Almost four years ago, I moved to the Czech Republic after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. It was primarily economic emigration, as my home region is located far away from the front lines. I obtained my first degree in law in Ukraine.
When I first moved here, the job market was difficult. The large number of refugees meant intense competition. Getting my degree recognized was out of the question. To do that, I would essentially have had to relearn Czech law, and I would also have needed to be able to study it in Czech. At that point, I had absolutely no knowledge of the language.
My first job in the country was as a cleaner at a construction site where high-rise residential buildings were being built, since the job didn’t require any knowledge of Czech. The atmosphere there was terrible. Probably because I was the youngest person there, at 21, I became an easy target for bullying and rumors. People spread stories that I was reporting my colleagues’ mistakes to management while taking more breaks than actually working, and that my coworkers had to do my job for me. After four months, I was fired, which was honestly a relief.
After that, I had a few temporary jobs of the same kind, but the people I worked with were much nicer. My Czech studies were starting to pay off, and by then my level was approaching A2.
My next job was at a grocery store. There was one toxic coworker who would swear at me right in front of me and pull faces whenever I asked questions about the job. The pay was low, and the employment was unofficial. I quit after a month. I wanted to leave earlier, but they needed to find someone to replace me, and leaving before that would have put the store manager in a difficult position.
After that, I had two more temporary jobs. My Czech was somewhere between A2 and B1 by then.
Eventually, I got a job at a boutique selling German clothing brands in the mid-range and premium segments. The expectations were high, both in terms of appearance (neat, clean hair, light makeup, and never wearing the same outfit two days in a row) and behavior (greeting every colleague, always smiling, and putting the customer above everything else, basically persuading them to buy as much as possible).
The bonus system worked like this: every employee had their own barcode or ID number. To earn a bonus, you had to persuade a customer to buy an item and make sure the sale was registered under your number.
As a result, the atmosphere inside the store was suffocating. First and foremost, we were competitors, and management openly compared us with one another. There were even ranking lists showing how well each employee was performing. Behind all the smiles, people were constantly trying to fish for information, and gossiping about one another was completely normal.
After working there for three years, I quit. I was 25, and my Czech was approaching B2.
After experiencing severe burnout, I decided to go back home to Ukraine for four to six months. While there, I started going to the gym, took up aerial gymnastics, and began working with a psychotherapist.
When I returned to the Czech Republic, I decided I didn’t want to work with people anymore. Instead, I got a job in a warehouse, where I’ve completed three shifts so far. The physical demands are moderate.
I feel incredibly clumsy and stupid at this job. I keep making silly mistakes, and I’m already noticing that I’m starting to irritate my trainer. Of course, she doesn’t say anything directly, but I can sense it from her behavior.
For example, she questioned why I had left a physically easier job in a clothing store to work here. Another time, right after a team meeting, I immediately went back to work. There are hourly productivity targets, and I hadn’t met mine that day. My trainer called me over and accused me of not listening during the meeting, which was why I hadn’t understood that she wanted to clarify something.
The thing is, during the meeting, we had been told that the current chaos was temporary. Eventually, each employee would either spend the entire day doing one task or do one task during the first half of the shift and another during the second half. I interpreted this to mean that warehouse work would become less chaotic over time, so I went straight back to work afterward.
However, my trainer had actually wanted to find out how I, along with the other people she was training, would prefer to work: doing one task per day or switching between two tasks.

I’m a seasonal employee and have had some big medical concerns come up. I do not meet FMLA and this is psychological not a physical disability

I am anxious about asking for more time off, specifically because another employee asked off for two weeks next month and I need time off specifically during some of those dates

I also don’t want my employer all up in my business
I don’t have much PTO or sick time left, and tbh im not concerned about that part.

Do I just say f it and put in the requests? I’m a supervisor for a small crew that does fuels mitigation

I am so tired of seeing AI everywhere. I’m a writer and copywriter. I had also started getting into illustration, but that line of work has been completely ruined...

As if it wasn't enough that clients are already using AI and we're losing jobs because of it, now the companies I actually work for , are demanding that I learn AI tools just to speed up productivity and pump out content faster.

For years, I trained to work with my own words. To use my own brain and my imagination. I only use AI as a minor tool to assist me with basic tasks, but never to have it write or create for me.

Honestly, I just want to throw in the towel and do some form of manual labor. I’d rather go sell things at a flea market or clean stairwells. I just want a job where I won't cross paths with AI ever again.

Is anyone else going through something similar?

Last week I worked 5 days, off Wednesday and Thursday. They asked me to come in Wednesday but I was going to the DMV, grocery store, and had a few things to do around the house so I declined.

This week I have Friday-Sunday off and they just asked me to come in again. This is all because they've laid off 30% of the headcount and want people to come in on overtime to save money.

A lot of my coworkers are wanting mandatory overtime so that they can force people like me to come in so they don't have to work as much. Which is crazy to me, why would you not be complaining about them reducing our head count. It's not even just boomers that are saying this. It's people in their mid 30s too which is wild.

I would try to find a new job but my wife and I are trying for a baby so I'm trying to hang on until paternity leave. As soon as I get on that though I'll be mass applying to jobs.

20f

i have been looking for a job for like 5 months now and this was my first actual interview. everything seemed fine and i was asked to come in to trial today for an hour. this was for a music store. i was told to look around and tidy up things that seem messy, i quickly realized the things that had been seemingly intentionally out of place to see of i would notice, thats fine, so i went around tidying and was told about 15 minutes into my trial not to just tidy but to also "fix" things. confused i asked the manager who was training me what was meant by fixed and he looked at me as though i was stupid and abruptly told me to just "fix it" he then obviously frustrated with me tidys the display i was supposed to notice was out of place without even knowing the layout of the store yet.

i was also told that he would be observing how i interacted and greeted customers when they walked through the door, so for every person who walked in i greeted with "hi, how are you? is there anything i can help with today?" trying to not be too overbearing because i know how much others and myself hate being hovered in a store. i was told soon after that i should wait a minute after greeting the customer with "hi" and asking "do you need help". when a customer asked me if they have any music recommendations for a birthday present to a friend i explained it was my first day and redirected them to the manager, after said customer left i was then informed that i shouldn't be redirecting to the manager and i should be giving my own suggestions. bare in mind i have literally been in here for like 30 minutes or under at this point.

anyway bad vibes all around and i dont think i got the job anyway. think i dogged a bullet, but also feeling guilty and weak for not sucking it up considering ive been looking for a job for so long and now i maybe get one i dont want it just because i felt uncomfortable. my previous 2 jobs i ended up being treated quite poorly and walked all over due to me being young and at the time in a rural town.

not devastated just sad and disappointed in myself. i tried my best

After almost 15 years, I put in my two weeks! This might have been the only job I was getting paid less the last few years. My colleague asked “Who is going to run the office now” and I said “Honestly, not my problem anymore”. I have the privilege to not worry about money in the short term but I feel SOO free!!! The toxicity, being called derogatory names, doing three jobs, is now over at the end of the month!

Anybody else notice that those that lack people skills the most often move up faster, like straight up assholes and treat people like garbage. I worked with a guy like that before and the company was trying to force an upper management position on him, I'm working with a manager now whose peers said over and over again that he shouldn't be allowed to manage anyone but here we are and now everyone under him is trying to find another job. I see it with so many companies if you want to move up to management just become a complete deutsch bag, you don't even have to be good at your job just belittle someone in front of your coworkers.

I absolutely loathe any sort of “skills assessment” or “personality test” during the job application, but these little simulation quizzes might be the worst.

There is nothing any 30 minute little game will tell you that my resume, project portfolio, professional references, and credentials wouldn’t.

And if you are really looking to know me personally, then just fucking interview me.

Any time a place makes me do any of these dumb little games, I withdraw my application.

I just tell them, “Thank you for the opportunity, but I value my time highly and don’t wish to continue a convoluted interview process. I’ve provided my resume and project portfolio, and would be happy to interview in person, but at this point, I’m no longer interested in this process.”

We're had two waves of layoffs in the past two months, with no notice each time. Never any management always workers. They did this at the end of the day on a Friday, not even at work. They texted us about an hour after we got home.

Corporate is coming Tuesday, I guess to gut the rest of the building. Everyone left is scrambling to get new jobs because we don't believe for a moment that we're gonna stay open.

The fact the manager who had to get a dozen people to explain she can't chain an emergency exit shut today and has never done any work besides complaining about our work gets to keep her job is insane

So I work in auto manufacturing, and a few weeks ago I started getting some severe pain in my hand whenever I would do one of my usual stations that persisted even during my days off. Pain would flare up whenever my fingers or knuckles bumped against anything, fingers would be locked in place when I woke up and caused extreme amounts of pain whenever I tried to open or close my hand, and any attempts to loosen or adjust my grip leads to my fingers immediately snapping open or clamping tightly.

After a few weeks of reporting the injury and literally having a video album of the condition worsening, I was finally seen by the on-site medical team before being taken to an urgent care clinic and put on an extremely strict work restrictions. Now, how strict are we talking?

* I may lift up to 2 pounds occasionally. Most power tools and parts I would handle were 20-30lbs.

* I may push and pull up to 5 pounds occasionally. This is a factory where we're building cars; even with pneumatic lift systems we're regularly pushing and pulling several times that.

* I cannot use power/impact/vibratory tools with the injured hand. None of the tools can be operated with a single hand due to their weight or the amount of kickback they generate.

* I may occasionally grip, squeeze, or pinch with my injured hand. The fact that this is limited means even the simple tasks that don't require power tools or heavy lifting can't be done for extended periods.

* I have to wear finger braces. This just makes everything from cooking to sleeping more annoying, and I had to type this out on mobile since the braces make typing on the keyboard a massive pain.

Once the clinic forwarded my supervisor the list of restrictions I was under, he called to tell me that they had no way to accommodate my restrictions given my position, and he was putting me on medical leave until I recovered from the injury and completed my treatment/physical therapy.

Fast forward to today, and I get an email from upper management saying they were scheduling me to return to work on Sunday. This is despite the fact that the treatment for my injury is still ongoing and my restrictions prevent me from using my dominant hand in any useful manner. When I replied and explained that my treatment was still ongoing and that the work schedule would conflict with my next appointment, I was told that not showing up would affect my Workers Compensation case and be counted as unexcused absences. In polite terms, if I don't show up I'm fired and possibly forfeit the remainder of my medical treatment.

The thing is, I've had to deal with a workplace injury at this company in the past, and I know they're awful at accommodating medical restrictions. Last year I had an injury that required a cortisone shot, and the company put me back on regular duty the next day. A few hours into the shift I started bleeding from the injection site, got sent back to the doctor, and was put on "light duty" that completely failed to accommodate my injury. I also know that our shift has been extremely understaffed for the entire time that I worked at the company, so it sounds like upper management is trying to put me back on schedule so they have one less empty station, consequences be damned.

Sorry for the long rant, I'm just insanely frustrated by the whole situation.

Twice this year, supervisory personnel at the US Postal Service Michigan Metroplex in Pontiac activated sorting machinery while a maintenance worker was underneath. Neither incident resulted in an injury but in other circumstances the outcome could have been tragic, resulting in death or serious injury.

According to a grievance filed by the president of APWU local, the incidents happened in May and September of 2026. Steve Woods said the unit had filed grievances and a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as well as postal management. Woods also notified the offices of Michigan Democratic Congressional representatives Debbie Dingell, Haley Stevens and Rashida Tlaib.

The grievance filed by Woods stated, “They’ve been multiple incidents of both clerks and operations supervisors using the code” to activate the machine.

In response to the reports many workers posted on social media expressing concern and shock that proper lockout/tagout procedures on machinery were not in place at the Metroplex. One worker wrote, “I work at the metroplex and I can say [from] first-hand experience that place is being ran down to ground. This is not the first time nor the last time.” Another responded, “I work there as well and you’re absolutely right when you say it’s getting ran down to the ground.”

Another posted, “I am an ET at that facility and that machine should’ve been LOTO. (locked out) ESPECIALLY that machine! It’s over 100 ft long and taller than he is and he was INSIDE of it! So REGARDLESS of who pressed the start button, it should’ve been powered down.”

The same Pontiac facility was investigated a decade ago after workers raised the alarm over multiple employee deaths. A February 2016 USPS inspector general’s alert recorded a complaint that five workers had died in 14 months. A later APWU account gave a different chronology: four workers were taken from the plant by emergency services between October 2014 and August 2015 and subsequently died, while a fifth died under similar circumstances in June 2011. They ranged in age from 38 to 64.

One of them was Keesha Gray, 38, who died on June 9, 2015. Her family’s attorney, Brian McKeen, told WXYZ that she felt ill at work and informed managers she was going to her car. She collapsed and died there, remaining undiscovered for nearly two hours. APWU officials questioned why managers had not noticed her prolonged absence. The medical examiner attributed her death to bronchial asthma. Her family hired McKeen to investigate whether conditions at the facility contributed.

A local mail handlers’ representative told WDIV that the five deaths involved three reported heart attacks, an asthma attack and a stroke. Coworkers also complained of headaches and coughing. The Metroplex was built on a contaminated former General Motors foundry site, with ventilation and methane-detection systems intended to prevent gas accumulating inside. The inspector general found the detection system had malfunctioned since March 2015. USPS maintained that testing showed safe methane levels; no causal link between methane and the deaths was established. Its January 2017 follow-up nevertheless documented continuing deficiencies in sensor maintenance and staff training.

...

Similar conditions exist at postal facilities around the country. Postal workers filed 38,977 federal workers’ compensation claims in 2025. That was almost half of all federal workers’ comp cases opened that year.

These are just a few of the deaths and life-threatening situations workers have suffered resulting from the efficiency schemes and speed up imposed by management and their collaborators in the union bureaucracy as safety conditions erode. These measures are aimed at improving “efficiency” and slashing costs in preparation for the privatization of the post office.

These attacks have accelerated under the Delivering for America (DFA) restructuring launched by former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in 2021. The plan consolidates work into fewer, larger automated facilities, cuts jobs and combines routes; Palmetto opened as part of this program. Workers’ testimony to the postal inquiry described billions being invested in automated equipment while basic medical equipment, trained medical staff and written emergency procedures were absent. Cutting staffing and treating every interruption as lost productivity puts workers under pressure to keep working through illness and to service machinery without adequate safeguards.

DeJoy’s successor, David Steiner, is preparing further cuts after the New Year. At the August 7 Board of Governors meeting, he said management “would not take any action until after the New Year,” while threatening changes to service standards and the closure of “thousands of unprofitable post offices.” He has told Congress that USPS plans to employ 30,000 to 35,000 fewer workers within four years. Further reductions would intensify the understaffing and overwork already endangering workers while accelerating the dismantling of the post office as a public service.

No confidence can be placed in the APWU bureaucracy, Democratic politicians, OSHA or USPS to address these conditions or to implement the measures needed to keep postal workers safe. Acker’s coworkers told the WSWS that safety grievances had been filed less than 90 days before his death and that APWU officials knew about them. One worker described disabled stop switches and the removal of the additional worker who should have been available to stop the machinery. The grievance machinery left these dangers unresolved.

The APWU leadership continues to channel opposition into appeals to Congress. At its August convention, President Jonathan Smith declared: “Congress just has to get off of their ass and act.” But at a House hearing in March, ranking Democrat Kweisi Mfume said USPS “obviously needs to cut costs and increase revenue.” The union apparatus subordinates workers to the same political framework of cost cutting that management invokes to justify restructuring. Workers need organizations capable of enforcing safety against management’s production demands.

The Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee is fighting these conditions based on mobilizing the independent strength of workers themselves. It unites postal workers across the US, Canada and internationally in a common fight. Workers must organize at their worksites independently of the union apparatus to assert their own interests. These committees give workers the means to expose unsafe conditions and organize a collective fight back, including worker oversight of safety and the right to refuse unsafe work.

Completely miserable in my current role and decided to fill out a couple applications last weekend and immediately had 2 interviews scheduled for this week. Did the first on Wednesday, that was a video call over Google meet. Went alright was supposed to hear something back yesterday and didn't. Second one I put off til today cuz it was a pre recorded video interview where I was supposed to talk to the camera for 20 minutes answering timed behavioral questions and then submit my audition and hope I get picked for a second one.

I thought I was prepared. Took a shower. Got dressed like I was going for an interview. Went over my notes. Got comfortable and hit start. Totally butchered all the practice questions and said fuck this. Texted the recruiter that reached out for me to get it done and told them Im not interested in doing a pre recorded audition. If they want to have a real meeting to discuss my skills and the position I'd take that meeting. Maybe it's just me getting old (46) but I have zero interest in playing that game. So aggravated.

I joined a consulting MNC straight out of university because I was scared to take risks, and it was during Covid. Looking back, I wish I had interviewed with more companies instead of accepting the first offer I received.
I hate almost everything about my job. The work gives me no joy, and my degree is completely unrelated to what I do.
I have four years of experience. Three of those years went to waste. I was practically on the bench for most of that time or made minor contributions to projects that don’t really add much value to my CV or help me in the job market.
I finally got the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to two projects, but the lead keeps forgetting to include my name when congratulating the team which is genuinely disheartening.
I’ve started interviewing with other companies, but they see four years of experience on my CV and expect me to know much more than I do.
At this point, I feel like my lead is trying to push me out without actually firing me. But how am I supposed to leave without another job offer? And how am I supposed to get a job offer when I haven’t been given the opportunities to gain the experience employers expect from someone with four years of experience?

To summarise, I’m cooked, both career-wise and mental health-wise.