Manager Claims "Laziest, Worst" Workers Are the Ones Who Get Promotions — "I Don't Understand"

People have been complaining for decades about office politics and their role in helping climb the corporate ladder. If you want to make your mark at a massive corporation, this struggle is most certainly a cause of concern for you. No one wants to think all their hard work is going unrecognized or that their superiors aren't appreciating or acknowledging their efforts.

If you've been with an employer long enough and have been passed up for several promotions, it can start to feel less deserving people are reaping more rewards than you. While this certainly isn't always the case, one TikToker went viral for claiming it's a common practice for the "laziest" employees to always be the ones reaching the top of a company the fastest.

Amber, who uploads content to the @lifeandworkbutbetter TikTok account, posted a now-viral clip where she states: "Something I genuinely do not understand is how the laziest, worst, like, bully people in the workplace always seem to get moved up the fastest."

She continued, "The kind people, the nice people, the yes people, people that would in leadership treat people like human beings? They don't like to move those people up. And I know this because the minute that I got into a management role and try to give people mental health days and create the schedules that they wanted and just be cognizant of people having lives... corporate hated it."

Amber said her bosses resisted her attempts at creating a humane management culture. "I don't understand why these people get moved up and continue to get moved up and I don't understand why companies never hold these people accountable for the terrible things they say and do."

Amber has posted several other videos on her TikTok account which is dedicated to "Toxic Bosses" and other general work tips to help her followers navigate the corporate world. In a follow-up video, she spoke further about this phenomenon of "mean" co-workers rising through the ranks at their jobs.

She stated that a lot of their success has to do with a false persona that gets them through their work days and leave impressions that they possess the traits of a leader, without actually performing any real leadership work.

"These people love competition. They love to be the winner and they will stop at nothing to have that satisfaction...they ooze confidence even if they are fake a-- b---hes, which most of them are we know this, and they're terrible, they exude confidence."

She went on to say toxic bosses strategically make connections with folks who have a direct impact on their upward mobility and will intentionally "create drama" with other people and "get [them] in trouble" as a means of undermining them.

Many commenters agreed with Amber's viewpoints, stating that they had these same experiences at the corporations they worked for. Some said this kind of cutthroat mentality is what higher-ups want because they possess these same traits.

"Because it’s usually other bullies at the top moving them up," one person commented.

"It's bc the people at the top don't want to see the working class as human. They think we are lazy and entitled. Why would they want to accommodate us," one person asked rhetorically.

"Ex Walmart lead over here," said another. "YES! I tested my team as humans and stood up for them, the store got rid of me."

One commenter suggested there's a strategy by keeping productive people in lower positions. "Good workers are best utilized at the bottom doing the actual work. bad workers make good upers [sic] that don't even understand the work they're leading."

Another theorized, "I think it’s this: Everyone at the top are lazy bullies. They want to surround themselves by people just like them. So that’s who they promote."

What do you think? Have you encountered similar situations at the places you've worked, or are currently working at right now?