Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: My coworker doesn't work. Does it make sense for me to say anything?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 120 posts

Re: Ask HN: My coworker doesn't work. Does it make sense for me to say anything?

#11

Post by mindcrime »

Nope. Stay out of it. There are more bad things that can happen, than good things, if you choose to speak out about it. And at the end of the day, your situation vis-a-vis your employment is between you and your employer and nobody else factors in.

Example: If you want more money, ask for it. If they refuse, it isn't "because of the money they're wasting on this guy", it's because they don't perceive your value as justifying it. That perception may be right or wrong, but it is what it is.

You're getting paid, you're doing your work (presumably), this other person and their actions (or lack thereof) are really irrelevant to you unless they are somehow having a direct impact on your work. IF they are making commitments to do certain things and then failing to deliver AND that in turn is making you look bad, THEN it might make sense to call this out to management; IF you can document the situation.

More likely, if it is directly impacting you, or your innate desire for "fairness" is piqued that strongly, the thing to do would be to just leave and go work somewhere else with better management.

Re: Ask HN: My coworker doesn't work. Does it make sense for me to say anything?

#13

Post by twobitshifter »

Management inaction to address performance is endemic in larger companies. It shows you how very hard it is to get fired at most places. There are companies that attempt to counter this, but usually that ends up getting the company an ugly reputation.

Re: Ask HN: My coworker doesn't work. Does it make sense for me to say anything?

#14

Post by hmmokidk »

Talk to the colleague first not the manager if you do go down this route. But tbh you don’t know what they’re going through. And it’s also not your business, just do the work.

I had a colleague who would do little for months and didn’t mind it. In fact, because he would mind his own business I liked him more than my other colleagues.

I think you should mind your own business, unless for some reason this is your business, ie if you’re the manager.

Re: Ask HN: My coworker doesn't work. Does it make sense for me to say anything?

#15

Post by 3np »

noodle wrote: post #10

Not enough info to give any detailed recommendations, as different situations warrant different things. Having said that, I think the safest advice is to make sure your work is correctly being attributed to yourself (i.e., they aren't taking credit for your work) and advocate for a raise for yourself as you normally would, just with more confidence. Clearly advocate for yourself and the work you are clearly doing and…

I think it also depends a lot on who OP’s employer is, and their view of them.

I may give a different answer depending on if it’s a casino dev shop or a legit publicly funded research lab...

Re: Ask HN: My coworker doesn't work. Does it make sense for me to say anything?

#16

Post by mindcrime »

edmundsauto wrote: post #9
notRobot wrote: post #3

Say nothing. It shouldn't matter to you what they are or are not doing. You do work, you get paid. That's all that's relevant to you. I do understand why you find this frustrating, of course – most people would. But I can't see anything good coming out of you bringing this up – how would you even go about doing that?

The good that could happen: comp increase, or promotion. Or even just making sure their manager is aware that the entire dept productivity is on OP (makes their leverage obvious). Or, if the expectations are low, OP could de-stress and kick back at work, improving their life. Possible bad: gets the other person fired. Puts a target on OPs back. Point being, this will fester if it isn't addressed. Fairness is importan…

The good that could happen: comp increase, or promotion.

The odds of that happening are approximately 0. More likely the "slacker" guy is allowed to get away with it because of nepotism or some other factor, and calling him out with result in negative consequences for the OP. Very, very little good usually comes out of speaking up about stuff like this.

Re: Ask HN: My coworker doesn't work. Does it make sense for me to say anything?

#19

Post by giantg2 »

anonygler wrote: post #17

I'd set up a 1:1 to discuss strategies for falling through the cracks yourself. I had a co-worker at Google who would go fishing in the middle of the day, and that was before the pandemic. Sweet gig.

I want this guy as a mentor.

Re: Ask HN: My coworker doesn't work. Does it make sense for me to say anything?

#20

Post by datavirtue »

deanmoriarty wrote: post #8

Slackers are the number one reason I do not enjoy corporate America anymore. I don’t care if you are not able to perform and need help or produce crap, as long as you put in the effort and try to pull your weight. In my decade of experience I have witnessed people, technical people, who magically manage to just not do anything at all, ever. They jump from initiative to initiative without producing anything, and someh…

"and they could be having massive positive impact in the organization"

That's adorable.

Startups do not pay less. I'm bringing in $300k as a developer in Ohio. Individual contributor.

Post reply on HN