staying under a manger that is not able to really support you or help you.
    via SayMilkJeremy
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    • snakysnakesna... 3m ago Ugh I'm sorry. I had a similar experience with my new boss. I admitted to her right away that I have too much on my plate (only 15 direct reports, god bless, but 110 indirect), but because I cover so much of our organization's work, the extra/new stuff always aligns
    via SayMilkJeremy
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    best to my current scope, so I get tasked and it just grows and grows and grows. Meanwhile a peer of mine with the same boss has one direct report and none of us (including her) can figure out what she should be doing.
    via SayMilkJeremy

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workplace discussion employment issues antiwork workplace-stories jobs employee employment-discussion job work employees overworked-employees workplace Horrible Bosses employment in the workplace
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