Former COO Reveals The Ugly Side Of Corporate Culture In Viral 'Humans Of KL' Post
"One late night I looked through an old photo album of my family – of my lovely wife and children and I realised the past 20 years had flown by.."
By Tamara Jayne — 21 Mar 2018, 05:25 PM
In a recent viral post by Humans of Kuala Lumpur, the unnamed man disclosed the "ugly side" of corporate culture, especially when it comes to getting rid of employees
"I am embarrassed to tell you the things I used to do in corporate. When we wish to fire people who work in corporate jobs, instead of offering a severance package, we make life very difficult for them.
We humiliate them in meetings, we tell them they are not performing, we restructure the organisation and reduce their seniority, and put junior people as their bosses. Eventually even the strong cannot 'tahan' and they will leave themselves."
"This is what they taught me in corporate, and this is what I did. But you don't realise it all eventually comes back to you."
Sadly, he admitted that the company is never short of people who are willing to undermine their own colleagues for their own benefit
"People get jealous of you, people backstab you and they would do anything to get rid of you. This is the ugly side of corporate culture and sadly the dark side of human nature too."
One late night, as he was looking through an old photo album, it dawned on him that the past 20 years had flown by.
"I could barely recall my children growing up and that my wife has become older – it was like I just woke up from a coma and I lost my memory. I regretted this bitterly and it was this moment I decided to make right of my life."
He quit his job and has never looked back since. He now operates a modest chemical business of his own and trades at a flea market during the weekend.
He confessed that he saves more money now compared to when he was working a corporate job as he used to spend a lot of money on unnecessary luxuries.
"I thought I could not live without Astro because I used to watch EPL (English Premiere League football) every weekend. When I cut off Astro to save money, I realised I didn't miss it that much."
"I'm grateful I'm given a second chance in life. This is my second chance... Once you declutter your life, you can focus on the things that really matter."
"I have three children – a boy and two girls. Two are in university and one just finished SPM. Once the last one goes to university too, me and my wife will move to a smaller apartment," he explained.
"During my corporate work, I reported to the board and I had up to ten bosses. But now I just have one boss. My wife!
This is my life now, it’s a lot simpler, but I'm happier."
The post generated 30,000 shares within 24 hours alone, with netizens sharing similar sentiments and experiences:
