“Weaponized Incompetence” — Woman Records Herself Refusing to Do Coworker’s Job in Viral Clip

Alex Schudy (@alexschudy) was sick and tired of doing her coworker's job for him whenever he tried to offload his tasks onto her plate. So she decided to finally put her foot down during a video call and recorded herself doing it.

She'd go on to upload the footage to TikTok, where several other people nodded their heads in agreement, stating that they have been put in the same position as her in the workplace.

"POV: Your coworker always tries to get you to do their work for them and you're TIRED of it," a text overlay in the TikToker's video reads.

The video opens up with her sitting in front of her laptop, staring at its screen. She holds a cup with a straw in two hands as she looks at it.

The coworker in question can be heard saying over the call. "I'm just a little confused on how to even start this."

If you've ever dealt with a person in your workplace who tries to offload their work on others, you might be familiar with this tactic.

It begins with the person who is acting like they're earnestly attempting to solve a problem. However, they try and get you to help them with a task, that involves a little bit of hand holding. Then, what seems to happen almost every time, is that you're the one who ends up just completing the task for them.

That's in addition to your own work. Not wanting this to happen, Alex decided to nip this in the bud and immediately start to talk about how her coworker could find a way to do the work himself. "No worries, it's definitely confusing," she says, offering up an olive branch of understanding at the start.

However, she pulled a card that the coworker, if it was his intention to no do the work himself, probably didn't want to hear. "There is some documentation that I think could help you to start," she said.

She probably knows this comment isn't going to go over well.

That's because right from the get-go, she writes in another overlay: "Uh oh, I already know where this is going."

The coworker then poses a question about the documentation she's referring to, which she clarifies immediately. "It's included in your briefing doc, so you can take a look there.

In an on-screen aside she adds, "How about checking the doc that I've sent to you three times already."

Immediately, he begins asking her for assistance on how to complete the task. "I guess if you were starting, how would you approach it?"

Clarifying the situation in another caption she writes: "Oh OK! He just wants my guidance. I can totally give that."

She replies, "Honestly I would probably just follow the documentation."

However, that wasn't the case. "Just kidding," she pens in another overlay.

Her coworker then says on the call: "Since this is my first time doing it. Could you like maybe do this part for me and then I can finish? That would honestly make my life a lot easier."

It's that last comment that gets her, and anyone else who's been in her position (probably), upset. She pens: "What about my life? Because you're making it harder, sir."

"Trying not to laugh at this audacity," she writes on screen as she remarks to him in the video, "I think that you should take the first step. Because it's definitely something that you'll need to know. And I know that you'll be able to figure it out. Because the documentation is super thorough."

She then adds, "But if you have specific questions as you're going through it, you can definitely ask me." She clarifies, again, on the screen that she's still "trying to be helpful," during her call.

The video ends with her making a face into the camera as it ultimately cuts out.

In the clip's caption she explains why she's decided to put her foot down in this instance. "Even the most ambitious corporate girlies have to draw boundaries somewhere."

Numerous folks who responded to Alex's video appeared to sympathize with her plight. One individual commented: "All the people saying this isn’t real have not worked with incompetent people before. I promise this happens constantly."

Another added that working with folks like the coworker featured in Alex's video is hardly ever a worthwhile endeavor. "These are the same people who'd throw you under the bus if something went wrong but claim credit if it goes right."