If you’re a fan of r/AntiWork, you’ll know very well just how unbelievably backwards some jobs can get. Managers, work conditions, social environment (lack thereof), you name it, can all lead to a wreck of a job that sucks the living soul out of anyone who dares to accept such a job offer.
But on top of all of that, there are instances when managers end up adding salt to the wound by offering perks that amount to nothing more than an invitation to just walk out and never come back.
A retail store employee recently came out with a video sharing how he overheard management discussing candy as an employee motivation method. Yes, we’re talking about a job for adults. Yes, they are seemingly prioritizing this over actually paying their employees a livable wage.
More Info: TikTok
Non-monetary motivation has become standard in most companies, but even that can be done wrong, especially if you're all about maximizing profits
Image credits: Garry Knight
Cody Colvin, a GameStop store employee (and a guy who “doesn’t even know himself honestly”, which is mood, not gonna lie), recently posted a 2.5-minute video sharing how he overheard a murder of managers discussing employee motivation.
Specifically, he overheard both local and regional managers discussing how there should be a bowl of candy, and whenever an employee does a good job, they should get a piece of candy from the bowl. And while it sounds like a good idea for sweet teeth and the fastest way to the local dental clinic, it completely misses all of the other targets.
A GameStop employee shared just how wrong it can go, explaining how one of his managers decided that candy is the way to go
Image credits: @collvin
Cody pointed out that, at least in his GameStop store, the hiring policy dictates employees have to be at least 18 years old to work there. So, in context, the idea is to reward adults with candy for doing work that exceeds expectations.
This is in light of the fact that, according to Cody, the last wage increase was “laughable” and that he already gets $10 an hour. Granted, that is an entry-level job, but it is by no means a livable wage, so you can understand how absolutely ridiculous the whole candy idea is.
“Instead of giving us money to maybe pay our bills, they want to give us candy. I don’t know, you maybe wanna put a bell around my neck so that I could ring it when I do well? What am I? Pavlov’s Dog?” satirized Cody.
In his video, Cody the GameStop employee elaborated how he walked in on a managers' meeting that discussed employee motivation methods
Image credits: @collvin
And it stirred a bit of a comment fest in the comments. Mostly people bashing even more on GameStop and management in general. Folks were asking if there was also a pizza party thrown in for good measure, and if they seasoned it all with a “we’re like one big happy family here.”
One user wondered what if an employee had diabetes and couldn’t eat candy, to which another user responded with “They’d probably say, ‘we’ll draw you a paper heart ❤️, because we heart you!’”
Cody himself wished he was joking, but one of the managers said "to incentivize workers, put out a basket of candy" instead of Cody's suggestion of paying employees a livable wage
Yet others, former or current GameStop employees, pointed out that, yes, it does seem like something GameStop would do in general, so no surprise there. And even if you don’t do well, who cares, nobody will be there to see you take that candy anyway!
Lastly, there were those who shared stories, like getting soapy-tasting cookies for Christmas, or how O’Reilly’s paid $9/hour for assistant managers at parts stores, or how you could earn less working for a ride-sharing service in certain cases, and how the same candy system at TJ Maxx didn’t really work out as the cashiers only got them if they sold reward cards.
You can check out the entire video in context below
And you’d think GameStop would have done something after the whole r/WallStreetBets $GME stock manipulation thing, but apparently not. Well, apparently, there were 9 investors that ended up getting $16 billion dollars from this stock squeeze, and this kid earned a small fortune after his mom got him 10 GameStop stocks as a lesson in investing, among others, but the employees still seem miserable.
Folks online were not really surprised about the situation, with some cracking jokes and others sharing stories
Cody’s video received modest attention by TikTok standards, but it got picked up by a couple of online news outlets, one of which asked him for a comment about the whole situation, and he said “GameStop needs to do better.”
You can check all of it out here, or you can read similar stories here, here, and here. But, don’t go just yet, as we would love to hear your thoughts on this—how do you think GameStop employees should approach the whole unlivable wage issue, or if you’re too tired for serious topics, what’s your favorite candy? Let us know in the comment section below!