There’s always a bit of a hierarchical gap between employees and their boss, but this story made that gap obvious in the worst possible way.

One employee sat through a surprise meeting alongside coworkers already bracing for layoffs, then watched their boss act completely surprised that anyone would assume the worst.

So instead of staying quiet, she laid it all out: recent temp layoffs, rising AI use, past outsourcing, stagnant pay, and a job market so brutal that even minimum wage jobs now involve AI interviews.

Her boss’ reaction said everything about how disconnected leadership can really be from the people doing the work.

Keep reading for the full story.

Manager stunned when we explain that we fear for our jobs

Today in my mortgage company (not directly handling mortgages, just internal paperwork), my floor manager took my group into a meeting room.

Now, I knew we weren’t all being laid off, but others had that concern.

So one employee expressed that concern, and the boss seemed surprised.

As the meeting started, one blurted out right away, “Please tell me what this is about right now.”

And as predicted, it wasn’t about firings. She was dismayed to think that it was even considered.

Another employee chimed in to explain the group’s thinking,

I explained, “This is a cyclical business, you just laid off every temp in the sector, AI is on the rise, you’ve outsourced in the past, you’ve made it clear that there’s not enough money for a cost of living increase in pay.

The job market is horrendous, and nowadays it takes three interviews to get a minimum wage job, where at least one ‘interview’ is with AI.

But this isn’t all.

Inflation is going up, and people in this company are working two jobs, going without meds, going without insurance, and going without proper health care.

Every single day of my life, I expect to be let go because ‘I make too much money, and can be easily replaced.'”

The boss seemed completely clueless about all of this.

She was stunned and reiterated that that was not going to happen. It did not change our feelings at all, of course.

I swear, managers live on another world.

It’s clear this boss isn’t paying near enough attention as she probably should be.

What did Reddit have to say?

Being a manager doesn’t come with the pay or status it used to.

Companies often use the element of surprise to catch loyal employees off guard.

There’s a big gap in trust between many employees and bosses.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a contractor who flew along way and spent 3 days on a fix only to find a breaker that needed to be flipped.

This boss will say whatever she has to in order to cover her own rear.

Assuming layoffs are coming isn’t paranoia when temps just got cut, raises haven’t happened in years, and outsourcing is already part of company history.

The manager’s shock says everything here. Being surprised that employees fear losing their jobs, in this economy, with this company’s own track record, is just kinda tone deaf.

This employee listed out multiple compelling reasons for the employee’s instability, but the boss clearly hadn’t been paying attention.

Trust is built by actually advocating for your employees, not just saying what you think they want to hear.