“I Started Working At The Pace Of Everybody Else And Now They’re Mad Because They Have To Work”

According to a popular saying, you have to work smarter, not harder, because the main “reward” for doing a lot of work is… more work.

Reddit user Bobcat734 says he knows this all too well. Speaking to the platform’s r/AntiWork community, the disillusioned employee claims he eventually ended up responsible for multiple roles’ responsibilities.

So, to test how the rest of the company would pick up the slack, he says he stopped going the extra mile. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t pretty!

This overworked employee’s colleagues were taking it easy since he was carrying the entire team

Employee relaxing at desk, deciding to stop overworking after doing the roles of multiple people in an office setting.

Image credits: bernardbodo / envato (not the actual photo)

So when he stopped doing it, everyone went into panic mode

Text excerpt showing an employee describing doing the roles of 4 people and handling multiple tasks including finance without formal training.

Text image showing a quote about deciding to stop overworking and looking for a new job to reduce workload.

Text excerpt highlighting an employee explaining overworking by doing the roles of multiple people and deciding to stop overworking.

Text excerpt highlighting employee frustration about overworking and doing the roles of multiple people at work.

Text showing an employee expressing frustration about overworking and choosing to slow down to stop overworking.

Stressed employee overwhelmed by multitasking the roles of four people while colleagues discuss work in a busy office.

Image credits: PerfectAngleImages / envato (not the actual photo)

Text about an employee doing the roles of multiple people and deciding to stop overworking at work.

Text excerpt discussing stress and workload challenges experienced by employees overworking multiple roles at a company.

Image credits: bobcat734

Burnout is usually about your workplace, not the people around you

Image credits: Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo)

Numbers across the world might vary, but at least in the United States, about two thirds of employees are carrying a bigger load than they can handle. Recent research from Moodle shows that 66% of Americans are experiencing some sort of burnout in 2025. The data reveals that younger generations are facing significantly higher rates of burnout, with 81% of 18‑ to 24‑year‑olds and 83% of 25‑ to 34‑year‑olds reporting the problem, compared to 49% of those aged 55 and older.

The top reasons for burnout across all age groups include:

• 24% are stressed because they have more work to complete than time to do it;
• 24% say they don’t have enough resources or the right tools to do their job properly;
• 20% cite a poor economy that’s impacting their well-being at work;
• 19% have stress because they’re taking on too much work due to labor shortages in their industry.

Workplace expert and author of The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It, Jennifer Moss, says it’s not a you problem, but a systemic one, and instead of workers applying personal band‑aids, we should see leaders trying to rectify it further upstream.

To understand it, she suggests picturing a canary in a coal mine. They are healthy birds, singing away as they make their way into the cave. But when they come out full of soot and disease and no longer singing, can you imagine us asking why the canaries made themselves sick? No, because the obvious answer is that the coal mine is making the birds sick.

“Although developing emotional intelligence skills — like optimism, gratitude, and hope — can give people the rocket fuel they need to be successful, if an employee is dealing with burnout, we have to stop and ask ourselves why,” Moss explains. “We should never suggest that if they’d just practiced more grit or joined another yoga class or taken a mindfulness course, their burnout would have been avoided.”

“I have long been a proponent of empathy and optimism in leadership. I believe in practicing gratitude skills for a happier, higher performing work and life experience. I endorse the idea of building resilience to better handle stress when it arises. But these skills are not the cure for burnout, nor are they the vaccine.”

Instead, she believes, leaders need to be asking questions like ‘What is making my staff so unhealthy?’ ‘Why does our work environment lack the conditions for them to flourish?’ ‘How can I make it safe for them to work here every day?’

And if our Redditor’s managers aren’t, then maybe it is time for him to leave.

As the story went viral, people were glad the slackers got what was coming to them

Screenshot of an online comment highlighting the challenge of an employee doing the roles of four people and overworking.

Screenshot of a Reddit comment discussing overworking and job rejection related to employee roles and workload.

Screenshot of a Reddit comment discussing the importance of taking vacation time to avoid overworking roles.

Employee comment about deciding to stop overworking after doing the roles of 4 people and feeling more relaxed.

Comment about an employee managing roles of four people and deciding to stop overworking to improve work-life balance.

Reddit comment expressing frustration with overworking, mentioning roles of 4 people and deciding to stop overworking.

Screenshot of an online comment discussing managing workload and the challenges of doing the roles of multiple people.

Text post with user asking how to do multiple roles without others noticing, highlighting employee overworking and role management issues.

Screenshot of an online comment expressing strong negative feelings about SAP software in a discussion thread.

Comment text about employee overworking and advice on working independently or starting a business.

Comment advising speeding up work, requesting evaluation and higher pay, or finding a better job to avoid overworking.

Screenshot of a comment expressing frustration about overworking and being expected to handle multiple roles at once.

Screenshot of an online comment discussing employee overworking and the chaos that unfolds when someone stops overworking.

Screenshot of a forum comment discussing the 15/85 rule where 15% of people do 85% of the work and thinking.

Text conversation about employee roles and inefficiency in companies, highlighting overworking and multiple job responsibilities.

Comment about employee overworking and company culture, discussing the impact of doing roles of 4 people and work balance.

Screenshot of an online comment expressing agreement with a post about an employee deciding to stop overworking.

Screenshot of an online comment discussing productivity and employee feelings about overworking roles.

Employee overwhelmed by doing roles of 4 people decides to stop overworking and regain work-life balance.

Comment expressing frustration about overworking, urging for an honest exit interview before leaving the job.

Screenshot of an online comment discussing the stress of doing the roles of multiple employees and overworking frustration.

Many also shared their own similar stories

Helpdesk employee shares experience doing roles of 4 people and deciding to stop overworking for better mental health.

Comment about employee doing the roles of multiple people and deciding to stop overworking to avoid burnout.

Text post discussing an employee overworking by doing the roles of multiple people and workplace productivity issues.

However, the quiet quitter was also blamed for allowing this to happen to him

Screenshot of a comment discussing the challenges of overworking and doing the roles of multiple employees at once.

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