I work in an environment where there is a group of people (8 of us) who are responsible for a shared workload. It’s slow this time of year (it’s advertising, and I think most companies are still recovering financially from blowing their load on holiday advertising) and so I get maybe being a little slack. But this guy, sitting next to me, spends almost his ENTIRE shift watching YouTube videos. I think I’ve seen him do actual work on an ad maybe three times. I crank out 12 ads, he’s binge-watching YouTube videos about WoW. Now, if it was a matter of each of us having our own workloads to be responsible for, I don’t care. But I’m busting my ass hour after hour, checking the work queue (it’s an online system, ad reps submit new ads or corrections remotely and they pop up in our UI).
I know no one likes a snitch. I don’t want to be a snitch. I also don’t want to carry his lazy ass. So, if you were in my position, what would you do?
If you’re working from an online queue, I assume that means it tracks which employees complete which tasks.
Just do your job. If he doesn’t get disciplined, it’s because you either have a crappy boss OR he’s being purposefully overlooked. Either way, you lose if you call him out.
I sit next to the guy, pretty much no one else can see his screen.
My supervisor is aware of my contributions; it’s come up in reviews, that my productivity is at a very high level. There really is no discussion (so far) about co-workers’ contributions. The thing is, it’s newspaper advertising. It’s a dead-end industry, a sinking boat already. We used to get quarterly bonuses and Christmas bonuses; not any more. Insurance premiums are going up but covered services are being cut. I’m beginning to think that more and more of my co-workers really don’t give a shit anymore. Maybe I’m stupid for getting upset about it. I need to get out of this industry before I stress myself out too much, I think.
I worked at a place that had a guy who did nothing but YouTube and Facebook all day. One day I referred to him in conversation as “Facebook” and when people laughed openly and no one piped up with “who?” I knew I wasn’t the only person who had noticed his proclivities.
He didn’t last a year in his job before he was fired/quit.
Keep track of what kind of videos he’s watching, and upload a video of yourself saying “Dude, you’re busted!” Perhaps include a video from your computer of his back, where he’s watching YouTube videos at work. Make sure you upload it with keywords so he’s bound to see it when he search for WoW. Or send him a link (anonymously) to the video, with a copy to the supervisor.
Maybe then it would be in your best interest to get him fired. The salary they pay him is increasing their costs and cutting into their meager profit. Maybe go to your boss and say that to save costs, slacker should get fired since you can cover the minimal amount of work he does. What’s the point of even have him work harder? It sounds like you’re getting everything done anyway.
It just occurred to me that he might be depressed and unmedicated. Before I was diagnosed and medicated, I had much the same pattern of behavior; disinterest in work, or social activities, his posture is like someone who is defeated.
Ultimately, the problem is mine. I need to get out of here and stop worrying about him.
Is someone responsible for monitoring his productivity? Someone must be able to see that you’re pumping out 12 ads in the time he’s doing three, right? If so, maybe give it another few weeks to a month and see what happens. If not, or if nothing happens in a month, time to snitch.
If your boss has anything on the ball, she already knows. Either she’s chosen not to act for reasons she won’t divulge to you, or she *is *acting and she can’t divulge that either. If she does *not *have anything on the ball, telling her won’t make a difference anyway.
Yes, if you think you need to make a career change, you need to focus on that and forget about this guy.
Honestly, this seems more like a reason to find a new job than to snitch. If you’re doing 4x the work and being rewarded similarly then your boss such and your company sucks. If there is a limited pool of work to do then bumping up his productivity or getting him fired and bringing in a go-getter will reduce the amount of work for you to do and then your bosses will realize they have 1 too many or more people on staff. Either way, it seems like a reduction in force is coming or you’re poorly managed or both. Time to find a new place to work.
Yeah, it’s definitely “find a new place to work” time for me. Just put out a few applications today! Honestly a change has been needed for a while now.
I work in an industry that often has to lay people off (then rehire again months later). The best advice I ever got from my supervisor some 25 years ago was: “You want to stay with this company for a long time? Always be with in the top 10% of your coworkers. You’ll be bullet proof.”
Your coworker is a blessing. Because when it comes to layoff time, HE will get the ax before you.
Nor will there be. Even if the very next meeting your boss has is to ream out this clown, he or she is not going to discuss it with you. If your boss knows you are productive, he or she knows this clown isn’t.
When I was a manager I got complaints about someone while we were in the middle of firing him. I couldn’t say anything except that I was aware of the problem.
And maybe the boss knows layoffs are coming, and so doesn’t have to do anything now.
Switching jobs sounds reasonable, but not because of your co-worker.
You don’t have to outrun the (layoff) bear; you just have to outrun Mr. Youtube. Sometimes it’s nice to have a layer of sacrificial slacker to cover your backside.
Find reasons to have the boss come over to your desk. It will keep the tuber on his toes.
Of course, you could run the risk of looking like a pest for bothering your boss so much.