New employee lets senior coworker take credit for his game-changing tool during his 90-day probation, watches him become the office "tech genius" and earn a 5% raise: ‘I haven't corrected anyone’

Author image for Cata Holmes
Cata Holmes • Writer
Aug 12, 2026 3:15 PM EDT

Doing the work and getting credit for it are, unfortunately, two very different things.

Starting a new job is already stressful enough without watching someone else take credit for your work. One employee automated a painfully slow reporting process with a spreadsheet macro, only for the senior coworker to train him to become the office "tech genius." Eight months later, that coworker has earned praise and a raise, and the real creator still hasn't said a word.

I was never a fan of those people who feel like they can do whatever they want with new employees. Yes, we all know that new members need training at first, and everything they do needs to be supervised. However, in this story we are talking about a guy who joined a distribution company, which some of their procedurees were long and not updated at all. Since he's good with computers, he invented a system that accelerates the process of how they would put data into an Excel spreadsheet every morning.

Marcus, the person who was assigned to his training, took full credit for this innovation and got praised by every management member of the company. Not only that, he got a raise and was invited to important meetings, where people were expecting to have his creative ideas for improving some other parts of the company. Since Marcus doesn't have any idea of how to do these things, he regularly asks the OP to solve the issues that come his way. 

The OP has not corrected anyone nor spoken up about him being the one responsible for these advantages. Needless to say, I hope he ends up finding a way to get compensated for his good ideas and stop having Marcus be praised for things he doesn't know how to get done.

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  • New employee working on a computer at his desk after creating a tool that streamlined the company’s daily reporting process.
    via Unsplash+ (via Getty Images)

    New employee working on a computer at his desk after creating a tool that streamlined the company's daily reporting process.

    Recreated scenario included to enhance reader understanding.

  • I work in logistics for a medium-sized distributor. When I started here about a year ago, our inventory reporting was a total nightmare. Everyone was manually copying numbers from three different software
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  • systems into Excel, which took about two hours every single morning. It was tedious, and people kept making copy-paste errors that messed up shipping schedules.
    via softcloudii
  • I know basic VBA, so during my second week, I spent a couple nights at home writing a script to automate the entire process. It turned a two-hour headache into a ten- second click.
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  • When I brought it in on a flash drive, I showed it to Marcus, the guy training me. He's been with the company for seven years and everyone loves him. I meant to just say "hey look what I made to make our mornings
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  • easier," but when he saw it run, his jaw literally dropped. He asked if he could test it on his computer first. I said sure.
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  • Later that afternoon, our regional director stopped by our row of cubicles to ask about a delay. Marcus popped up and said, "Actually, I put together a quick tool that fixed our reporting workflow today, we're totally caught
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  • up." He didn't explicitly say he wrote the code, but he definitely let the director assume it was his project. The director gave him a shoutout in the weekly newsletter that Friday.
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  • At first I was furious. I almost went to management, but I was still on my 90-day probation and didn't want to start drama with a senior employee. So I just kept quiet.
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  • Here's where the confession comes in. It's been eight months now, and Marcus has essentially built a reputation as the tech genius of our department based on my tool.
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  • He gets asked to sit in on cross-department meetings. Last month he got a 5% merit raise, and during his brief thank-you speech to the team, he mentioned "innovating our daily processes."
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  • I haven't corrected anyone. In fact, when the macro broke after an Office update back in November, Marcus panicked and texted me privately asking if I could "take a look at the
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  • code since I'm good with computers." I fixed it for him in five minutes and handed it back without a word.
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  • He buys me lunch at least twice a week now, probably out of low-key guilt. Part of me wants to blow the whistle, but another part of me realizes as long as he thinks he owes me, I have the easiest job security in the office.
    via softcloudii
  • Two coworkers discussing a computer program at the office after a new hire developed a tool that transformed their daily workflow.
    via Unsplash+ (via Getty Images)

    Two coworkers discussing a computer program at the office after a new hire developed a tool that transformed their daily workflow.

    Featured likenesses do not identify those mentioned.

  • Of course, most Redditors wanted to empower the OP and have Marcus exposed. But from what we can learn from the story, the writer doesn't seem like that kind of person. Something he could be doing is taking screenshots of every conversation he has with Marcus to eventually prove that he's the one responsible for these crazy innovations.

  • goddessofluck If you know you're getting used stop fixing it when it the tool breaks. Let him figure it out.
    via softcloudii
  • dragneelfps No point is reporting it now. You will only get a sour relationship. Since, you think he knows that he owes you, use that as advantage to advance your career alongside his own.
    via softcloudii
  • Due_Ad7627 Seems like a good way to get free lunches. If that stops just undo the program.
    via softcloudii
  • Southern Gur9825 You need to call out Marcus for who he is. I would tell Marcus that you are sending an email to the regional director telling him that you were the author of the reporting tool and that you know basic VBA. Tell him that you showed it to Marcus and he implemented it into your workflow. Give Marcus the opportunity to email the regional director himself, copying you on the email and if he doesn't, you will be doing it. Give him a deadline for when the email needs to be sent by.
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  • Employees working inside a busy distribution warehouse where inventory reports and shipping schedules are part of the daily operation.
    via Unsplash+ (via Getty Images)

    Employees working inside a busy distribution warehouse where inventory reports and shipping schedules are part of the daily operation.

    Stock photography for depiction only.

  • BeneficialGear9355 Just make sure you keep screenshots, etc. That way if it does have to come out one day, you'll have evidence.
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  • Dizzy_Captain7026 you're not confessing to letting him take credit anymore, you're confessing to quietly becoming the person who actually runs the department while he gets the applause lol
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  • Lopsided Tiger_0296 Just stop helping him and he'll get exposed all on his own
    via softcloudii

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