I stepped into my second job expecting a career move; instead, I walked into a geopolitical crisis. My previous workplace was a sanctuary of trust—a place where “work” was defined by what you produced, not by the warmth of your seat. If I needed a 3:00 PM caffeine hit or a quick walk to clear my head, I just went. No one checked my pulse; no one tracked my GPS.
Now? I am living in a corporate surveillance state.
how to survive boomer dictator/micromanager boss???
bless me I’m in my second job and I came from a culture where it was flexible and open (e.g I could casually go downstairs for a quick stroll to grab a coffee or snack) but now I feel like I’m in North Korea
My boss (A) demands to know where I am going, what I am doing and if I just stepped out for the office briefly (e.g 4pm to grab a quick snack) she will be like “are you out for lunch?” or if I’m late for 5 minutes she will paggro me with texts like “are you working today?” – these texts may seem “normal” but if you met this tiger-mom like character you would know otherwise. tbh I don’t even dare step out for lunch these days unless she is in a good mood or something cause it’s scary when she’s in a bad mood like damn……
Sometimes, I have to go to another office for meetings (I have 2 offices to shuttle to, a bit of a complicated role cause I’m shared between 2 departments) and she will question why is there a need for me to go to the office for the meeting, what time will I be back in the office and if I give a later timing, why my meeting will take so long. She has also called to chide the other director (B) that I am shared with because of such an instance, quite an ugly scene.
The irony is she (A) needs less help than the other director and director B is literally drowning in work and needs my support more. Can understand why she’s more “possessive” over me cause the higher percentage of my payroll comes from her (A) budget but is this even reasonable behavior???
how can such a character still exist? and is this job worth staying in then………