Employee gets punished for being great at his job, so he decides to stop trying at all: 'Even though I performed my duties better than the others in my department, I was effectively punished for being so good.'

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Jun 21, 2026 10:30 AM EDT

Companies seem to love you when you are great at your job, but hate you when you seek a raise for your overwork.

The corporate world is crazy, filled with bosses who love micromanaging, workloads that increase when you are good at your job, and salaries that get stagnant for years just because. Workers are always the ones paying the price for the company's inefficiency. If a worker leaves, another one is given double the workload. If a boss makes a mistake, then the worker is responsible out of respect. This is not fair, and the fact that we accept it just proves the desperation we have for these jobs.

In this Reddit story, we see all of these situations. We are shown the reality of corporate jobs, workers being screwed over a thousand times till they leave. There is no impulse –aside from the normal paycheck– to do more, to put effort in. No benefits, no raises, no escalating. Working more and doing your best doesn't matter. On the contrary, it just means that bosses and higher-ups can use you just because you are not fighting back. They take advantage of your lack of power to fill you with more work than you can actually manage and expect that you're happy with that. Well, this worker wasn't.

Maybe this malicious compliance is just the only way a worker can feel like they are making a change, as if they are getting back all the unrecognized effort. The lack of rewards for hard-working employees will only end with unsatisfied workers who do not even do the bare minimum, as they realize it actually doesn't matter anymore. Whether they are great or the worst, the paycheck is the same, and nothing ever changes. 
 

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