Workplace fires receptionist then splits her job between 11 people: 'So twice a week I now spend two hours answering the door'

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Sep 9, 2026 4:30 PM EDT

Is it "shared ownership" or just cheaping out on a new receptionist? 

When someone leaves or is laid off, it's not uncommon for their job to be absorbed into everyone else's. This is far from fair, but that doesn't stop it from happening. There is a right way and a wrong way to do this, though. If you're going to give everyone else more work, you should make sure it makes sense with the workload they already have, and if that means taking some tasks off the table, then you should take some tasks off the table. Or you should be given a raise commensurate with the amount of extra work you're doing. This doesn't always happen, though, and sometimes employees are just expected to take on more than they're comfortable with just to keep their jobs. This was an extreme example of this, and one that would have gotten under anyone's skin, even the chillest employee. 

Nobody wants to have to carve out time from their workweek to do someone else's work. You probably have enough to do of your own accord; you don't need someone else's workload to round it out. Especially if it's something you're not necessarily trained to do. A receptionist is a big job in and of itself. You need someone at the front to field all sorts of things that come through the door. You have to be attentive and available, and it's not a great time to do other work. So why would you split that up between people who probably don't want to do it? 

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  • A receptionist answers the phone at her desk
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Picture does not depict real parties.

    A receptionist answers the phone at her desk

  • They deleted a whole job and turned it into a calendar invite for the rest of us.

    Our receptionist quit about a month ago and everyone assumed they were hiring another one. Instead our operations manager made an Outlook calendar called "front desk coverage" and divided her entire job between 11 people.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • So twice a week I now spend two hours answering the door, signing for deliveries, transferring calls and dealing with random people who walk in. I still have the exact same workload and deadlines from my actual job.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • Most of the time there's barely anything happening. During my turn I usually have a livestream open on one monitor or play games on my phone between the occasional call or delivery.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • Friday we had a meeting and management congratulated everyone because the "trial" went so well that they decided the receptionist position doesn't need to be filled anymore. Like yeah of course the trial went well. You had 11 people absorbing one person's job on top of everything else. They're calling it "shared ownership."
    via Silly_Assistant3667

  • When the boss makes a decision for you, you sometimes just have to take it in stride. You pick your battles, and you realize that every fight is not worth having. But that doesn't mean you have to take everything lying down. You have some agency over what you are and aren't willing to do for your job. The employee in this story was wondering what he could do to get himself out of this situation. So he shared his story on the internet, which provided a lot of sympathy and some ideas. 

  • Commenters gave their jokes and takes and advice.

    toshiko_saturn2250 Management: "And then we'll just call it 'shared ownership' and make everyone, except for us, do it!
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • shaysalterego You should all demand 1/11th of the salary they're no longer paying for a secretary and extensions for your deadlines because you have more work now
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • Firm Order_2212 When you do your work well, you are rewarded with more work.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • your_average_plebian You know what else you should all do that the receptionist did?
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • A man sits at a reception desk
    via Javad Esmaeili

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

    A man sits at a reception desk 

  • k_money25 This same exact thing happened at my old office. They thought they could save money by letting the receptionist go and gave coverage of the phones to three people. Three people who have full time jobs. One those people included me.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • Then one time when we had the president of the company as an audience and he asked if we had any thing to tell him, I figured why not. I told him everything and how we didn't like it.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • They started hiring college students to do it as internships and such. Our work product got so much better when we could just focus on our actual job.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • RuckusManshank When you get the opportunity, do the job poorly. Hang up on people. when transferring, forget to pass on message, etc. It's not your fault, you're not a receptionist, were never trained as a receptionist, and never applied to work as a receptionist.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • Harrigan_Raen Did they put themselves on the calendar? If its shared ownership, I feel like management should lead by example.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • missmeggums I had a job like this. When the receptionist went on vacation they would pull someone on the bench to fill in for her. I had to do it one time for 2 days and that's how I found out she had an under the table coffee gig.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • Everyone involved was super upset with me for not knowing where Heather kept her coffee supply keys. Absolutely wild. I wasn't a coffee person then so I was like Jesus is she putting drs in the coffee?? No. Coffee is the d g.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • I'm also still mad I had zero training for it? Like you need a college degree to be a receptionist but people just told me what to do on the fly. Every time I answered the phone I just said that the actual receptionist was out and to call back next week.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • A guy showed up with packages and I'm like I don't know who these people are or how to find them in the building? You know I'm starting to realize why I was never asked to be the receptionist again for the rest of my time there LOL
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • Family RedShirt I was typesetting and earning massive OT for a small company with a huge account in the '80s, unable to make it through the mound of work on my desk, when one of the owners said I would be covering receptionist lunches once a week.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • I first asked if they didn't really have anyone with less work, or who made closer to her pay (I earned about 2-3x her pay/hour. They said all women were taking turns. I said, "Okay, fine. But I hate answering phones, so all calls I answer will open with 'Company Name, what the F do you want?"
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • Alive_Room6023 Keep playing those games. and enjoy downtime. If you fall behind on your actual job, tell them that you're doing what you can.
    via Silly_Assistant3667
  • fsactual In my experience a company that can no longer afford to hire the receptionist is a company that has a few months left to live. Get your resume ready and start looking for new work now.
    via Silly_Assistant3667

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