Employee Backed for Not Training Person Hired for Dream Job

Members of a popular internet forum showed support for one long-time employee who was faced with the prospect of training someone for the position they believed they deserved.

In a viral Reddit thread published on r/AmITheA**hole, Redditor u/watashiwaikiru (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) said they shouldered a much greater workload after their manager's health declined and thought they were in line to take over the vacated role until a new hire stopped that notion in its tracks.

Titled, "[Am I the a**hole] for not training the person that got the job I wanted?" the post has received nearly 6,800 votes and 800 comments in the last day.

Explaining that they have worked for their employer for almost three years, the original poster said that eight months ago, their work responsibilities changed dramatically.

"My manager's health took a slight turn...and they officially made me assistant manager," OP wrote. "Since then I have taken on a lot of my manager's responsibilities and have run the [department] on multiple occasions."

"A number of weeks ago my manager resigned and finished up a couple days later," OP continued. "I put my hand up for the role [and] all discussion with upper management indicated that I would be next in line."

"Last week a new manager for the department was hired and they started a day later," OP added.

Acknowledging the disappointment of not being selected to fill their manager's role, the original poster said they found themselves training the new hire to do the job, but refused to let that go on for long.

"The new person really knows nothing specific to this department," OP wrote. "I spent the next day essentially teaching them what to do from the ground up."

"This frustrated me...so I took annual leave all last week and my phone hasn't stopped ringing because the new manager really doesn't know anything about our specific department, and they have no clue what to do day to day," OP continued. "I haven't been answering."

"Sure they might be a good manager with past experience, but if they were hired over me, then they should be able to do the job right?" OP added, sarcastically.

In certain cases, like when an employee is moving on to a different company, or upwards within their own, training a replacement makes sense and can greatly help a new hire acclimate to their new position.

"The concept of training your replacement is not intended to offload all of your work and overload your team. It is intended to share knowledge, insight, and context," the LinkedIn website reads. "The goal is for everyone to excel in their current role and create opportunity for everyone to advance to a new role."

However, for many employees, training a replacement or, even worse—somebody hired for a position they wanted for themselves—is a nightmare work scenario.

In 2018, Forbes published an advice column simply titled, "No, I Won't Train The New Guy To Replace Me," which involved an employee who realized they were training their own replacement, and confronted their manager as a result.

After learning that their manager was preparing for their eventual departure, the employee asserted that they will continue to do their own work, but would not train the new hire who was waiting to take their job.

In response, former Forbes contributor Liz Ryan advised the employee to request a large bonus as compensation for training their replacement—and to quit and leave their manager to toil through the transition if that request was denied.

"It is good to be reminded every now and then that you are not so easily replaceable," Ryan wrote.

Throughout the comment section of the viral Reddit post, Redditors offered similar advice and remained adamant that the original poster should not be responsible for training the person that was hired instead of them.

"If you aren't qualified to be hired in the role, you aren't qualified to train the person in the role," Redditor u/teresajs wrote in the post's top comment, which has received more than 13,000 votes. "Their boss needs to train them."

Redditor u/murphy2345678, whose comment has received more than 1,500 votes, echoed that sentiment.

"You shouldn't be training someone higher up in the company than you," they wrote. "Their boss can train them. Don't answer the phone."

"You've literally done the manager's job, with no issues, and no pay reflecting that, but somehow you're expected to just carry on as if everything is okay," Redditor u/Sushi_________Roll added. "Furthermore, they take it a step further by giving the job to someone else and expect you, effectively a subordinate, to train them."

In a separate comment, Redditor u/ClothesQueasy2828 summated the original poster's situation into a single sentence.

"They hired someone without as much knowledge as you have [and] they can deal with the consequences," the Redditor wrote.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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