Bad managers have become so commonplace in our modern world that they’re commonly the rule, not the exception.
There’s no shortage of atrocious manager stories littering the web — check out Reddit’s anti-work sub if you enjoy workplace drama — but some manager stories are so mind-bending as to seem clearly fake. The one shared by TikTok user Jennifer (@itsjennygonzalez) couldn’t be more real, unfortunately, and it’s riling up viewers in droves over on the video-sharing website.
Jennifer shared the video, which is in fact just a screen recording of a truly jaw-dropping voicemail, back in late November, and in the process made a horde of enemies for her one-time manager, Jamie.
The voicemail from Jamie starts off completely fine, and in fact quite sweet. It clearly came after Jenny called out of work for essentially the best reason anyone can give — she was having a baby. When contractions started she realized it was go time and informed her job she wouldn’t be back in anytime soon.
So her manager, the well-meaning woman that she is, quickly called up her treasured employee to celebrate the good news. “I just got your voicemail and saw your text,” the manager starts out, “it’s kind of exciting!”
All good so far. Great work, Jamie, this is absolutely an appropriate response to learning one of your employees is set to become a mother. But soon after is where things go sideways, as Jamie skids away from celebration and into straight-up audacity. “Hopefully you are doing okay,” she says — still a solid response — “and the baby is gonna make his or her grand entrance and put you out of your misery, so you’re not suffering.”
And that’s where she loses all respect from literally anyone listening: “Let me know how things are going, and let me know what your doctor says — if at all you can work today, if contractions like stop and you feel okay let me know because I can definitely use your help.”
Excuse the hell out of me, ma’am, but what? Did you just ask an employee in mid-labor to come into work? Girl, contractions aren’t going to stop just because you need help — figure it out. What’s worse is what comes at the tail-end of the voicemail, when Jamie admits that she is a mother herself. “I understand, I’ve been there,” she says, before adding another request that Jennifer “keep [her] posted.”
It’s a truly mind-boggling request, and Jennifer is joined by thousands of commenters in slamming Jamie for having the gall to make such an absurd ask. Many of them call the situation absolutely “wild,” and several noted that they would have quit on the spot in similar circumstances.
It’s not clear if that’s what Jennifer decided to do, but with a new bundle of joy filling up her days, she probably doesn’t spare much time for Jamie. Which is a great thing, since managers like that are heavily contributing to workplace dissatisfaction across America. A full seven out of 10 Americans say they would quit a job over a bad manager, and we’re only seeing that number increase as younger generations join the workforce.
It’s largely due to people like Jaimie, who I’m sure meant well but went about it in exactly the wrong way. Far too many bosses and managers forget they employ people, not machines, and we demand and deserve respect, compassion, and understanding when our human lives get in the way of work. If they don’t, so be it — but they can’t expect us to stick around.