I’m not stranger to being fed up with a job and in the process of looking for a new one. I’ve been in that place a few times now. I’ve even been in that place with my current job, though I talked myself out of being fed up and realized it was a lack of communication that got me to that point.

Currently, however, we have a co-worker in my office who is fed up with his job, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was looking for something else. I also wouldn’t be surprised, since he’s so young, that he isn’t having much luck finding anything. All that is fine though, it’s his choice to stay or go, but how he handles things at work bothers me. He is completely and utterly checked out.

He has said to me on multiple occasions that he’s going to come in, do what he’s told to do, and do no more than the bare minimum. Which sounds fine, he’s at least working and not just sitting at his desk staring at the walls, but it isn’t fine. His lack of motivation to work affects everyone else around him. There was one case last week where he got an email sent to him by mistake and he waited two days before sending it to the correct person. That person happened to be out that day with a cold so they didn’t see it until the following day. It was a time sensitive email.

Some of us are genuinely trying to make the company succeed and be profitable because we are weaving it into our own futures. I own a number of shares in the company, so when I see someone just abusing his time there, and in effect making my shares worth something, it pisses me off. Sure, he can’t be expected to know this and he’s only 23 so he doesn’t know much about the way the real world works yet but I can expect him to be a little less self-centered at least when he’s at work, right?

Unfortunately, he has someone rooting him on. His supervisor supports his claims and his tantrums. She is trying to guide him in her own vision, even if that means guiding him away. This in turn makes me resent her, but I have much to say on that topic, I’ll have to wait for another day.

What do you do when your co-workers are shitty?