Employee shares how they ingeniously and efficiently dealt with boss's threats of getting fired

Our employers can reward us with increased pay and even a promotion when we work well. But this can go the other way round as well as there is always a threat of getting fired in case of any transgression from the expected company norms. One Reddit user took to the popular social media platform to discuss how without the fear of getting fired, life became easier for them hereon. u/BigFrame8879 captioned the post, "When the threat of being fired doesn't work, they have got nothing."

They started the post with, "I was working in a factory, place was straight out of the 1800's. Manager LOVED to take people upstairs and threaten to fire them. Some staff got invited upstairs for this repeatedly. One day it was my turn. Most staff would shift 100 units a day, I did about 40 units. Never got a penny more if I did more. Wage stayed the same if I shifted 40 a day or if I shifted 400." 

They added, "I get the invite to go in her office as my output wasn't good enough. I get the speech about how she was thinking of letting me go if my output doesn't get much faster. I say, this is the quickest I can go (not true) She says (tapping her desk and smiling nastily)... 'Do you want to keep your job.' I say, I don't mind either way. She blinks, puts her pen done and asks again and reminds me that there are a lot of people out of work, etc, etc. I repeat myself, don't mind getting the sack, as the mortgage is all paid off, my wife is the main bread winner and I am only working there for pocket money."

The OP kept asserting their point of view. They shared, "She looks pissed, knowing she has got nothing else to go at me. She tells me I HAVE to work faster. I say, I am at my peak speed. We both know I am lying but she knows that I do not care if she lets me go or not and she hasn't got another stick to beat me with. I am on minimum pay, so she cannot legally drop my wages. We go back and forth on me working faster. I stick to my script that I am going my fastest and she cannot prove otherwise. Eventually she gives up and I return to my desk. I am one of the very few to never get taken into the office again. She never speaks to me again. And I drop my output even more."

People could relate a lot to the post and and it soon gained over 16k upvotes and several comments. u/ThrowawayLDS_7gen wrote, "They thought they could get more for free. Hell no!" u/VeeringTrinity suggested, "Everyone should work at about 60-70% efficiency. That way if there's ever an 'emergency' and they need extra, you can provide them with extra and look great."

Many others also commented about how managers threatened them or how an unhealthy workplace was abandoned by most employees. Working in such places can be tricky, but these posts tell us that there is a way out!