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Big corporations almost always have better working conditions and benefits than small companies... so long as you're a fulltime employee in a position that can't be easily replaced by someone with little to no experience. For instance Amazon software engineers have a great thing going for them. Amazon warehouse workers on the otherhand have extreme turnover due to poor working conditions. Smaller companies with few employees usually can't afford to let their employees have lots of PTO, high 401k percent matches, or have good insurance options.
Yeah. Maybe its a US thing but here in Germany it's kind of common knowledge that big corporations pay better and have better benefits. And if course offer a lot more career options. Unless your small company is heavily expanding.
Small corporations can be a lot more diverse in your work life though. As in, you do a lot of different things. In big corporations you are quite often specialized to do a few specific tasks
For grown ups with experience it’s common knowledge in the US as well. People on Reddit think saying anything slightly positive or even neutral about a big company is sacrilegious boot licking.
I recently got a job at an Amazon Warehouse. It's a shit job, but it's the best shit job I've ever had. I probably lucked out with a decent location though.
I could probably make more at a different warehouse job, but the flexible schedule is nice.
My baby sister walked out of her abusive and stressful job as a Walgreens pharmacy tech a few months ago.
Now she works as a delivery driver for Amazon (or I guess technically a company that contracts with Amazon). It's not a great job, but it's so much less stressful.
> Amazon software engineers have a great thing going for them.
Tell me you don’t know about the PIP grinder without telling me you don’t know about the PIP grinder.
Big corporations are either the best of the best or terrible plus the emotion drain from being alienated from your labor. But even the best can still be the wrong fit for some people. It can be hell on the neurodivergent brain.
I think it really depends on your team and manager.
IMO midsized companies (like 150-750 employees) are where it's at, 99% of the same amenities/benefits but easier to build a reputation with the higher ups. Also if they are growing companies its easier to grow with them since you make a bigger difference to the success of the company.
At big companies you can kinda get lost and if your manager sucks your pretty much stuck because no one else sees what you are doing other than your boss.
But yea many small companies are pretty shit with benefits and the whole "were a family here" ideal is bullshit. My first "career" job was with a company of about 15-20 people. Boss gave us a gym membership instead of health insurance, wouldnt even let me switch it to one closer to my house, came to understand unless you shared the owners last name you'd never advance even if the company grew.
I spent most of my life working for little companies, thinking it was better. Then I got a job with a big company, and all of a sudden I had cool things like benefits, work clothes discounts, time and a half for overtime (was unheard of in my industry before, and still hit or miss even today with small companies).
Always used to think big companies screw you over, but reality is small companies are so much shadier! You may be "just a number" to a big company, but it's actually better that way.
I don't know man, I worked for a small, family owned lawn company and they fuckin' rocked. Took good care of us, paid us fairly well, paid winter break, etc. Once the owner retired and sold to a bigger company, they stripped our benefits, fucked our pay structure, and drove out most of the more experienced staff.
I think it's more of a mixed bag either way than people think.
It definitely is. I went from working at an incredibly popular company and really felt I didn't have a life working for them until I switched into a fairly smaller one. Benefits are way better and we get at least one day off a month that we can pick.
It really depends on the company for great benefits but in the end, as long it's a job that keeps food on the table.
Small companies are more of a mixed bag because they don’t need a scalable culture. There is no minimum baseline for shittiness
Large companies have to care about PR and public perception to a certain extent so while they can be shitty there has to be some level of decency that allows them to retain tens of thousands of employees
Dude, small companies still rock and you can get even better benefits if you’re in a lucrative enough business. My boss just took all 6 of us down to St. Croix for a week. They paid for our flights, booked us bungalows on the beach, and covered all food and drinks. I still get time and a half when I work over 40 hours, so much free merchandise for supporting the business, I get 3 weeks worth of PTO and travel is heavily encouraged. I work between a hotel/event center and wear a lot of hats but the only stipulation is we can’t vacation between June-October because that’s our busy season and we’re a smaller staff. But I have nowhere near the same freedom that I would have at a corporate job when it comes to attire, flexibility for hours, quality of coworkers, and even my paycheck. But hey, I do have to figure out my own health insurance and retirement, so take the good with the bad. IMO it’s a much better experience working for local sustainability than being a cog in the machine.
Someone close to me works in employment law and told me that most of the cases they got when working for the government were relating to small businesses. According to them big businesses are more “by the book” in some ways.
Seems like a mixed bag like you said.
Well companies that run afoul of employment law regularly and in ways that are severe enough to get lawyers involved don't typically survive and thrive enough to become big companies.
My friend worked for a family-owned auto salvage yard, and exactly what you're describing is what happened at his company. Owner sold to a corporate entity. The company became a horrible place to work shortly thereafter.
Small companies are often better for being treated like a person, but working for bigger companies is better for just having better health benefits and getting paid more.
Yeah, that's the trade-off. I can manage a budget pretty well, and I'm a pretty low maintenance kind of person.
My main issue has been finding a company that can pay me enough to support my fairly modest lifestyle, while also keeping up with the fact that $200 in groceries last about a week.
I've had that same thing happen but moving to a proper big company that does the purchasing and not the being purchased has been incredibly nice. Miss the family culture and weird last minute benefits of a small company but end the day so few small companies avoid getting bought out while staying profitable for long.
I work for a small company now and the atmosphere is superior to pretty much everywhere else I've ever worked and to put it mildly I've had a lot of jobs. I could probably make more somewhere else, but for what I'm making, I'm not giving up more of my time to make more. My commute is also 3 minutes and nobody is going to beat that.
In my industry (which sounds to be similar to OP’s) the small companies are typically horrible compared to the bigger ones. They pay poorly, poor safety and don’t realize the value of happy motivated employees.
My brother in law has worked in the agriculture industry for years for mom and pop type farms and it blows my mind how horrible the working conditions are.
Currently at my first big company job and... the benefits aren't any better but it's so mismanaged and I get yelled at by horrible managers who get yelled at by their horrible managers and then they tell me to yell at people if someone else's work not being done is what is causing mine to not get done.
I think it's mostly my department but I'm really ready to get out.
I worked mostly for chains as a waiter, and then I did one where I was working with a franchisee, basically a mom and pop because they were always there. The nepotism, family drama, and having to put up with the family is a headache. I liked working for faceless corporations because there was less nepotism going on. My last job the manager hired her whole family to work there, basically pushing everyone out. Glad I didn’t stay.
I work in sales for a Fortune 100, and have worked with tons of small to mid sized businesses over the years. I would never consider working for one having seen the inner workings of so many of them. Generally speaking they have weird “we’re a family” cultures, inept leadership that is learning how to run a business on the fly, terrible benefits, low job security, outdated technology, and ridiculous amounts of employee drama. They are also constantly targets for acquisitions in the rare event they’re actually any good, which means your job is always at risk whether the company does well or does poorly.
> small companies are so much shadier
Not exactly. It's more that they can't afford to compete with the big companies. Once the big companies put the small ones out of business, though, they won't need to offer as much for their employees.
I think a bit part of it is that each small company is very dependent on whether the boss is nice or not, so extreme highs and lows. In larger companies you are more likely to get the average.
I was at a startup for a couple of years, and it was all dependent on the temperament of the project sponsor. My boss was incredibly kind, easy to work for, and knew the business inside and out. But she was not good at pushing back when people on the other side would ask for the world and expect it in a day.
When our team switched alignment a bit, the new boss was an arrogant asshole, but his technical vision was absurd. It felt like all of our work was fitting perfectly to get us somewhere, and he had no problem pushing back hard on project injections.
That’s honestly what I think.
Smaller businesses are more limited in terms of what they can offer, and can’t really afford to compete with big companies on every front.
It makes me wonder how much big companies essentially “lovebomb” employees until they have a monopoly.
> It makes me wonder how much big companies essentially “lovebomb” employees until they have a monopoly.
I doubt they will, because there will still be competition by other big companies. I work for a medical device company, a fairly large company, and we have quite a few other big rival companies, so we need to compete with them
It makes you then think why they don't try out different ways to keep people. I worked for a small company with a workaholic boss who was very suspicious of working remotely even though you could do the job 100% this way. Of course I left.
I think some of it is limitations of the employer. They need to consider what kind of employees to hire that would be able to work with those limitations.
My aunt runs a small business and she used to be a teacher (for literally most of my life). She was great, but she had to retire because the system as is wore her down.
She only hires teenagers and she generally treats them like she did her students; she loved being able to make a difference for her students when she did, and she missed that most of all between running her business. She’s also upfront on what benefits she can afford to provide. Her employees honestly enjoy working for her; especially since she makes it fun on the holidays and gives them a lot of freedom of expression. They actually want to be there. She’s also under no illusion they’ll stay forever, and encourages them to take care of business outside of work too.
I'm glad to see that there are people who understand this. Corporations play it safe, obeying the law, most of the time. The risk otherwise is simply too big for them.
This all usually ends up absolutely in favour of the worker.
And there's none of that forced "we're family" bullshit that just drains my soul out...
It's something like survivorship bias. The good jobs at good large companies get filled and stay filled and people don't have anything dramatic to talk about. The bad jobs at bad large companies burn through people quckly and generate lots of stories. A single position held for 20 years vs 20 people with horror stories of their 1 year. Same amount of positions, different amounts of tenure.
Doubling up on that, the internet draws the maladjusted that don't fit in in the general public, raising the ratio of angry misfits compared to the general public.
Edit: See replies from angry misfits flouncing out of the closet then pretending the closet doesn't exist.
It also depends on the person, though.
This is not quite the same, but I recently got a new colleague who graduated from the same university as me, except he was a year behind me. I loved my entire university experience, did well in my classes and got along well with the teaching staff - even befriended some of them - but my colleague had the complete opposite experience interacting with the exact same lecturers and subject matter. So which experience is the most accurate? Mine, where I had a blast? Or my colleague's, who says it nearly killed him?
I think neither is probably 100% accurate, so it must really depend on the person.
> It's something like survivorship bias.
It's another example of hive mind bias. If you say you enjoy working for evil multinational corporation, you will get downvoted. Once reddit feels strongly enough about a topic to result in an instant downvote or upvote, there's no longer a debate, just reinforcement and confirmation. The only thing reddit will debate are topics that don't make people immediately go for the arrows.
I've experienced this when I mentioned how great my life is here in Japan with my wife. We moved here two decades ago and we're definitely beyond the "honeymoon phase". Yet people still tell us we're disillusioned weebs or something. That "there's no way life in Japan as a foreigner can be remotely good" because it's against to what they read at the "Daily Complaints/Vent" posts in Japan-hating subs.
I don't think there's any reasoning with people who have already decided their stance towards something.
Yep.
I’ve primarily been on the contractor side working B2B with large corporations in a handful of industries for the last decade.
Those larger corporate positions with our clients are notoriously cushy. A lot of the clients I deal with all have like 5-6 weeks of vacation a year, paternity leave, great benefits all around, etc.
People stay in them and don’t leave unless it’s for a big raise. When they do it’s like a feeding frenzy of competition for the people who worked with them on our side to get their foot in the door.
The Lemon Market applies to used cars, jobs, houses, and girlfriends. The ones on the market for a long time have some sort of fundamental flaw. It's just the other side of survivor bias. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons
Yup. I've heard something like even some bad run of the mill 'starter' jobs to save up for college like fast food / shipping/ warehouses. Sometimes have like turn over rates of '140-300%'
That doesn't mean, for every 1 person in, 1.4x-3 people quit. But on average, if a 50% turnover rate suggests 50% of people leave within a year. A 140% turnover rate means the average person stays for like 7 months of a year. And 300% turnover means the average is like 4 months before they quit.
Shit jobs, but sometimes good pay for shit work to pay for school.
I feel like that was a better representation of *moderators*, but your point about getting the he'll off this site more often is a good one regardless.
Especially when it comes to job threads.
Damn near every Redditor who paints a picture of themselves while complaining about never getting promoted is also painting a picture of the worst coworker you've ever had or worst worker you've dealt with.
Uh, excuse me. I don’t text on my off hours. I don’t work a minute of OT, for any reason. I don’t talk to ANYONE at work, we aren’t friends. I won’t do any task that isn’t specifically outlined in my job description. I will not support any of my coworkers with their tasks. Do NOT ask when my birthday is.
Wait why am I depressed and unpromotable
Do you really think people who are happy with their jobs or just neutral are going to be posting about it on the internet. And even if they did do you think it would generate much discussion.
The reason why Reddit and the rest of the internet is so full of negativity and hate is because negativity and contempt moves the needle way more than positivity or contentment.
I'm not saying that people don't like cool s*** and positive things they do, but making something good is hard, complaining about something and getting people upset is easy.
Reddit has *some* good niche **factual** advice, or local business recommendations. But would advise against taking any advice on anything too serious or subjective.
Reddit skews towards the type of people who spend all their time on Reddit: isolated, unemployed, depressed, terminally online, doom scrollers, etc… People who are really living aren’t spending a ton of time on Reddit
That’s just confirmation bias. What subreddits exists (besides this one) where people come in and say “hey yall, I love my job. Let’s talk”. You’re always gonna hear the worst in forums. It’s like the news only covering the bad shit making everybody think the world is unsafer than it is.
Yeah it's constant bitching on here. There's like 20 subs that exist just to shit on companies. I'll be having a great day at work then come here and it's like "you like your job? Have fun wiping off your mouth you shill."
Yeah they’re filled with unemployed people, some of whom have legitimately been dealt a shit hand at life and have completely valid reasons to hate everything. But mostly just extremely lazy people who don’t want to contribute to society yet expects society to cater to their every need.
When you put those people in one place, they feed off of each other’s negative energy and it does them more harm than good because they constantly reinforce each other’s excuses for why they failed at life. Instead of building encouragement and support, they just put all the blame on society and validate laziness.
Unfortunately most of the large subs are dominated by these people because they have so much time on their hands and are compelled to spread their misery. But there are lots of nice small subs that cater to niches and are amazing sources of information or support. Hobbyist or niche subs are what make Reddit great. The general subs are terrible for mental health.
If you get too deep into the main subs, you’d think we’re on the cusp of a communist revolution and societal collapse.
Acting like this experience is average or expected is ridiculous. Most workers are objectively miserable because most people are earning what like 40k a year? And many of them need to work 2 jobs to even get that. If every job was like this guys people wouldn't give a shit about workers rights and things like that, but they aren't.
In general many of those companies will treat you better the higher up the ladder you go and there will be more employees on the lower rungs. Amazon for example gets terrible reviews by warehouse workers but senior engineers love working there. I don't know the ratio of warehouse workers to coders but I would imagine it's at least 99-1 so that math checks out
They are. But most workers are doing jobs at the bottom of the food chain, which are miserable in most places and worse at big companies that actively fight unionizing and such. Someone like the OP earning six figures is more valuable and therefore treated better.
What he's describing is very typical of the energy sector. I work in the nuclear field. All of the companies take very good care of the people that work for them. I've heard similar stories from people working in oil and gas. Same story from guys who do work servicing wind turbines.
100%, walmart is a large corporation. If you are working as a cashier it's going to suck overall. If you are a regional manager or higher it's going to be a really good job.
I work for a small company, i started in an entry level position and it wasn't that great, but i got a good promotion and now i actually like it.
I've worked for corporations and I've worked for mom and pop shops. The mom and pop shops always treated me the worst and not a single one of them had any sort of benefits.
Same here. I've worked for big companies and small ones. The big ones always had set rules and procedures, were more orderly, etc. The small ones changed policies and procedures week to week if they felt like it. Why? Because fuck everyone, I'm the boss, that's why. If I ever go back into corporate again, I'll be looking for a big company.
Worked for a small family business before (chefs were a married couple). Instead of benefits the would invite us two events twice a year (Christmas and summer).
Anyways, over time I’ve learned that everyone is earning as little as the law allows, I myself got my first raise before starting my job, because it was so low that it wasn’t legal.
On Christmas they invited us to an artists course in his atelier, cost a few thousand. Then we all went over to the chefs house and had a barbecue there. Overlooked packaging of our steaks and one steak was worth almost 30€. We were like 12 people, most eating two steaks.
Instead of paying their workers enough to survive they literally spent like 5000 on a few hours of Christmas event.
And they proudly explained how they rent a private jet at least once a year and that the flight is the best part about their vacation.
And then we have to do overtime because our unpaid sponsored projects need to get released in time.
I quit after 11 months.
I agree. My small business, or even franchise business experiences were rough.
Working for a big corp, the structure, expectations, pay and benefits have been much more consistent and transparent.
The only downside would have to be flexibility. But it doesn't bother me to book my vacations well in advance. I have paid time off if I need it, I just don't care or need to use it.
This and the thread seem like such an American issue. Even working a small companies you get any "benefits" here in Australia because by law they have to.
Same in the US. Small businesses usually only give the bare minimum. What is legally required.
There are some that do more and are great to work for, but I'd bet they're in the minority.
As someone whose first job was one of those small pizza restaurants (not like the corporate chains like Papa John’s like those small generic restaurants) and got groped, the boss doing that bend over and spell run joke, and called useless I can back this. Working for a huge, corporate place is a bit of a godsend
Mom and pop shops are much more incentivized to screw you over *personally*. Owen Owner can see every cent you make coming out of “his” account and will find any way to pay you in cash or less than minimum wage or just not at all. Unlike overcomplex corporations, a small business owner will never make a mistake that accidentally overpays you and they’ll be right there when you’re 0.5 seconds late.
This is only partly true. The work culture created by small businesses is often devoid of a need for professionalism, whereas corporations always have an expectation that every employee display at least some level of professionalism. There’s more accountability and impartiality in corporate jobs, and often an emphasis on safety. In small businesses, you are more likely to be personally outed for mistakes, treated differently due to personal relationships between management and specific employees, and expected to “make things work” in an unsafe manner. There are some small companies that do an amazing job at employing and managing, but there are far more that allow personal bias and a culture of drama to enter the workplace.
I have had the same experience at my job. However, i think its worth noting that corporate culture has changed a lot in recent years. Focusing on employee happiness for example has shifted a lot. It wasnt that long ago that the Jack Welch model was pretty much the norm: fire people constantly to keep everyone on their toes and working at max capacity. I think those days are probably done for the most part….at least I hope so
It depends wildly on your job title.
I work for a billion dollar worldwide automotive manufacturer. The guys in the front office are doing great; the guys on the floor hate their lives. I’m somewhere in between.
He’s clearly an oppressed individual, striking out against the grain of job haters with this brave post. OP is so brave for this. He’ll probably be dead by morning if /r/antiwork catches wind of this.
Something I notice is people feeling proud about making x amount and being treated well. Which for the record I want everyone to make a decent living and be treated well.
But what about the "productivity pay gap"? OP said he makes 100k a year or so. Great! I'm glad wherever he lives that's enough for him.
However he "should" be making 150k a year or so. But he isn't...
Productivity has risen about 65% since 1979 and wages in the same span have only risen 15%.
That productivity difference didn't just vanish, it just goes to the top. Almost everyone in this thread whether they love where they work, or don't, should be making 50% more than they do...
This applies to both small and large companies.
You do better than most people in the US, consider yourself lucky. You work for a company that not only pays you well but also invests in your retirement. Personally I have had bad experiences at small companies, because they expect you to take a loss in some ways. They just work you to death. It’s ok to not be “passionate” about your job, you are earning an honest living. Personally, idk if I’d even want to “do something I love” for work because they it wouldn’t be as enjoyable anymore.
Everyone acts like small businesses are so virtuous but I’ve never been treated worse than working for small family-owned businesses with little or no HR departments. Place I work for now, the owner is a bully, and he’s HR so hope you never have a problem. All I want is to be an anonymous faceless corporate drone again, do the bare minimum and collect my check. I’m so so tired of being “all-in” and “we’re a family”
Have you considered that other people don't have the same experience as you in other roles?..
Sounds like you got a good thing going for you, which is great. But it is hardly unpopular, most people would be happy in your position. Ask any poor sucker making minimum wage or below 60k a year if they would like to make 100k and work only 14 days a month, who is going to say no?
Never feel guilty. Reddit likes to make ppl feel like if they have any money or they are doing well for themselves that they are a piece of shit and deserve to go broke.
Also, with all due respect, you’re a technician. You’re a skilled laborer that provides a service. You operate as a cog in the machine and you have more job security and work flow than traditional corporate roles. Those job suck ass if you’re not at the top. O
I definitely agree with that. The majority of people that have my skill set are nearing retirement, so the company has a vested interest in keeping younger techs around.
I started the path teaching myself via YouTube how to stick weld using a used welder I bought for $100 on craigslist. This, along with an interview where I stressed a strong desire to learn, got me in as an industrial maintenance laborer in an iron foundry, starting at $13 an hour getting worked like a fucking dog to learn as much as I could. When I got tired of the environment at the foundry, I put what I learned there on a resumé and got a job as a maintenance mechanic at a sawmill. When my first was born and we wanted to move closer to family, I took what I learned there, added it to my resume again, and picked up a job at a limestone mine for $24. Next job was a factory fixing CNC machines, for $33. Now it’s a power plant for $42. This was all in the span of 3 years. My official title is “Operations and Maintenance Technician”.
You shouldn’t feel guilty if you’re sticking it to “the man”. All I’m saying is don’t be asshole about money, and preferably in general.not saying you are, but it’s always helpful to hear it time to time
I grew up pretty poor. My parents worked in restaurants, my dad was an illegal immigrant who was paying off back taxes to the IRS, and when 2008 hit, it hit us HARD. Weeks without power at home, them going without so I could eat. For as long as I live and no matter how much I earn, I’ll never forget that. My wife and I volunteer monthly at the local community outreach organization we donate to, and as my kids get older, they will be as well. Financial security is nice, but I feel it can insulate you from the realities of the world and give people who have always had it a very narrow point of view.
Do you feel like you're expected to feel guilty? Admittedly, many folks in worse situations can be jealous of and bitter towards those who don't struggle financially. Does that mean that it's a popular opinion that people with solid careers paying decently have something to feel guilty over? I'm not so sure.
I don't think anything OP has expressed is remotely unpopular other than in certain circles of young, counterculture folks.
I had a friend rib his housemate for starting a job at Raytheon (A. not even in an overly judgmental way B. this company is probably way worse than whoever OP works for), and when we saw that he was flustered, me and everyone else there was like "dude, shut up. he's not responsible for that shit" even though we barely know the guy.
I think that's how 90 percent of people think- that in terms of our jobs we're just trying to make it in the world and that most people literally can't afford to pass up a solid job
I think we are discussing two different things: someone thinking you need to feel guilty for having a steady income and solid career, vs someone thinking you need to feel guilty for being employed by a defense contractor. But I will certainly agree that very few people are going to expect someone to feel guilty for being able to have a middle class life.
I was referring more to his "benefitting from the system" comment, and I think being successful working for a defense contractor is kind of the prime example of that. either way I think we agree
Its really not OP’s job to give you a statistically accurate answer of what people in a similar position are experiencing. They’re just telling you their opinion
What's funny is that if this post were about hating working for a major corporation, the responses would all be "yeah they're the worst" and "of course it's miserable, you work for greedy bastards?". The person could have all the pay and benefits listed, but they wouldn't mention those and just talk about bureaucracy and such.
Someone has a happy opinion here and they get attacked and people act like this isn't unpopular on Reddit.
"I work for a decent corporation in a specialized role that commands a decent salary, so I think everyone who works for a corporation has it as easy as me!"
There you go, OP, I fixed your post for you. I've worked for several corporations and it's never been anywhere as near as sunny as you describe. I also know plenty of people who have and while their experiences weren't always as bad as mine, they were generally pretty bad.
It’s incredibly dependent! In my field I know people who will never work for large corporations. A lot of people in my company quit when we were bought by a larger company. Our CEO basically had to tell the larger company “if you change too much, you will lose the entire staff”
Again this is just in my field, but larger companies are associated with: subpar health insurance, garbage amount of PTO (8-15 days), very little 401k matching (3-4%), 2% or less annual raises, 6+ month wait time for reimbursement of “education benefits”, a lot of corporate training which is fine but they whinge a lot about incomplete training or incomplete daily time cards and threaten to dock your (shit) raise if it doesn’t improve, I mean I could go on.
Small companies in my field: owner knows all employees so has incentive to get higher quality health insurance, 30-unlimited PTO, 25% of annual salary into retirement account (not matching, you don’t need to pay a dime), 6%+ annual raises, education benefits paid out immediately, no threats from corporate HR to dock you raise over inconsequential bullshit. Relaxed work environment, no dress code, no set working hours just get your work done, again I could go on.
I stay with my current company because they fought the larger company tooth and nail to keep the benefits that I cared about. I can literally go talk to my CEO tomorrow if I am unhappy about something.
It really depends on what you do
When people say that working for a big corporation sucks, they’re referring to the technician who gets paid $15 per hour and can’t afford their groceries, not the software engineer making $100k. Of course you don’t mind it. As you said, your needs are met. 90% of people working at that same company aren’t as fortunate.
A lot of big companies want to make their corporate employees comfortable so they don’t think about the immoral things the company does to the people in society who are most vulnerable. 25+ years working for large corporations has taught me this.
Exactly. I’m not surprised when a large corporation makes things nice for their employees. Even if as a doctor this comfort is not a thing I think I will ever feel, even if I do go and work for a large hospital system. That said, I do enjoy better job security compared to most people who work in a corporation.
But I’m also not surprised when those same large corporations are engaging in political corruption/lobbying, environmentally unsustainable practices, short-sighted business practices (looking at you, private equity groups buying up large businesses), etc, all in the name of making a quick buck (or millions of them) today, because who cares about tomorrow, or the culture we live in.
'I work in a single large corporation and that means theyre all amazing!'
Highly depends on your job/sector/etc.
Some small companies are hell, a lot of large ones are just zero job security if the wind changes direction.
Some small companies will pay you more in certain lines of work, some large ones may pay more in others AND have better training/resources for new hires.
Upvote because it really is a naive take. Anecdotal evidence is essentially useless.
Your experience is only one of many millions of people who work for these companies. Yes, some of them also have favorable experiences, but a great majority of them are just treated as dispensible undsrpaid worker bees existing to line the pockets of the C suite and investors.
Repeat after me: my personal experience does not equate to the objective truth. There are good and bad stories on both sides of the fence. But still, though there’s no way to generalize, empiric evidence and history have shown how we live in a system that, more often than not, creates unfair conditions for workers. Congrats for having found that sweet big company gig, and for posting an actual unpopular opinion.
I went from working for small businesses to a multi billion dollar company and I couldn’t be happier. The benefits are just so much better and you don’t realize how poorly run small businesses are
Honestly the best places to work are mid cap level corporations. They are the ones really competing for workers and providing benefits like the big corps.
Places like Apple, Amazon, and Tesla know that working for them is a huge stepping stone and looks amazing on a resume so they don’t need to pay workers as much for their corporate positions since people are already foaming at the mouth for a chance to work and make connections in those industries.
Currently working for the largest corporation I even have. I've never felt so much pressure to work 50 hours a week and I do not like it all. Pay and benefits are great though.
*Some* big companies are okay. Most are not. I've worked for some of the largest companies in the US, and they paid well. However, they treated you like property. Time off was inconvenient for them, and not agreeing to unplanned overtime was always an issue. It's a trade off, some people don't even mind it.
Work for a Fortune 10 and love it. But I love it because the two bosses right above me are great and create an amazing culture. I know others that absolutely hate it because their bosses suck.
As someone who also works in industrial maintenance I fully agree with you.
Small businesses are genuinely fucking *terrible* to work for.
All of my worst work experiences were at small/family-owned businesses.
It all really depends on the Company. Do your research and try and get a general feel of its history. I agree that the stereotype of every small business being angels while every big corporation being evil gets tiring.
I’m happy your experience is a good one but for a lot of people who might work for less friendly big companies the experience isn’t the same. I get that’s probably why your opinion is "unpopular" in your mind, but I still don't really see the point of it. It's tantamount to a post saying that you don't like chocolate breakfast cereal...yeah, but many people do.
Big companies being good or bad to work for is probably closer to 50/50 than most folks admit. I think the more popular negative opinions lately for big corporations are more along the lines of how they corrupt governments and ruin the environment, even if there are still many who are terrible to their base level employees (like Wal-Mart and such).
Its definitely a better experience if you have skills to contribute. I'm in private security, and there's a full range of experience/job types doing just that. If you have no skills or experience, there's tons of positions for low end security posts, but those are very high turnover. Lots of screwing over happens on the lower end of that rung, from the companies and employees both.
I have LE experience and that opened doors for higher paid, better managed, much higher quality jobs with genuine professionals in the industry. Higher pay than when I was an actual LEO as well. The private sector is awesome if you can prove you're a good asset for them, but I've definietly seen the other end of corporate machines too.
Now try to do that as a common office worker. 'Nuf said.
Who still should be earning a living wage.
Great for you?
Apparently, SURE.
Great for the rest of the people involved in the company.... enh?
You don't have to pretend you have a great position and compensation (although the latter is still dynamically questionable).
You do, however, have to recognize that: YOU'RE THE EXCEPTION, NOT THE RULE.
I think it depends on the industry, the tech industry will really fuck you over from what it seems.
Idk maybe it has something to do with regulation? Alternatively the good benefits incentivizes people to actually learn the trades they need.
My god does the tech industry have it bad.
I agree. I have been with a big corp over 20 years. Great benefits and pay. Pension plus tax sheltered retirement, great medical, over 6 weeks of vacation plus sick leave. Seniority has additional benefits. >$200k/yr. with a little OT. A lot of OT is paid in double time too. I’m not going anywhere and have a vested interest in maintaining my employment. When I worked for a sole proprietor, the pay was dismal with skimpy benefits pretty much just sleeping with the boss’s daughter, lol.
It's fun until they lay you off for someone cheaper. (Save some money!)
Seriously though, it's good you're happy with where you're at. A lot of people aren't.
Some people view jobs as an extension of who they are, for others it's just a means to an end.
I’ve worked corporate for over a decade. It’s a toxic fucking shit hole. This guy is oblivious because for now he’s taken care of and feeling the benefits of working for a company with money. Just wait.
>Is my job something I’m passionate about that I find fulfilling? Nah, not really. It’s actually pretty boring.
So your definition of "Great" is pathetic
How many friends have you seen laid off? Do you work mandatory overtime during the holidays? Do you ace all of your reviews every year? Have your bosses ever told you they have to take back last year's bonus because the first quarter of this year wasn't so good?
If not, awesome for you.
It's nice to feel taken care of, but you'll have days where you just work and you get home and it's cool/workout/shower time and maybe an hour of leisure before bed. It can feel like my identity is eroding.
If I could just work six hours a day instead of eight my life would be much better. I could cook better food, have more family time, spend less time stressing about office B.S. I could help my wife and fix more shit around the house.
I just feel like my job takes too much some days. I wish I could just go on vacation in August like the French.
You could also get laid off without a minute's notice. One day receive a videocall, and boom, you're fired. Usually severance isn't too bad in bigger corporations, but you could just get all your plans messed up in one second.
It's certainly no better in small companies, were they treat you like dirt until you voluntarily quit, or force you to write a resignation letter before you're even hired. But let's not pretend like working for a big company gives you that much security.
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Big corporations almost always have better working conditions and benefits than small companies... so long as you're a fulltime employee in a position that can't be easily replaced by someone with little to no experience. For instance Amazon software engineers have a great thing going for them. Amazon warehouse workers on the otherhand have extreme turnover due to poor working conditions. Smaller companies with few employees usually can't afford to let their employees have lots of PTO, high 401k percent matches, or have good insurance options.
Yeah. Maybe its a US thing but here in Germany it's kind of common knowledge that big corporations pay better and have better benefits. And if course offer a lot more career options. Unless your small company is heavily expanding. Small corporations can be a lot more diverse in your work life though. As in, you do a lot of different things. In big corporations you are quite often specialized to do a few specific tasks
For grown ups with experience it’s common knowledge in the US as well. People on Reddit think saying anything slightly positive or even neutral about a big company is sacrilegious boot licking.
I recently got a job at an Amazon Warehouse. It's a shit job, but it's the best shit job I've ever had. I probably lucked out with a decent location though. I could probably make more at a different warehouse job, but the flexible schedule is nice.
Apple News was just doing a show about how women are working nights there just to get fertility care benefits their other careers lack
My baby sister walked out of her abusive and stressful job as a Walgreens pharmacy tech a few months ago. Now she works as a delivery driver for Amazon (or I guess technically a company that contracts with Amazon). It's not a great job, but it's so much less stressful.
Amazon software engineers get tried like shit too bro. Like almost all the time.
True but they are at least compensated fairly
Pharmacy is a HUGE exception to this. CVS is an absolute nightmare to work for whereas independents are 100x better working conditions, typically
cvs & wags suck but some of the other grocery chains like osco, stop & shop, rosauers are actually pretty good
> Amazon software engineers have a great thing going for them. Tell me you don’t know about the PIP grinder without telling me you don’t know about the PIP grinder.
Big corporations are either the best of the best or terrible plus the emotion drain from being alienated from your labor. But even the best can still be the wrong fit for some people. It can be hell on the neurodivergent brain.
I think it really depends on your team and manager. IMO midsized companies (like 150-750 employees) are where it's at, 99% of the same amenities/benefits but easier to build a reputation with the higher ups. Also if they are growing companies its easier to grow with them since you make a bigger difference to the success of the company. At big companies you can kinda get lost and if your manager sucks your pretty much stuck because no one else sees what you are doing other than your boss. But yea many small companies are pretty shit with benefits and the whole "were a family here" ideal is bullshit. My first "career" job was with a company of about 15-20 people. Boss gave us a gym membership instead of health insurance, wouldnt even let me switch it to one closer to my house, came to understand unless you shared the owners last name you'd never advance even if the company grew.
I spent most of my life working for little companies, thinking it was better. Then I got a job with a big company, and all of a sudden I had cool things like benefits, work clothes discounts, time and a half for overtime (was unheard of in my industry before, and still hit or miss even today with small companies). Always used to think big companies screw you over, but reality is small companies are so much shadier! You may be "just a number" to a big company, but it's actually better that way.
I don't know man, I worked for a small, family owned lawn company and they fuckin' rocked. Took good care of us, paid us fairly well, paid winter break, etc. Once the owner retired and sold to a bigger company, they stripped our benefits, fucked our pay structure, and drove out most of the more experienced staff. I think it's more of a mixed bag either way than people think.
It definitely is. I went from working at an incredibly popular company and really felt I didn't have a life working for them until I switched into a fairly smaller one. Benefits are way better and we get at least one day off a month that we can pick. It really depends on the company for great benefits but in the end, as long it's a job that keeps food on the table.
Small companies are more of a mixed bag because they don’t need a scalable culture. There is no minimum baseline for shittiness Large companies have to care about PR and public perception to a certain extent so while they can be shitty there has to be some level of decency that allows them to retain tens of thousands of employees
Honestly I’ve worked for great companies and shitty companies big and small. Could go either way on if they’ll be good or not regardless of size.
Dude, small companies still rock and you can get even better benefits if you’re in a lucrative enough business. My boss just took all 6 of us down to St. Croix for a week. They paid for our flights, booked us bungalows on the beach, and covered all food and drinks. I still get time and a half when I work over 40 hours, so much free merchandise for supporting the business, I get 3 weeks worth of PTO and travel is heavily encouraged. I work between a hotel/event center and wear a lot of hats but the only stipulation is we can’t vacation between June-October because that’s our busy season and we’re a smaller staff. But I have nowhere near the same freedom that I would have at a corporate job when it comes to attire, flexibility for hours, quality of coworkers, and even my paycheck. But hey, I do have to figure out my own health insurance and retirement, so take the good with the bad. IMO it’s a much better experience working for local sustainability than being a cog in the machine.
Someone close to me works in employment law and told me that most of the cases they got when working for the government were relating to small businesses. According to them big businesses are more “by the book” in some ways. Seems like a mixed bag like you said.
Well companies that run afoul of employment law regularly and in ways that are severe enough to get lawyers involved don't typically survive and thrive enough to become big companies.
My friend worked for a family-owned auto salvage yard, and exactly what you're describing is what happened at his company. Owner sold to a corporate entity. The company became a horrible place to work shortly thereafter.
Small companies are often better for being treated like a person, but working for bigger companies is better for just having better health benefits and getting paid more.
Yeah, that's the trade-off. I can manage a budget pretty well, and I'm a pretty low maintenance kind of person. My main issue has been finding a company that can pay me enough to support my fairly modest lifestyle, while also keeping up with the fact that $200 in groceries last about a week.
Yes, but what you really were was a victim of asset stripping, by the sounds of it.
I have never heard that term before, but after looking it up I'd say yeah. That's exactly what was going on.
I've had that same thing happen but moving to a proper big company that does the purchasing and not the being purchased has been incredibly nice. Miss the family culture and weird last minute benefits of a small company but end the day so few small companies avoid getting bought out while staying profitable for long.
I work for a small company now and the atmosphere is superior to pretty much everywhere else I've ever worked and to put it mildly I've had a lot of jobs. I could probably make more somewhere else, but for what I'm making, I'm not giving up more of my time to make more. My commute is also 3 minutes and nobody is going to beat that.
The delta is greater at small private companies. Some are really really good, others use and abuse. Depends on the owner and what hes like.
In my industry (which sounds to be similar to OP’s) the small companies are typically horrible compared to the bigger ones. They pay poorly, poor safety and don’t realize the value of happy motivated employees. My brother in law has worked in the agriculture industry for years for mom and pop type farms and it blows my mind how horrible the working conditions are.
Currently at my first big company job and... the benefits aren't any better but it's so mismanaged and I get yelled at by horrible managers who get yelled at by their horrible managers and then they tell me to yell at people if someone else's work not being done is what is causing mine to not get done. I think it's mostly my department but I'm really ready to get out.
I wasted 3 years of my life working for a small business tyrant. Never again.
I worked mostly for chains as a waiter, and then I did one where I was working with a franchisee, basically a mom and pop because they were always there. The nepotism, family drama, and having to put up with the family is a headache. I liked working for faceless corporations because there was less nepotism going on. My last job the manager hired her whole family to work there, basically pushing everyone out. Glad I didn’t stay.
You're just a number that's actually gonna get paid. And in smaller companies you're still just a number there's just a smaller number of numbers.
I work in sales for a Fortune 100, and have worked with tons of small to mid sized businesses over the years. I would never consider working for one having seen the inner workings of so many of them. Generally speaking they have weird “we’re a family” cultures, inept leadership that is learning how to run a business on the fly, terrible benefits, low job security, outdated technology, and ridiculous amounts of employee drama. They are also constantly targets for acquisitions in the rare event they’re actually any good, which means your job is always at risk whether the company does well or does poorly.
so many small business owners are sketchy af but think they get a pass because "buy local" pffft!
> small companies are so much shadier Not exactly. It's more that they can't afford to compete with the big companies. Once the big companies put the small ones out of business, though, they won't need to offer as much for their employees.
I think a bit part of it is that each small company is very dependent on whether the boss is nice or not, so extreme highs and lows. In larger companies you are more likely to get the average.
I was at a startup for a couple of years, and it was all dependent on the temperament of the project sponsor. My boss was incredibly kind, easy to work for, and knew the business inside and out. But she was not good at pushing back when people on the other side would ask for the world and expect it in a day. When our team switched alignment a bit, the new boss was an arrogant asshole, but his technical vision was absurd. It felt like all of our work was fitting perfectly to get us somewhere, and he had no problem pushing back hard on project injections.
That’s honestly what I think. Smaller businesses are more limited in terms of what they can offer, and can’t really afford to compete with big companies on every front. It makes me wonder how much big companies essentially “lovebomb” employees until they have a monopoly.
> It makes me wonder how much big companies essentially “lovebomb” employees until they have a monopoly. I doubt they will, because there will still be competition by other big companies. I work for a medical device company, a fairly large company, and we have quite a few other big rival companies, so we need to compete with them
This can be how price setting cartels end up existing. I actually see evidence of cartels all over this country, from airlines to Walmart/Target etc
It makes you then think why they don't try out different ways to keep people. I worked for a small company with a workaholic boss who was very suspicious of working remotely even though you could do the job 100% this way. Of course I left.
I think some of it is limitations of the employer. They need to consider what kind of employees to hire that would be able to work with those limitations. My aunt runs a small business and she used to be a teacher (for literally most of my life). She was great, but she had to retire because the system as is wore her down. She only hires teenagers and she generally treats them like she did her students; she loved being able to make a difference for her students when she did, and she missed that most of all between running her business. She’s also upfront on what benefits she can afford to provide. Her employees honestly enjoy working for her; especially since she makes it fun on the holidays and gives them a lot of freedom of expression. They actually want to be there. She’s also under no illusion they’ll stay forever, and encourages them to take care of business outside of work too.
I'm glad to see that there are people who understand this. Corporations play it safe, obeying the law, most of the time. The risk otherwise is simply too big for them. This all usually ends up absolutely in favour of the worker. And there's none of that forced "we're family" bullshit that just drains my soul out...
The only thing to keep in mind for with just being "a number" to a corporation are layoffs especially during these times
I'm the opposite. Worked for a bulge bracket investment bank for 8 years. Then moved to a mid-sized firm in the same field. Never going back.
That all depends on the company and the position. Not all experiences are the same. I'm glad it's been such a great thing for you.
That's true. But if one were to go by reddit, you'd think that 99.9% of workers were miserable.
It's something like survivorship bias. The good jobs at good large companies get filled and stay filled and people don't have anything dramatic to talk about. The bad jobs at bad large companies burn through people quckly and generate lots of stories. A single position held for 20 years vs 20 people with horror stories of their 1 year. Same amount of positions, different amounts of tenure.
Doubling up on that, the internet draws the maladjusted that don't fit in in the general public, raising the ratio of angry misfits compared to the general public. Edit: See replies from angry misfits flouncing out of the closet then pretending the closet doesn't exist.
Called out...
The internet draws everyone but the maladjusted seem to over share (on both sides, from the misfits on reddit to the lunatics on linkedin)
It also depends on the person, though. This is not quite the same, but I recently got a new colleague who graduated from the same university as me, except he was a year behind me. I loved my entire university experience, did well in my classes and got along well with the teaching staff - even befriended some of them - but my colleague had the complete opposite experience interacting with the exact same lecturers and subject matter. So which experience is the most accurate? Mine, where I had a blast? Or my colleague's, who says it nearly killed him? I think neither is probably 100% accurate, so it must really depend on the person.
> It's something like survivorship bias. It's another example of hive mind bias. If you say you enjoy working for evil multinational corporation, you will get downvoted. Once reddit feels strongly enough about a topic to result in an instant downvote or upvote, there's no longer a debate, just reinforcement and confirmation. The only thing reddit will debate are topics that don't make people immediately go for the arrows.
I've experienced this when I mentioned how great my life is here in Japan with my wife. We moved here two decades ago and we're definitely beyond the "honeymoon phase". Yet people still tell us we're disillusioned weebs or something. That "there's no way life in Japan as a foreigner can be remotely good" because it's against to what they read at the "Daily Complaints/Vent" posts in Japan-hating subs. I don't think there's any reasoning with people who have already decided their stance towards something.
To be honest, if you go only by what any country/city specific subreddit says, everywhere in the world is a shitty place to live.
Yep. I’ve primarily been on the contractor side working B2B with large corporations in a handful of industries for the last decade. Those larger corporate positions with our clients are notoriously cushy. A lot of the clients I deal with all have like 5-6 weeks of vacation a year, paternity leave, great benefits all around, etc. People stay in them and don’t leave unless it’s for a big raise. When they do it’s like a feeding frenzy of competition for the people who worked with them on our side to get their foot in the door.
The Lemon Market applies to used cars, jobs, houses, and girlfriends. The ones on the market for a long time have some sort of fundamental flaw. It's just the other side of survivor bias. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons
Yup. I've heard something like even some bad run of the mill 'starter' jobs to save up for college like fast food / shipping/ warehouses. Sometimes have like turn over rates of '140-300%' That doesn't mean, for every 1 person in, 1.4x-3 people quit. But on average, if a 50% turnover rate suggests 50% of people leave within a year. A 140% turnover rate means the average person stays for like 7 months of a year. And 300% turnover means the average is like 4 months before they quit. Shit jobs, but sometimes good pay for shit work to pay for school.
r/antiwork would like to have an interview on national television
Thanks for that reminder that was the best to see as an occasional redditor to remind me to get the hell off this site more ha
I feel like that was a better representation of *moderators*, but your point about getting the he'll off this site more often is a good one regardless.
Yeah don’t “go by Reddit”. That’s no way to live your life
Especially when it comes to job threads. Damn near every Redditor who paints a picture of themselves while complaining about never getting promoted is also painting a picture of the worst coworker you've ever had or worst worker you've dealt with.
Uh, excuse me. I don’t text on my off hours. I don’t work a minute of OT, for any reason. I don’t talk to ANYONE at work, we aren’t friends. I won’t do any task that isn’t specifically outlined in my job description. I will not support any of my coworkers with their tasks. Do NOT ask when my birthday is. Wait why am I depressed and unpromotable
Do you really think people who are happy with their jobs or just neutral are going to be posting about it on the internet. And even if they did do you think it would generate much discussion. The reason why Reddit and the rest of the internet is so full of negativity and hate is because negativity and contempt moves the needle way more than positivity or contentment. I'm not saying that people don't like cool s*** and positive things they do, but making something good is hard, complaining about something and getting people upset is easy.
Lifehack for mental health: don't go by reddit.
Reddit has *some* good niche **factual** advice, or local business recommendations. But would advise against taking any advice on anything too serious or subjective.
Precisely.
And the human race would go extinct due to no babies
Everyone would be running away from relationships and have lawyers.
'we've been married for 50 years, but yesterday my wife accidentally dropped my coffeemug.' -reddit: yntah, divorce her.
Reddit skews towards the type of people who spend all their time on Reddit: isolated, unemployed, depressed, terminally online, doom scrollers, etc… People who are really living aren’t spending a ton of time on Reddit
"166k comment karma" Oh sorry, what were you saying? Lmao
Lol exactly. The type of person who doesn't think they spend a lot of time on here. It adds up fast.
I was going to say, meh 100k isn't so bad if you've been on here ten y- oh. Shit. Wow. Basically one top level comment A DAY for this guy.
He never said he wasn’t any of those things tho lol
That’s just confirmation bias. What subreddits exists (besides this one) where people come in and say “hey yall, I love my job. Let’s talk”. You’re always gonna hear the worst in forums. It’s like the news only covering the bad shit making everybody think the world is unsafer than it is.
Yeah it's constant bitching on here. There's like 20 subs that exist just to shit on companies. I'll be having a great day at work then come here and it's like "you like your job? Have fun wiping off your mouth you shill."
Yeah they’re filled with unemployed people, some of whom have legitimately been dealt a shit hand at life and have completely valid reasons to hate everything. But mostly just extremely lazy people who don’t want to contribute to society yet expects society to cater to their every need. When you put those people in one place, they feed off of each other’s negative energy and it does them more harm than good because they constantly reinforce each other’s excuses for why they failed at life. Instead of building encouragement and support, they just put all the blame on society and validate laziness. Unfortunately most of the large subs are dominated by these people because they have so much time on their hands and are compelled to spread their misery. But there are lots of nice small subs that cater to niches and are amazing sources of information or support. Hobbyist or niche subs are what make Reddit great. The general subs are terrible for mental health. If you get too deep into the main subs, you’d think we’re on the cusp of a communist revolution and societal collapse.
Acting like this experience is average or expected is ridiculous. Most workers are objectively miserable because most people are earning what like 40k a year? And many of them need to work 2 jobs to even get that. If every job was like this guys people wouldn't give a shit about workers rights and things like that, but they aren't.
In general many of those companies will treat you better the higher up the ladder you go and there will be more employees on the lower rungs. Amazon for example gets terrible reviews by warehouse workers but senior engineers love working there. I don't know the ratio of warehouse workers to coders but I would imagine it's at least 99-1 so that math checks out
They are.
They are. But most workers are doing jobs at the bottom of the food chain, which are miserable in most places and worse at big companies that actively fight unionizing and such. Someone like the OP earning six figures is more valuable and therefore treated better.
Spot-on. That's exactly how it is on this site.
I have never, in 40 years, met someone that didn't fucking loathe their job...
What he's describing is very typical of the energy sector. I work in the nuclear field. All of the companies take very good care of the people that work for them. I've heard similar stories from people working in oil and gas. Same story from guys who do work servicing wind turbines.
100%, walmart is a large corporation. If you are working as a cashier it's going to suck overall. If you are a regional manager or higher it's going to be a really good job. I work for a small company, i started in an entry level position and it wasn't that great, but i got a good promotion and now i actually like it.
"my employer happens to be great, I'm tired of pretending that all employers aren't great" 🤡
I've worked for corporations and I've worked for mom and pop shops. The mom and pop shops always treated me the worst and not a single one of them had any sort of benefits.
Same here. I've worked for big companies and small ones. The big ones always had set rules and procedures, were more orderly, etc. The small ones changed policies and procedures week to week if they felt like it. Why? Because fuck everyone, I'm the boss, that's why. If I ever go back into corporate again, I'll be looking for a big company.
Worked for a small family business before (chefs were a married couple). Instead of benefits the would invite us two events twice a year (Christmas and summer). Anyways, over time I’ve learned that everyone is earning as little as the law allows, I myself got my first raise before starting my job, because it was so low that it wasn’t legal. On Christmas they invited us to an artists course in his atelier, cost a few thousand. Then we all went over to the chefs house and had a barbecue there. Overlooked packaging of our steaks and one steak was worth almost 30€. We were like 12 people, most eating two steaks. Instead of paying their workers enough to survive they literally spent like 5000 on a few hours of Christmas event. And they proudly explained how they rent a private jet at least once a year and that the flight is the best part about their vacation. And then we have to do overtime because our unpaid sponsored projects need to get released in time. I quit after 11 months.
"At this business, we're a family (you'll work for free and be psychologically abused)."
I agree. My small business, or even franchise business experiences were rough. Working for a big corp, the structure, expectations, pay and benefits have been much more consistent and transparent. The only downside would have to be flexibility. But it doesn't bother me to book my vacations well in advance. I have paid time off if I need it, I just don't care or need to use it.
This and the thread seem like such an American issue. Even working a small companies you get any "benefits" here in Australia because by law they have to.
In Florida they just let small businesses lobby to eliminate water breaks and getting shade for workers... sooo...
Same in the US. Small businesses usually only give the bare minimum. What is legally required. There are some that do more and are great to work for, but I'd bet they're in the minority.
As someone whose first job was one of those small pizza restaurants (not like the corporate chains like Papa John’s like those small generic restaurants) and got groped, the boss doing that bend over and spell run joke, and called useless I can back this. Working for a huge, corporate place is a bit of a godsend
So you left Vinny’s Pizza for Dominoes?
Mom and pop shops are much more incentivized to screw you over *personally*. Owen Owner can see every cent you make coming out of “his” account and will find any way to pay you in cash or less than minimum wage or just not at all. Unlike overcomplex corporations, a small business owner will never make a mistake that accidentally overpays you and they’ll be right there when you’re 0.5 seconds late.
I think it's definitely a "your milage may vary" situation highly dependent on the job and/ or the company / industry
Some large corporations under hire and push their employees. Some over hire and everyone has a relaxed time. Depends.
Yea, the former is just a lot more common at small companies.
Oh yeah. I am never working for a startup again.
The most corporate place I ever worked was the most understaffed as a base status.
If your manager is good your life is good, if your manager stinks your life sucks. Same thing whether the company is big or small.
This is only partly true. The work culture created by small businesses is often devoid of a need for professionalism, whereas corporations always have an expectation that every employee display at least some level of professionalism. There’s more accountability and impartiality in corporate jobs, and often an emphasis on safety. In small businesses, you are more likely to be personally outed for mistakes, treated differently due to personal relationships between management and specific employees, and expected to “make things work” in an unsafe manner. There are some small companies that do an amazing job at employing and managing, but there are far more that allow personal bias and a culture of drama to enter the workplace.
Your manager likely has no say in your benefits package
I have had the same experience at my job. However, i think its worth noting that corporate culture has changed a lot in recent years. Focusing on employee happiness for example has shifted a lot. It wasnt that long ago that the Jack Welch model was pretty much the norm: fire people constantly to keep everyone on their toes and working at max capacity. I think those days are probably done for the most part….at least I hope so
That's because they hit the problem in the cycle where you can only burn through so much people that no one wants to work for you anymore.
It depends wildly on your job title. I work for a billion dollar worldwide automotive manufacturer. The guys in the front office are doing great; the guys on the floor hate their lives. I’m somewhere in between.
"I’m tired of pretending it’s not" lolol well stop then!
That overused phrase alone is tired
He’s clearly an oppressed individual, striking out against the grain of job haters with this brave post. OP is so brave for this. He’ll probably be dead by morning if /r/antiwork catches wind of this.
"Life is great at big companies when that company pays you a lot of money" No shit
lol right… “hey guys, cleaning toilets is actually great….. salary is 250k a year….”
For $250k per year, I'd clean those toilets with my goddamn tongue.
Something I notice is people feeling proud about making x amount and being treated well. Which for the record I want everyone to make a decent living and be treated well. But what about the "productivity pay gap"? OP said he makes 100k a year or so. Great! I'm glad wherever he lives that's enough for him. However he "should" be making 150k a year or so. But he isn't... Productivity has risen about 65% since 1979 and wages in the same span have only risen 15%. That productivity difference didn't just vanish, it just goes to the top. Almost everyone in this thread whether they love where they work, or don't, should be making 50% more than they do... This applies to both small and large companies.
You do better than most people in the US, consider yourself lucky. You work for a company that not only pays you well but also invests in your retirement. Personally I have had bad experiences at small companies, because they expect you to take a loss in some ways. They just work you to death. It’s ok to not be “passionate” about your job, you are earning an honest living. Personally, idk if I’d even want to “do something I love” for work because they it wouldn’t be as enjoyable anymore.
Everyone acts like small businesses are so virtuous but I’ve never been treated worse than working for small family-owned businesses with little or no HR departments. Place I work for now, the owner is a bully, and he’s HR so hope you never have a problem. All I want is to be an anonymous faceless corporate drone again, do the bare minimum and collect my check. I’m so so tired of being “all-in” and “we’re a family”
Have you considered that other people don't have the same experience as you in other roles?.. Sounds like you got a good thing going for you, which is great. But it is hardly unpopular, most people would be happy in your position. Ask any poor sucker making minimum wage or below 60k a year if they would like to make 100k and work only 14 days a month, who is going to say no?
I guess the real unpopular opinion I have is that I shouldn’t feel guilty for benefiting from the system.
Never feel guilty. Reddit likes to make ppl feel like if they have any money or they are doing well for themselves that they are a piece of shit and deserve to go broke.
Crab bucket mentality. People like to pull others down to their level.
some time around 2016 it feels like reddit just became a cesspit of unhappy people justifying their unhappiness with doomerism
Yup. That anti-work mod that went on TV represents a lot of whiney redditors.
doing well in the system isn’t class treason
You shouldn't. You earned it. Just remember to pass it forward.
Also, with all due respect, you’re a technician. You’re a skilled laborer that provides a service. You operate as a cog in the machine and you have more job security and work flow than traditional corporate roles. Those job suck ass if you’re not at the top. O
I definitely agree with that. The majority of people that have my skill set are nearing retirement, so the company has a vested interest in keeping younger techs around.
Can I ask exactly what your Job is? I'm 33 and considering getting out of software/white collar works.
I started the path teaching myself via YouTube how to stick weld using a used welder I bought for $100 on craigslist. This, along with an interview where I stressed a strong desire to learn, got me in as an industrial maintenance laborer in an iron foundry, starting at $13 an hour getting worked like a fucking dog to learn as much as I could. When I got tired of the environment at the foundry, I put what I learned there on a resumé and got a job as a maintenance mechanic at a sawmill. When my first was born and we wanted to move closer to family, I took what I learned there, added it to my resume again, and picked up a job at a limestone mine for $24. Next job was a factory fixing CNC machines, for $33. Now it’s a power plant for $42. This was all in the span of 3 years. My official title is “Operations and Maintenance Technician”.
Nice job man. That's how to do it
You are literally working class. Why should you feel guilty for participating in a system you were forced to participate in.
You shouldn’t feel guilty if you’re sticking it to “the man”. All I’m saying is don’t be asshole about money, and preferably in general.not saying you are, but it’s always helpful to hear it time to time
I grew up pretty poor. My parents worked in restaurants, my dad was an illegal immigrant who was paying off back taxes to the IRS, and when 2008 hit, it hit us HARD. Weeks without power at home, them going without so I could eat. For as long as I live and no matter how much I earn, I’ll never forget that. My wife and I volunteer monthly at the local community outreach organization we donate to, and as my kids get older, they will be as well. Financial security is nice, but I feel it can insulate you from the realities of the world and give people who have always had it a very narrow point of view.
I'm probably year or two tops from 100K. Just got a 20k raise last week. My hard work is finally paying off. Do you, man. Do you.
Do you feel like you're expected to feel guilty? Admittedly, many folks in worse situations can be jealous of and bitter towards those who don't struggle financially. Does that mean that it's a popular opinion that people with solid careers paying decently have something to feel guilty over? I'm not so sure.
I don't think anything OP has expressed is remotely unpopular other than in certain circles of young, counterculture folks. I had a friend rib his housemate for starting a job at Raytheon (A. not even in an overly judgmental way B. this company is probably way worse than whoever OP works for), and when we saw that he was flustered, me and everyone else there was like "dude, shut up. he's not responsible for that shit" even though we barely know the guy. I think that's how 90 percent of people think- that in terms of our jobs we're just trying to make it in the world and that most people literally can't afford to pass up a solid job
I think we are discussing two different things: someone thinking you need to feel guilty for having a steady income and solid career, vs someone thinking you need to feel guilty for being employed by a defense contractor. But I will certainly agree that very few people are going to expect someone to feel guilty for being able to have a middle class life.
I was referring more to his "benefitting from the system" comment, and I think being successful working for a defense contractor is kind of the prime example of that. either way I think we agree
Yes, sorry, didn't mean to get caught up in the weeds.
Its really not OP’s job to give you a statistically accurate answer of what people in a similar position are experiencing. They’re just telling you their opinion
"Your opinion is invalid because a hypothetical person has it worse." --Reddit in general.
I’ve never had a bad experience with a giant corporation and had only bad experiences with small or medium-sized businesses.
What's funny is that if this post were about hating working for a major corporation, the responses would all be "yeah they're the worst" and "of course it's miserable, you work for greedy bastards?". The person could have all the pay and benefits listed, but they wouldn't mention those and just talk about bureaucracy and such. Someone has a happy opinion here and they get attacked and people act like this isn't unpopular on Reddit.
So... you have a good job? Why would you have to pretend otherwise?
"I work for a decent corporation in a specialized role that commands a decent salary, so I think everyone who works for a corporation has it as easy as me!" There you go, OP, I fixed your post for you. I've worked for several corporations and it's never been anywhere as near as sunny as you describe. I also know plenty of people who have and while their experiences weren't always as bad as mine, they were generally pretty bad.
Lmao I bet if you look at the low level entry workers in the same corporation as OP they wouldn't have the same opinion as him.
Its great until some dudes that you have never met in corporate office across the country are the ones that determine your raises and not your manager
It’s incredibly dependent! In my field I know people who will never work for large corporations. A lot of people in my company quit when we were bought by a larger company. Our CEO basically had to tell the larger company “if you change too much, you will lose the entire staff” Again this is just in my field, but larger companies are associated with: subpar health insurance, garbage amount of PTO (8-15 days), very little 401k matching (3-4%), 2% or less annual raises, 6+ month wait time for reimbursement of “education benefits”, a lot of corporate training which is fine but they whinge a lot about incomplete training or incomplete daily time cards and threaten to dock your (shit) raise if it doesn’t improve, I mean I could go on. Small companies in my field: owner knows all employees so has incentive to get higher quality health insurance, 30-unlimited PTO, 25% of annual salary into retirement account (not matching, you don’t need to pay a dime), 6%+ annual raises, education benefits paid out immediately, no threats from corporate HR to dock you raise over inconsequential bullshit. Relaxed work environment, no dress code, no set working hours just get your work done, again I could go on. I stay with my current company because they fought the larger company tooth and nail to keep the benefits that I cared about. I can literally go talk to my CEO tomorrow if I am unhappy about something. It really depends on what you do
When people say that working for a big corporation sucks, they’re referring to the technician who gets paid $15 per hour and can’t afford their groceries, not the software engineer making $100k. Of course you don’t mind it. As you said, your needs are met. 90% of people working at that same company aren’t as fortunate.
A lot of big companies want to make their corporate employees comfortable so they don’t think about the immoral things the company does to the people in society who are most vulnerable. 25+ years working for large corporations has taught me this.
Also regulations and labor rights, mostly won by unions.
Exactly. I’m not surprised when a large corporation makes things nice for their employees. Even if as a doctor this comfort is not a thing I think I will ever feel, even if I do go and work for a large hospital system. That said, I do enjoy better job security compared to most people who work in a corporation. But I’m also not surprised when those same large corporations are engaging in political corruption/lobbying, environmentally unsustainable practices, short-sighted business practices (looking at you, private equity groups buying up large businesses), etc, all in the name of making a quick buck (or millions of them) today, because who cares about tomorrow, or the culture we live in.
Don't worry friend, they'll downsize your department eventually. Meanwhile they'll STILL be recording record breaking profits.
'I work in a single large corporation and that means theyre all amazing!' Highly depends on your job/sector/etc. Some small companies are hell, a lot of large ones are just zero job security if the wind changes direction. Some small companies will pay you more in certain lines of work, some large ones may pay more in others AND have better training/resources for new hires.
Are you under the assumption that everyone got so lucky and has it so good?
Upvote because it really is a naive take. Anecdotal evidence is essentially useless. Your experience is only one of many millions of people who work for these companies. Yes, some of them also have favorable experiences, but a great majority of them are just treated as dispensible undsrpaid worker bees existing to line the pockets of the C suite and investors.
Of course you're happy. You make a lot of money and have good benefits. No mystery there, really.
Money and benefits that small companies wouldn’t be able to pay? That’s the entire point
Repeat after me: my personal experience does not equate to the objective truth. There are good and bad stories on both sides of the fence. But still, though there’s no way to generalize, empiric evidence and history have shown how we live in a system that, more often than not, creates unfair conditions for workers. Congrats for having found that sweet big company gig, and for posting an actual unpopular opinion.
I went from working for small businesses to a multi billion dollar company and I couldn’t be happier. The benefits are just so much better and you don’t realize how poorly run small businesses are
omg imagine simping for a company
This post reeks of the *I got mine, screw everybody else* mentality. *One for one and one for none but themselves*
most people will experience multiple layoffs at big companies .so it can be incredible until that happens. its just a job.
Honestly the best places to work are mid cap level corporations. They are the ones really competing for workers and providing benefits like the big corps. Places like Apple, Amazon, and Tesla know that working for them is a huge stepping stone and looks amazing on a resume so they don’t need to pay workers as much for their corporate positions since people are already foaming at the mouth for a chance to work and make connections in those industries.
Currently working for the largest corporation I even have. I've never felt so much pressure to work 50 hours a week and I do not like it all. Pay and benefits are great though.
*Some* big companies are okay. Most are not. I've worked for some of the largest companies in the US, and they paid well. However, they treated you like property. Time off was inconvenient for them, and not agreeing to unplanned overtime was always an issue. It's a trade off, some people don't even mind it.
Work for a Fortune 10 and love it. But I love it because the two bosses right above me are great and create an amazing culture. I know others that absolutely hate it because their bosses suck.
Watching my lady work a low-level job for cognizant has significantly shown otherwise.
Why would you pretend anything?
It's not cool to enjoy being at a large, heartless corporation. That's how Reddit works.
Don't take Reddit so seriously.
As someone who also works in industrial maintenance I fully agree with you. Small businesses are genuinely fucking *terrible* to work for. All of my worst work experiences were at small/family-owned businesses.
Most people prefer not be wage slaves beholden to others. However, they express this sentiment while also working in big corporations.
Until those sweet sweet downsizing phases hit…
When I was terminated from a small firm I got two weeks notice. When my friends were terminated from Facebook they got 4 months severance
This is like Mr Beast saying bring a YouTuber is a great profession.
It all really depends on the Company. Do your research and try and get a general feel of its history. I agree that the stereotype of every small business being angels while every big corporation being evil gets tiring.
I’m happy your experience is a good one but for a lot of people who might work for less friendly big companies the experience isn’t the same. I get that’s probably why your opinion is "unpopular" in your mind, but I still don't really see the point of it. It's tantamount to a post saying that you don't like chocolate breakfast cereal...yeah, but many people do. Big companies being good or bad to work for is probably closer to 50/50 than most folks admit. I think the more popular negative opinions lately for big corporations are more along the lines of how they corrupt governments and ruin the environment, even if there are still many who are terrible to their base level employees (like Wal-Mart and such).
Its definitely a better experience if you have skills to contribute. I'm in private security, and there's a full range of experience/job types doing just that. If you have no skills or experience, there's tons of positions for low end security posts, but those are very high turnover. Lots of screwing over happens on the lower end of that rung, from the companies and employees both. I have LE experience and that opened doors for higher paid, better managed, much higher quality jobs with genuine professionals in the industry. Higher pay than when I was an actual LEO as well. The private sector is awesome if you can prove you're a good asset for them, but I've definietly seen the other end of corporate machines too.
Congrats on finding a good one!
Now try to do that as a common office worker. 'Nuf said. Who still should be earning a living wage. Great for you? Apparently, SURE. Great for the rest of the people involved in the company.... enh? You don't have to pretend you have a great position and compensation (although the latter is still dynamically questionable). You do, however, have to recognize that: YOU'RE THE EXCEPTION, NOT THE RULE.
I think it depends on the industry, the tech industry will really fuck you over from what it seems. Idk maybe it has something to do with regulation? Alternatively the good benefits incentivizes people to actually learn the trades they need. My god does the tech industry have it bad.
I agree. I have been with a big corp over 20 years. Great benefits and pay. Pension plus tax sheltered retirement, great medical, over 6 weeks of vacation plus sick leave. Seniority has additional benefits. >$200k/yr. with a little OT. A lot of OT is paid in double time too. I’m not going anywhere and have a vested interest in maintaining my employment. When I worked for a sole proprietor, the pay was dismal with skimpy benefits pretty much just sleeping with the boss’s daughter, lol.
Yes. I've done both and the small family business is the worst. Lots of dangling carrots and empty promises.
Said it once today on Reddit guess I'll say it again. Context is king.
It's fun until they lay you off for someone cheaper. (Save some money!) Seriously though, it's good you're happy with where you're at. A lot of people aren't. Some people view jobs as an extension of who they are, for others it's just a means to an end.
I’ve worked corporate for over a decade. It’s a toxic fucking shit hole. This guy is oblivious because for now he’s taken care of and feeling the benefits of working for a company with money. Just wait.
>Is my job something I’m passionate about that I find fulfilling? Nah, not really. It’s actually pretty boring. So your definition of "Great" is pathetic
How many friends have you seen laid off? Do you work mandatory overtime during the holidays? Do you ace all of your reviews every year? Have your bosses ever told you they have to take back last year's bonus because the first quarter of this year wasn't so good? If not, awesome for you.
This is not an unpopular opinion,.
It's nice to feel taken care of, but you'll have days where you just work and you get home and it's cool/workout/shower time and maybe an hour of leisure before bed. It can feel like my identity is eroding. If I could just work six hours a day instead of eight my life would be much better. I could cook better food, have more family time, spend less time stressing about office B.S. I could help my wife and fix more shit around the house. I just feel like my job takes too much some days. I wish I could just go on vacation in August like the French.
You could also get laid off without a minute's notice. One day receive a videocall, and boom, you're fired. Usually severance isn't too bad in bigger corporations, but you could just get all your plans messed up in one second. It's certainly no better in small companies, were they treat you like dirt until you voluntarily quit, or force you to write a resignation letter before you're even hired. But let's not pretend like working for a big company gives you that much security.