no-life co-workers who never leave the office, making everyone else look lazy

The BBQ Pit
41

Y’all should come work where I do. From June 21 to Labor Day, we do summer hours - if you want, you can work 4 nine-hour days and then leave at noon on Friday.

I’m lucky in that I will work longer than 8 hours, easily, if I have to (and that can be every day for a few weeks at a time when things are jumping), and sometimes I do stay late just surfin’ the net or whatever. But rule #1 is “just get the job done”, and we have tremendous freedom to leave early, come in late, or work from home. And funny enough, my direct boss is one of those people who will come in at 7:30am and work until 6:30pm, and will work on the weekends. But he respects the work we do and who we are, and that’s all that really matters.

But to those who have co-workers who stay late and look at you funny if you leave on time, fuck 'em. As long as you’re doing your job, they have nothing to stand on.

42

Not at all the case. I’d gladly do more work during my time if I had any to do. But I won’t work over, and if I do get called in the middle of the night for a problem (which rarely happens), I make up for it at some other time. I only work 25 hours a week, and I’m hourly anyway, so it’s not a big deal, but I did the same as a salaried employee. The rest of my time is spent working on my writing projects, and fortunately, I set my own goals and then work to meet them. If I finish early, I end early. If I haven’t finished, I sit here until it’s done.

43

I work for a company that was in start up mode, and I was working punishing hours. Insert an incidence of genuine burn out and a long talk with the CEO, and I have emerged from the other side happy, healthy, and with explicit instructions from the CEO not to work more that 40 hours a week. We’re expanding and have just hired a bunch of people, and everyone is adjusting to working like normal people, seeing daylight, etc-- even our incredibly overworked IT staff has stopped having to take turns sleeping in the office.

One woman, however, has not gotten the memo. Lets call her Dragon Lady (I did have a previous thread about her). She beats everyone in in the morning, is the last one out at night, and at least once a month our alarm company calls me because she’d in the building on saturday and can’t freakin’ input the code properly.

The the week before last we have this conversation (Background: CEO’s flight was delayed due to weather, and it was obvious he’d miss his connection in O’Hare. I wanted to just go ahead and book the hotel in Chicago, and he could call and cancel it if some kind of air miracle happened and he landed on time):

Dragon Lady: It would be better if you monitor the status of both flights and make the hotel reservation when he lands.
Me: I would, but I’m going to see Van Helsing tonight.
DL: So you won’t be able to just check up on the flights?
Me: No, not from the theater. And I bought the tickets already.
DL: Oh. (Pause) You seem to have a lot going on in your life.
Me: What?
DL: Oh, I just always notice that you’re very busy in your off time. Me, I just work and go home, that’s about it. But you. . .you’re always doing something on the weekend. Like on Friday nights you’ve always got somewhere to be, when stuff like this comes up. (Her voice tone was more accusatory than conversational)

At first I was pissed-- after all, I let this job and its lunatic, unpredictable hours tank not one, but the last TWO relationships I tried to have. I’m 25 and single, why wouldn’t you expect me to have friday night plans? (Even if it was just to ogle at Hugh Jackman with my best friend- what business is it of hers?)

Then, when I thought about it, I just felt pity for her. It’s not that she has too much work, it’s like she can’t think of anywhere else to be but work.

44

**Freejooky ** wrote

Sorry, but I pretty much fell out of my chair when I saw that. What a joy it must be to do a 10 or 11 hour work day.

45

I’ve devoted perhaps too much time to pschoanalyzing my boss, a workaholic who likes to drop hints about her major personal issues. She is a divorced woman in her 50s with adult children.

Here at work, during her 12-hour days, she is important and constantly needed. Constantly needed because she has not delegated anything and she insists on knowing about every little detail.

At home, she’s just a desperately lonely person in a big empty house, eating TV dinners, drinking too much and falling asleep on the couch while watching Survivor. When I’m leaving at five o’ clock, she often says in the most pathetic way, “enjoy that little baby of yours” (I have a two-year-old). As if I need to be encouraged to enjoy my free time.

I can understand why she wants to stay at the office.

46

Why are you assuming that everyone works day shift? Or is in the United States, for that matter?

Most of the coworkers that people are complaining about are not getting MORE work done, they’re just putting in longer hours. That’s not really good for them OR for the business. My boss at the dress shop, for instance, would come in at 7:30 or 8:00 when the store officially opened at 10:00, yet she was goofing off in the back room at least five hours a day. She came in early because she was bored at home, and did personal stuff while she was at the store. I don’t call that being a good worker, I call that slacking off…and since she was the top person in the area, I also call it a poor role model. She was single, and enjoyed going out on dates in the evening…and she’d make a date for 7, when she knew that the store was supposed to close at 6, and we might well have customers who arrived at 5:55 wanting a bridesmaid’s dress. On one memorable occasion, we had a woman come in and tell us that she was getting married in 30 minutes, and needed a dress. This WAS in Las Vegas, after all.

I did work day shift at the dress shop. Now, I don’t work outside the home (my health prevents it). Other people posting here might have worked day jobs in the past and are on another shift now, or home sick, or had to take off for a doctor’s appointment or something. Sheesh.

There are some jobs that I would gladly work long hours, and put in more than an eight hour day (if my health permitted). Even so, I do have a husband, a daughter, and a couple of cats who all enjoy my company, and who like to see me every day.

47

Unfortunately, at a lot of places it’s all about perception. Reality doesn’t matter.

A few years ago my industry was going through some major downsizing. Around that time, the head manager of another department came to talk to our department head at about 6:00 pm and remarked “wow, there’s nobody here–don’t you folks have enough to do.” We had more than enough to do and most of us were at an offiste that evening.

But, sure enough, we got a memo not much after that stating that given the market situation, we should expect to be in the office by 8:00 and not leave before 6:00 pm unless we had a compelling reason (our normal hours are 8 - 5). Given that I usually worked longer than that, I asked if it meant I could be assured of leaving by 6:00, but no such luck.

It was not a situation of us not getting enough work done. It was all about perception and one department head smarting off to another.

I leave right at 5:00 a couple days a week because I have other obligations those days. You bet I get looks from those who are still there and even comments like “wow, I wish I could leave but I have soooooo much to do.” Or course, they don’t see the work I take home, nor do they think maybe I just work faster and manage my time better than they do (I have been blessed with the ability to work really, really fast). It used to burn me up, but I’ve learned that there are some things I just have to deal with to have a life. And dealing with their comments is one of them.

Every time I leave at 5:00 I get emails or voicemails from my boss demanding immediate answers to things that really aren’t emergencies. Like the comments, it used to really bother me. My boss could never complain that I wasn’t doing more than my share of work. But boy does she try! Just the fact that I leave at 5:00 seems to stick in her craw.

But, like I accept that I just have to deal with her frantic messages and co-worker looks, she just has to deal with the fact that twice a week I leave at 5:00. It bothers her, but she really doesn’t have a leg to stand on come review/raise time because I make it clear to her the amount of work I get done.

Of course, that does have a cost to me. I have to be extra careful to document everything I get done and make sure she’s aware of it. I have to make that extra effort to let her know every week what I’ve accomplished so she sees it’s nothing less than what my co-workers are doing–even if they’re putting in more face time. That’s really the only way I’ve found to make it work: make sure I document that I do as much as anyone else there and make sure boss lady knows it.

48

The other side of the coin can suck, too, though. As a teacher, I average 70 hours a week from the first of August to the last of May. I could tell you I do it because my students need me (true), I could tell you I do it because I am ambitious as hell (true), but the real reason I work my ass off is that I love my fucking job. I love my students. I love grading papers and planning activities and even straightening my room and sorting out my desk. I love being super anally organized so that I can put my hands on anything at any moment, and I enjoy the process of organizing things. I am, of course, also estatic about summer vacations, but as much because it means the beginning of a new year as because of the time off (which will mostly be spent at workshops).

My job IS my life, and I like it that way.

I don’t expect other people to feel that way, any more than I expect other people to enjoy the same books and TV shows as I do or like the same music. They have their hobbies, I have mine. I’m cool with that. But I’ve found I have to hide how much I work because I can tell people think I am acting like the people described in this thread if it slips out that I am at work at 6:30 (AM or PM). They say things like “Gee, I wish I were as dedicated as you”, and even if I say something dismissive like “Oh, I’m just inefficient” or “I just love what I do”, it sounds like I am being falsely modest when I really am not–I know my way has no moral weight, it’s just what I like.

I guess what I am saying is that while I do not doubt there are people who wear their work hours like a hair shirt and flaunt their martyr status, there are other people who just enjoy what they do, and that’s ok–it’s no MORE noble than gardening or watching TV or gourmet cooking, but it’s no LESS noble, either–we all have our quirks. So if people are actually making comments about your not wokring enough, that’s jerkish behavoir and I’ll not try to make excuses for it. But be wary about assuming that they are judging you just based on looks they give you. And don’t judge their lives by your standards if you don’t want them to do the same to you.

49

Fuck Oprah at 6, I just want to be able to catch the 11 o’clock news.

And yeah, I’ve worked plenty of 80-hour weeks.

50

Yanno, there are many people who work hard who don’t do so because they’re lacking, but rather because they enjoy it. Some of these people feel work is one of the greatest things you can do on this earth, that it’s a process of creation. Some of these people consider work their hobby, and can’t believe that they get paid to do that thing they love.

51

That’s pathetic. It’s one thing if you are a graphic artist or an architect or you have your own business selling wine or some such thing that is practically a hobby anyway. It’s quite another to be up until 2:00 am every fucking night putting together Powerpoint slides and building Excel spreadsheets. I fucking hate my job. Every second of my 18 hour work day I weight collecting another days pay against taking my stupid laptop and smashing it in my bosses face.

I can’t fathom how this shit is so important to some people. I think if live your entire life as a big geek and can’t get laid, you end up as one of these middle-management losers. They have nothing going on in their lives. They aren’t talented enough to become big-time players so they turn into petty workaholics who make everyone around them miserable.

A coworker told me “your manager is the type of kid you would have beaten up in high school”. I responded “he keeps getting up in my grill, he’s going to be the type of kid I beat up as an adult”.

52

And those people are very lucky. However, I pity their children and/or spouses.

53

Bully for them. But they would do well to keep snide comments regarding other people’s hours to themselves.

Then again, the people you describe are probably not the kind of people the OP is griping about.

54

I was in a meeting some years ago when the former CEO of my organization told his directors that he did not want to see them sitting around working back late because it set a poor example for staff and made staff uncomfortable. The OP suggests Bruce was right. He suggested that if these senior executives “can’t get your work done during the day” get a laptop and do it somewhere else.

55

The good news is that not all managers are clueless. The best performer in my department rarely worked more than 40 hrs/wk, and this in a Silicon Valley software development company. When the department heads and VPs got together every quarter to determine bonuses, they never quibbled with giving him the highest bonus possible, because the excellence of his work was obvious, even across department lines. I had another staff member poached by an EVP because of her competence, even though she rarely put in more than 40 hours either.
On the other hand, I eventually had to let one person go precisely because she spent too much time at work. To us it indicated that she was lacking in time management skills, and we could not necessarily rely on her ability to meet deadlines. After a few quarters of remedial effort that went nowhere, we had to admit that the fit was bad.
Anyway, we are all aware of Parkinson’s Law, and can assume that the same amount of work will get done in 8 hours, 10 hours, or 16 hours, regardless. (Although probably less work will get done in the 16-hour time frame because of the added fatigue factor.)

56

msmith537 wrote

Why do you choose to be there? And what does your bitterness with your job have to do with people who love their work?

Anyway, your not understanding doesn’t make it false: there are people out there who find working to be an act of creation, and part of that creation can be writing spreadsheets at 2am. You don’t need to understand the love of it to accept it.

Just as there are losers and lonely people and jerks who hold that love of work, there are as many losers and lonely people and jerks throughout society. The fact that your boss may be a jerk doesn’t make everyone who enjoys working one.

Lynn Bodoni wrote

Indeed, often true. However, some of those people also enjoy their children and spouses, and make those two focuses (family, work) their life. Their work is their hobby, and they’re happy with that.

**Ellis Dee ** wrote

You were referring to the OP, and all the sub-whiners therein, I suppose? Catch my shorts, pal.

57

Just for the record (wow, this thread grew!) -

  1. I actually work until 2pm-11 pm every day; I said “6:00” to represent a sort of generic “quitting time” that would be accepted across the board and would keep the argument from getting sidetracked. So, when I posted this, it wasn’t “while slacking off at work,” like one poster suggested- I had just woken up.

  2. I’ve got nothing againt actual workaholics (well, I do, but not within the context of this thread) - but these coworkers (and bosses) aren’t doing more work, they’re just staying there longer - whether it means dicking around before or after work, or stretching out 6 hours worth of work so that it takes them 10 hours so they won’t have to go home to their empty, lonely apartments or loveless marriages.

  3. The “loving the job” argument does not apply, here. Everyone’s miserable, heinously underpaid (I make 23K a year, and I’m living in Washington, DC. My Rent is $1200/mo. You do the math), and there’s absolutely zero room for advancement in any sense of the word. My boss does nothing but complain about how much he hates his wife and kids, so I know he’s simply avoiding going home. The others have no significant others, and from conversations, no apparent hobbies or social interests.

58

I didn’t “choose” to be here. I chose a job with a company that sold itself to me as a consulting firm that specialized in a particular field of business. Turns out all my company does is serve as data-bitches for other consulting firms where they make twice as much as we do. If we all got to work at our dream jobs, no one would clean shit for a living.

Fuck that shit. I don’t need to “accept it”. People should “accept” that for most folks, work is exactly that…work. It is a thankless chore that most people do to survive and pay the bills. It is a means to an end. You want to run numbers at 2:00am, fuck you. Don’t call my cell phone expecting me to help. I think it’s criminal that companies can force their employees to work until midnight and fire them for not liking it.

59

I can’t parse this…it makes no sense to me whatsoever.

My comment was pointing out that the love-their-work people you spoke of don’t exist in the OP.

60

Freejooky:

If they are claiming that you’re not pulling your weight when you are — and that you’re doing it more efficiently than they are — I support you 100%; but I’d like to ask a few questions first:

• In what type of place do you work? Is it a deadline-oriented workplace?
• Is your work top-quality and finished in a timely fashion?
• You say you keep regular work hours: how do you know what they are or are not doing when you’re not there?
• Do you know for a fact that the long-hour workers and the regular-hour workers have identical workloads?
• Is it possible that the long-hour workers like socializing with one-another after official work hours?
• Is it policy that when people are done with their work, they should leave the office?

One side note I have to mention: You say how sorry you feel for them and how they must have shitty lives, but given the fact that you lead with the assertion that they “make you look bad,” I hear more resentment in your tone than pity. Though I think it is wrong for them to impose a particular kind of lifestyle on you — “Hey, you’re leaving early!” — I also believe the inverse is true — “Hey, you’re not leaving early enough!”