His Micromanaging Boss Grilled Him Over His Timesheet, So He Quit And Landed A Job Paying 52% More
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Being treated like a suspect for doing your job is a quick way to lose a good employee.
One IT contractor spent a while working for a boss who micromanaged almost everything, from how coworkers performed to whether the company even needed them at all.
His boss was a deeply suspicious person, even asking him to review his coworker’s timesheets, even though none of them had any problems.
Then he went full-time and logged eight hours a day, and his boss lost it. He grilled him on the phone for nearly thirty minutes, furious that a full-time contractor had billed full-time hours.
Turns out, his boss’ overreach was just the push he needed to reach the next level in his career.
Keep reading for the full story.
Micromanagement led me to Quit
My micromanaging boss threw a fit over my timesheet, so I quit and got a job paying 52% more.
So I’ve been contracting in IT for this firm for a while now. My boss is one of those people who’s very to-the-point, like, borderline dominating in how they talk to you.
There were no boundaries when it came to this boss.
They’d constantly ask me what other employees were doing, how they were performing, whether we even “needed” them, and even threaten employees on call that they might lose the job if they are not pulling weight.
Kind of an odd dynamic, honestly, having your boss vent to you about your coworkers.
His boss really ruled the place with an iron fist.
They added a new responsibility of verifying other contractors’ timesheets before my boss would approve them. I always said they did fine.
Hours were accurate, no issues.
For whatever reason, my boss was obsessed with contractors logging fewer hours instead of just rounding up to a flat 8.
Then his boss turned his obsessive eye on him.
Well, this month, it was my turn to be under the microscope. I’d been part-time for a while, logging 3-3.5 hours a day, no problem.
Then I went full-time and started putting 8 hours a day like I was actually working.
That’s when chaos really broke loose.
Cue the meltdown. My boss did NOT like seeing 40 hours a week on my timesheet and called me up about it.
We were on the phone for almost 30 minutes. I calmly explained that yes, the hours were correct, and also, this is literally how I pay my bills.
Didn’t matter. I was so annoyed.
The employee had finally had enough — and his exit ended up causing quite a stir.
That annoyance turned into motivation real quick. I started applying that same week. Landed something new at 52% more than what I was making.
Told my boss yesterday I’m out. They were stunned. Absolutely did not see it coming.
Sometimes the best career move is just having a boss who makes you mad enough to leave.
Sounds like this boss actually gave this employee a gift.
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What did Reddit have to say?
Sometimes being uncomfortable ends up pushing you into the next best thing.
This commenter doesn’t understand why so much bad behavior is rewarded in the workplace.
The quality of your boss often determines the overall quality of the job.
This boss spent months treating his contractors like suspects and then acted shocked when one of them left. He questioned whether coworkers were needed, threatened jobs over the phone, and vented about employees behind their backs.
A man who runs a team that way is managing fear, and fear isn’t the best talent retention strategy.
The contractor is the one who truly comes out ahead here. He stayed calm, said his piece, and took his skills somewhere that actually valued them.
Bosses who count hours instead of results end up counting resignations.
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