Woman daydreaming while at a workPhoto byTierneyMJ via Shutterstock

Nobody wants to work anymore because companies rake in massive profits while paying their employees a pittance.

One worker came to Reddit venting after getting a tiny raise in the face of record profits.

Record Profits

The Original Poster (OP) shared that their breakroom constantly blasted corporate propaganda boasting of their record profits.

“The CEO giving out the “earnings report,” said in 2022 the company as a whole made $5 billion in profit,” said OP.

18 Meager Cents

Those profits didn’t go to the workers keeping the company afloat, though. OP recently had a performance review, and upon getting a “meets expectations” rating, the manager offered a raise: 18 cents per hour more.

That’s about $7 per week, or $28 per month, before taxes.

Although OP didn’t share their salary, they claimed to make “the paid equivalent of what $8 dollars an hour was eight years ago.”

On Meeting Expectations

Many Redditors pointed out that “meeting expectations” is the bare minimum for any job, and OP was lucky to secure a raise with that rating.

OP edited their post to add that someone who exceeded expectations only got a 28-cent raise, which still won’t keep up with inflation.

However, claiming that “meeting expectations” isn’t worthy of a raise highlights the insidious nature of America’s toxic work culture.

When did coming to work and doing what was required become problematic? Why is it wrong to do your job and nothing more? Why must we constantly go above and beyond our job description to deserve a living wage?

Meeting expectations needs to be the standard, not the bare minimum. Managers love overachievers, and yes, they should reap the rewards with bonuses, but folks who simply want to come home, do their jobs, and go home also deserve a living wage.

Time to Find a New Job

Most users advised OP to start looking for a new job. Clearly, their company doesn’t value the employees whose hard work created the record profits.

“Well, even if it was a quarter, that’s be a cool $10 per week,” said one after doing the math. “You need to find a new job.”

All the Jobs Are Like This

Others said a new job wouldn’t solve the problem, as most companies underpay their employees.

“90% of companies are like OP’s,” laughed one user. “Employers do not see employees as a source of profit(despite the fact they are the sole generators of profit) they see them as a business expense.”

These users expressed that workers need to unite and vote to improve working conditions and wages overall and that job hopping can’t work for most Americans.

Why No One Wants To Work

Stories like this remind us why people don't want to work anymore.

This article was produced and syndicated by Partners in Fire.