Office politics are a minefield and one woman on TikTok has simply had enough. The woman shared her grievances with her former employer online, calling out her bosses who passed on her for a promotion in order to save money with a younger and cheaper replacement. But here’s the real kicker: They wanted her to train the new employee for the job.
The woman, who goes by the name “The Unobsolete” on TikTok, is a self-described “workplace advocate for pros 45+.” In her video she states, “I watched a 25-year-old get my promotion and then they asked me to train her.” She goes on to explain how she had been passed over on a promotion despite having the necessary experience for the role.
Her boss then decided to hire a fresh-faced 25-year-old who would need training for the role. Guess who they asked to train the new hire? “Here’s what I said: ‘no,’ not ‘sorry,’ not ‘Maybe later,’ not ‘let me check my schedule.’” The woman immediately shut it down, after all, if she’s not good enough to do the job herself then why would her boss think she could train someone else to do it?
“Unobselete” suggested that the real reason she wasn’t given the promotion was because she would have to be paid more, meanwhile, an inexperienced and younger employee could be made to take on the heavy workload for less money. That’s capitalism for you.
The boss wasn’t too happy about the elder employee not being a “team player” but they couldn’t fire her over such a disagreement, even if they wanted to. She argued that the team didn’t have her back, “You want me to train my replacement? Pay me.”
TikTok thinks she should sue
In the comments plenty of viewers recommended she go down the legal route and take her employer to court for ageism. Others shared similar experiences in the workplace showing that this is a rather common occurrence for many more experienced workers.
A few did play devil’s advocate, “It’s not just about job knowledge.” wrote one, suggesting people skills and being more sociable could play a factor in giving someone less experienced a promotion as opposed to the more experienced candidate.
In a follow up video The Unobsolete claimed that her manager later pulled her into a meeting to discuss her attitude, clearly they were trying to shift the blame onto her rather than admit they were trying to take advantage of her for free labor, but she didn’t back down. In a response to another comment she reveals that she eventually left the company which was undoubtedly a smart move.
