What’s the worst thing your boss has ever said to you?

From making snide remarks to gaslighting employees, we ask a few Singaporeans about what some of the worst things their bosses have said to them

By Shazrina Shamsudin - 28 Aug 2024

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We all have moments where we grumble about our jobs to our colleagues or even to our friends, forgetting that we’re fortunate to work without the shadow of a terrible boss looming over us. However, not everyone is as lucky as we are. Many people have endured a string of bad experiences with bosses who crossed the line. It’s one thing to be called out for a mistake—that’s part of the job. But being yelled at or gaslit when you’ve done nothing wrong? That can turn the office into a nightmare.

You’re not alone, though. In this roundup, we reached out to a few Singaporeans to share some of the worst things their bosses have ever said to them at work.

‘Can you initiate instead of being asked?’ My boss asked me two minutes into an event. Basically, she was expecting me to send her live pictures before the event even started

- Shanice

My boss told me off through text, saying, ‘Can you be more flexible and creative’ when being asked to work on Sundays, UNPAID.

- John

“I prefer doing our 1:1s face to face, I don’t know how to use Google Meets,” said my boss who’s the head of sales for a tech company”

- Matty

This is probably something that many (I would assume), have experienced but my previous boss always used to tell me, “Don’t waste my time”, when asking for clarifications.

- Jeremy

This didn’t happen to me but to my colleague in my previous company. She was from the sales team and one day, one of the managers went up to tell her that she should go for a facial treatment. His reason was that she earns quite a bit of commission so she should “go and fix her acne issues because customers will be afraid of looking at her”

- Alexis

I expect an answer from you unless you’re unconscious or in a hospital bed.

- Jenn

My boss gets worked up very easily so one day, she got really stressed out at work and she sent me a message over Slack, I took a few minutes to get back to her but before I knew it, she followed up with a text saying, “Why are you not responding? Your incompetence is taking a toll on my health!”

- Jessi

This wasn’t directed at me but my boss did say this once “Sometimes clients are like animals, they die, and you move on”. I know he meant it as some analogy but it didn’t sit right with me.

- Asyraf

What’s the worst thing your boss has ever said to you?

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