Do you work in a job where you receive almost constant criticism? How do you deal with it? It’s really getting to me. I have no confidence in myself at work anymore. I work for a very big company and most of the employees are treated the same as I am but my coworkers don’t seem to let it get them down like I do.

[rechu]

I really wish I knew, Sisabel. My department is like that too, at least for those that aren't in the favorites club. Everything is nitpicked to death. Nothing is good enough. We never get a thanks or compliment even when we do things well. The editor acts more and more like our manager, making things even worse.

My anxiety is through the roof due to it all and it's only getting worse. Unfortunately I'm not seeing jobs to apply to. The economy here is in the toilet. There was one possible transfer within my company, but they said I couldn't telecommute for some reason, and I live pretty far from the office since had to move out of the city to keep a roof over our heads. I don't know why they wouldn't allow it since everal people in that departmetnt work from home. I almost think my boss had a role in that, told HR to tell me that so she can continue to torture me.

@rechu

I’m sorry you are experiencing this too. It’s much better now that I’ve transferred to the new location but the criticism is just how this company operates. I suspect that is the norm for most work environments these days. I understand why there is poor morale and high turnover in many work places, including mine.

I hope it gets better for you.

[rechu]

Yeah, it's really sad. Lots of us are feeling demoralized and unappreciated while our manager is completely cluess and won't listen to any concerns we might voice. Other friends in different countries complain about the same. I think it is becoming the norm as you said.

I seems like management doesn't realize that when people feel constantly criticzed, unappreciated and nitpicked will have lower morale and motivation, which then leads to lower performance and higher turnover. The way things are lately, I spend way too much time looking my work over for any minor thing she can find wrong only to be criticized for an apostrophe or for the way data transferred from the old to new systems (as if I can control that!). And, then I am criticized for taking too long as well.


In our department, turnover has stabilized a bit, but I have my theory. First of all, as I said the economy is not good, so people are probably staying put due to that. Also, she is hiring people that I guess you could see as vulnerable. For example, one more recent hire is from Venezuela (living in Chile). She needs to hold on to a job for visa processing purposes and is also helping out her parents who are still there. Similarly, she has hired two freelancers from Argentina. If you've read the news from this part of the world, Argentina is in another of its frequent financial crises. So, they probably don't have many options as far as changing to another job and will put up with a a lot to guarantee an income.

@rechu

Somehow we need to find a quiet escape during the day just to keep from being completely demoralized. Sometimes I go walk outside for a few minutes. I take long weekends sometimes and that helps a little. I honestly wish I just didn’t care at all about my job so that all the nitpicking would roll off of me.

[divine1966]

Is there an option to look for a different job? It sounds very stressful.

I think sometimes what helps is to remember that even if you love your job and find it important and are good at it, it’s still just a job, not your entire life. Maybe your coworkers cope by thinking in those lines.

[rechu]

Yeah, I definitely try to go take a walk or do something to get a bit of a break from it.

I have realized that with all her talk about quality, she really doesn't seem to care if our clients get useful information. She' rather have 100 updates that say "we didn't find information" and nitpick over miniscule details than 50 real updates where we were able to find recent information to update the project. I've been really good at updating projects that were way out of date lately - no one had found information in several attempts but I was able to. Of course, it's not even noticed/appreciated.