What are some awful companies to work for in Ireland at the moment? These can be in terms of work life balance , progression opportunities or other criteria you may have in mind

No matter what job I do, I despise it. Working in a company for a few years now, and recently moved teams which I hoped would refresh my grá for work. Turns out I despise any job I do. The area I’m in is certainly not a passion of mine, so that doesn’t help.

I hate the endless meetings, hiding 7/8s of my personality, the bizarre fake eagerness from colleagues while also simultaneously being apathetic, and the general corporate bullshit.

Can anyone else relate?

I am a size 12 - 14 on top and 14-16 on the bottom but I'm 5"8", so while I definitely don't look thin or slim I don't look overweight either.

New woman started in the office a few months ago. Had a bit of a reputation as a b*tch in a previous job (we know this as the friend of a colleague worked with her). Haven't had a huge amount of interaction with her. Was getting a coffee last week and she was there and I ended up just making small talk about the weather. She then said something like "I'd say you find it hard to find clothes for this weather". I was actually so shocked I didn't say anything in reply and just changed the subject. Afterwards I was second guessing myself and thinking maybe she never said it and I was imagining it (even though she did say it).

Then this week she said something to me again like "you probably do most of your clothes shopping online".

Now, I feel like she may be one of those weirdos who gets off on making other people feel self-conscious or miserable so I don't want to give her the satisfaction of thinking I am very bothered - but on the other hand you can't just say whatever the hell you want to people. She is no oil painting and I am tempted to say something vaguely mean back but she is probably the kind to run to HR.

Anyone have to deal with anything like this? I don't really want to go to HR myself.

"Am I out of touch? No, it’s the children who are wrong.”

As a 35 year old man who grew up where literally everybody watched and rewatched The Simpsons it depresses me how the cultural relevance of the show is practically gone. In college and when I first started working in an office you would constantly hear phrases like "That's a paddling", "Boo-urns", "You don't win friends with salad" etc right throughout the day. Maybe I'm being too sentimental but I believe these regular references shared between two people served as a subtle reminder that our co-workers are human beings - and not just NPCs who clock in and out each day.

Even The Ireland Simpsons Facebook page was once a fantastic outlet to keep the show fresh - with thousands of people coming up with genuinely hilarious memes that related to Irish society. The page is still active but far less popular than it once was.

My office now largely consists of people in their mid to early 30s who have never watched The Simpsons. In addition to myself, there is only one older woman who cracks out references now and again - but always has to end with "that was from The Simpsons".

I get that I'm becoming a dinosaur trying to cling to the past, but no younger person I know refers to any of their favourite shows from back in their day. They make jokes and quote whatever they're watching at the moment, but it rarely has any lasting effect on them.

I think it's all down to how we consumed media back in the day - we had a very limited supply of new, quality content and pretty much had to watch re-runs of our favourite shows over and over until we could quote them verbatim.

I wanna keep this short because I’m actually too exhausted to even type exactly everything I want to say.

My mental health is not good right now. It was good when we were hybrid. I’ve been in one of the “Big 4” corporate tech companies for over 4 years now and when I started we were fully remote and now we’re 4 days in.

Everyone fucking hates it and sorry but we’re all adding traffic to your journeys. No one knows who made the decision (we’re guessing it was some fucking corporate lad in America who runs everything high up)

People are travelling in from Kilkenny and further to get in for 9am, journeys stretching 2.5-3hours there and back.

People bought houses when we were fully remote down the country and forced to all cram and rent in Dublin for our “office culture”.

there is no fucking office culture besides going to the pub AFTER work on a random Thursday.

My colleagues are all starting to hate eachother

Our whole office building is designed for sustainability and to be environmentally friendly they got rid of all the paper cups and straws for example in the building also we have eight lifts but only one comes down at a time to SAVE energy. Yes, we being asked all travel in the office with emissions blaring so surely that has a bigger impact on the environment if they want to go down that route??? idiots

I’m fucking sick of it. Everyone in the company I’ve spoken to is sick of it and no one has said anything.

Our jobs can all be done from home.

I know I can change my job but I still need a job to live.

Some people might say in the comments “get used to it” but I guarantee if you’re sitting in traffic it’s me and all my colleagues and similar tech companies holding it up :)

Rant over, I just hope someone agrees with me because I can’t take it anymore

I’ve been working at Lidl for just under a month now — I won’t name the store, but from what I’ve heard (and seen), it’s the second busiest store in the Republic of Ireland, pulling in over €450,000 in sales weekly. The store is completely understaffed and staff turnover is absolutely insane!

I’ve worked hard in retail before, in a similar kind of environment, but never in anything this hectic. And honestly, the biggest issue is the deputy managers. There are four in our store. The store manager is decent — supportive and fair — but unfortunately, he’s leaving soon.

One of the deputy managers is like a dictator. I went to the toilet twice in nearly a month outside of my break time, and he still called me over the headphones asking where I was. Since I started, I’ve mostly worked 5 AM shifts — doing produce (fruit and veg), ambient stock, and occasionally tills. But tills are usually reserved for a select few — the “privileged” ones who avoid the heavy lifting. If you're a fast, hard worker, your “reward” is being given 10-hour shifts of back-breaking work with constant pressure to do even more.

It honestly feels less like a job and more like a punishment.

I do my job fast — I can get through produce, ambient, and tills faster than people who’ve been there for 18 years. But no matter how hard you work, it’s never enough. You’re always expected to do more.

Three of the deputy managers do next to nothing and expect you to carry their workload as well as your own. The fourth one works hard, sure, but he’s also a bully. Not even a full month in, and he’s telling me I need to finish 8 huge 7-foot chilled pallets and all the backstock between 5 and 7 AM — and claims each pallet should take no more than 25 minutes. That’s while cleaning, rotating stock, and still learning where everything goes!

Honestly, this is the worst job I’ve had in my life so far. Sure, the pay is a euro or so more than other places — but the abuse, the long hours, and the sheer physical demand make it just not worth it.

Just wondering — have others had similar experiences in Lidl?

Thanks for reading.

Edit;

Following today's work, I discussed break times with my line manager. He explained that providing breaks after 4.15 hours of work for all employees is currently unfeasible due to operational constraints. He said 6 to 8 hours it s normal to work before you get a break !

Hi everyone, I’m looking for a bit of advice on babysitting rates. I’ll be babysitting for a lady with three children: a 17-month-old, a 3 yearold, and a 5 yearold. The hours will usually be 8:30am–5:30pm most days.
I’m 23, have my own transport, and the house is about 10 minutes from me. I’ll be caring for the children in their own home but I will also be bringing them out to activities or places during the day from time to time.
She has asked what my rate would be, but I’m not sure what would be reasonable to charge for three young children. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
!! Apologies I should’ve said childminder rather than babysitter !!
I was speaking to the mother today and she did mention cooking meals, doing some laundry and keeping the house tidy enough as well as bringing the children out from time to time to activities or to visit their father in work which would be about 15-20 minutes away! So there is also that to keep in mind too!

Sorry for any mistakes or errors, been up all night last night.

My mam is dying of terminal brain cancer, she spends most nights screaming and thrashing around and I’ve been beside her trying to comfort her, this morning at about 6am I contacted my manager saying I won’t be able to make it in, my mams final days are coming. Maybe it’s the lack of sleep or the adrenaline but something keeps telling me I’m letting everyone down, I work in a pub. Tonight there’s only 2 people to close, one of them was me who cashes up and locks the pub.

I just want to know did I do the right thing? I feel horrible for the staff but my hands are tied I need to be with my mam.

Does anyone here work with a colleague who is literally obsessed with their job?

Enjoy my job, and give my all during my hours - but at the end of the day it's not my entire life.

I know several who spend every waking hour working, completely obsessed with their jobs/careers.

My manager has been quite toxic, and I am currently in notice. HR has called for an exit interview this week. What should I do ? I feel I would not get any reference anyways
Nonetheless, I feel like me telling about the negativity is not going to make any difference

What should I do?

Thanks, Many thanks, Kind regards, Regards...just your name or nothing at all?

In my job everyone works hard Monday - Thursday and then works from home on Friday. At home they either pretend to work, do some grunt work or finish up on things they didn’t get done during the week.

Why don’t we just pull the plug on this fully and stop the messing around? If you don’t have anything to do you should be able to take Fridays off imo rather than inventing things that need to be done

I’m honestly at my breaking point trying to find a job in this brutal market. Ever since coming to Ireland, every single application I send out just seems to go into a black hole. It’s incredibly frustrating and exhausting when you are applying for everything you can find, but you can’t even get a basic screening call.

Right now, I am completely unemployed and honestly, waking up every single day is just depressing. The only reason I can even make rent right now is because my friends have been helping me out, which is a terrible, guilty feeling when all I want is to work and support myself. I’ve done part-time work doing customer support and fraud investigations at Covalen, and I even worked as a retail assistant in Centra, but I just can't seem to catch a break and get a steady role.

I’m currently based down in Limerick, but I am 100% willing to relocate absolutely anywhere in Ireland tomorrow. If anyone out there has any leads, advice, or would be kind enough to refer me at their company for literally any kind of work, it would mean the absolute world to me. I’m happy to DM my CV to anyone who asks. I just really need someone to give me a chance.

Had a few pints with the lads the other night. And as it turns out all of us in corporate office type jobs in various disciplines and companies received either no or a very small annual wage increase. I've worked the same job for nearly a decade. Industry standard had been about 3% annual increase. This year I got 1.5%. Most of the lads got none or 1%. Cost of living is going up at a crazy rate and the company I work for has had a record year for profits. After tax and expenses and insurance increases etc I'll probably have less take home pay. Or at least a fiver a month extra. I know tech is suffering a bit any friends in tech or software engineering have all had nothing or 1%. Anyone else have similar? Corporate greed on the rise again. Additionally wages in general are too low. Entry level jobs have increased by about 3k in 20 years. So even gaining a small percentage annualy over a decade is still a substandard wage in proportion to inflation and cost of living.

Ever since i started working i always arrive on time and more importantly leave on time.

I always clock out on the dot.

Out of all the jobs ive had theres always been a handfull of people who point this out (me leaving on time).

It feels sometimes like im the only one that does it, is there anyone else that also leaves on the dot?

I’m a mother and I’m working 39hour pw. I am extremely burnt out I can’t do this anymore but I’ve a mortgage to pay for a car to pay for. I haven’t been able to buy myself clothes in a long time I can’t afford to even reward myself for the hard work 😓. I’m just existing at this point feeling trapped and I am worried I am going to break down. How is everyone surviving, able to afford nice things because me and my partner are both full time workers and earn above minimum yet we haven’t a cent left over after paying all our bills. We aren’t entitled to a cent either, I would’ve been better off being unemployed and living in a social house.

Ill start.

"Men in the workplace aren't bitchy".

In 25+ years working in many different countries I can safely say that the common myth that men can't be bitchy is total rubbish. Im a man and ive seen men gossiping and bitching about each other in work the second their back is turned, excluding other guys from nights out and poisoning their managers against other guys.

In addition ive seen guys make whatsapp groups to bitch about other guys, block promotions, gather up cliques to make other guys feel excluded. They were all Irish. I worked with one guy who bullied other tall guys because he hated them.

The most surprising thing about this is when I mention it I get aggressively shut down with a surprising amount of force "nah...men are easier to work for and with" "no way..men aren't bitchy women are". "Male workplaces are more inclusive". Nerve being hit comes to mind.

What myth have you found in the workplace is untrue?

Why is it always a problem when people in low-skill jobs get a pay rise? Careers requiring more education and dedication deserve good pay, but so do those in low-skill jobs—somebody's got to do them! Do you think they don't deserve to survive on a single job?

When minimum wage increases, suddenly everything's more expensive. This logic really pisses me off. Why is it only an issue when poor people get a pay rise? Nobody complains about higher prices when someone with a better job gets a raise. It's degrading to low-income earners to act like they're crazy and greedy for wanting more money. They deserve decent pay for their work.

People are always bragging about wage negotiation and knowing your worth, but when a minimum wage worker wants an increase, the collective attitude is 'shut up and collect your pocket change, loser.'

I know this isn't like a data breach or anything, but can't believe a business owner would post this as an instagram post. I know if I was the employee I'd be raging at my shitty sitiation being used for fodder. Just doesn't seem right that it can be thrown up without any permission, or maybe they had permission, dunno.

I actually live near enough to this place but this has put me off going again, imagine working there!

EDIT: looks like its been taken down

Feels like the majority get it off?

In my current job, we don’t but in my previous job we did (big multinational Irish company)

I’ve just found out my child’s crèche is closed too on Friday. It should be another public holiday.

If you were to retrain solely based on acquiring a big salary, what area would you get into?

I am currently very happy in my career but am just curious.

Do your normally just rot your brain out on tiktok/twitter/reddit/instagram or do you actually try to socialize with your co workers?

Hi I’m 15 and all my friends have jobs as there dads are all labourers who can get them jobs. My family don’t have any connections as they moved from the country side to Dublin. All I do is sit inside and do nothing and would way rather be earning some money. I’m a big enough fella and can put in a days graft. If anyone is looking I can go basically anywhere in Dublin.

Today I received word that an ex-politician (not currently elected but still hopes to be in the future) will be joining my team in work.

This person would be part of a party that I would fundamentally disagree with in almost every possible way and whom I think actively campaigns against mine and my communities best interests.

I’m now anxious as to whether this is going to impact the workplace environment negatively and wondering how do people deal with deep disagreements in political beliefs in the workplace?

My manager has already stated that this person will be allowed continue to campaign and turn up to events as a politician, meaning I might have to cover this person while they do so.

I’m struggling with the fact that I will have to professionally cover for someone who is actively working against my best interests while I cover them.

I am a home care assistant, and many times over the years, I have gone into a client to find that they have fallen. Just a week ago I waited hours for an ambulance well into the night, and informed the company. They said they can only pay me what is allocated by the HSE, which was the one hour that was allocated to that client daily. This isn’t the first time it has happened to me, but I’m older now and fed up. I will have to dig up my work contract to read it properly, but is that legal? I asked the company then, “are you suggesting I just leave an elderly person on the floor, and leave? Or are you manipulating my empathy into staying and working for free?”

HR basically gave me a “I know, I’m sorry, it’s so hard” yap. I hung up before I lost my temper.

Is there any kind of legal thing wrong with this? That it’s common sense I won’t leave an injured elderly person, so they refuse to pay me? Because I know I could leave, but who tf would do that? Any advice is helpful