One woman said she had to quit after a hawkish boss made her work experience at a company unbearable.
In a viral TikTok with over 1.1 million views, user Kate (@8kateee) explains why it is so hard to put up with being micro-managed. “Micromanagers will ruin an entire job and your f*cking life for you,” Kate says.
She details why she made the decision to leave after dealing with a micromanaging boss who took things too far. “I quit my last job solely because I had a micromanager,” she says. “Even though I liked the company. I liked the work. I liked every single other person I worked with.”
Kate shares the ways she believes her boss did not respect essential boundaries. “If my status on teams went yellow for five minutes, which I feel is a really reasonable amount to go to the bathroom, she would send me an email,” she says.
On Microsoft Teams, a badge appears next to the usernames of participants. The badge turns yellow after three minutes of inactivity. Apparently, this change in status was enough to prompt Kate’s boss to send her concerned emails.
Kate says her boss used the emails as a way to track how long she took breaks from her computer and that the emails had read receipts that would send notifications whenever they were opened and read.
“Eventually she made up log our bathroom breaks,” the text overlay on the video read.
Kate says she had enough of her boss’ micromanaging ways when she found out the woman snooped on her when she went to an employee event. “She asked people how long I stayed,” Kate recalls.
@8kateee Our team bonding was everyone talking about the crazy sh!t she did #micromanager #workplaceproblems ♬ original sound – Kate
In the comments section, many shared their own horror stories of being micromanaged.
“I got laid off but my old micromanager would also do my work and time herself to see how fast I should actually get my work done,” one shared.
“My old micromanager had me email her every 30 mins with what I’d done the previous 30 mins so she could see how I was spending my time,” @acceber107 said.
According to BetterUp, having a bad manager, like micromanagers, is one of the top reasons people quit. BetterUp cited a study that found 57% of workers quit over their managers.
The Daily Dot reached out to Kate for comment via email.
