Was reading an article about Gen Z not wanting to be managers these days as the rewards/benefits don't commensurate with the stress n responsibilities that come with this job.

I'm a millennial but I can empathise with them coz when I became an assistant manager a few months ago, I didn't know just how it'd take a toll on my mental health. Had to attend endless meetings that left me very little/ no time to meet urgent deadlines daily that nearly made me wanna jump frm the 14th floor coz I didn't have any subordinates helping me (my company was still considered new so didn't have the budget to hire subordinates for me).

This experience taught me that no amount of money in the world is worth this kinda stress. Would rather be an exec forever as long as I can have work in peace. Has anyone of u passed up the opportunity to become a manager because of this?

This post has been edited by parisiansky: Apr 27 2025, 05:43 PM

You need to learn how to delegate work to your team

I'm just kuli exec I don't see my life being any better than managers throwing shit at me also. Everyday feeling want to 14 floor also.

being a manager is also a skill. not everything should be yours to do. at this point you're supposed to help the middle management execute their plans.

you should be using your experience to lead your team to get things done.

that means training and teaching the younger and less experienced to do work for you. if you're doing everything yourself for whatever the reason you're doing it wrong.

I didn't have any subordinates helping me (my company was still considered new so didn't have the budget to hire subordinates for me).

This post has been edited by parisiansky: Apr 27 2025, 05:45 PM

Didn't you have a managers / asst. managers that you worked with previously that you could have observed from? Should've learned from that.

3 examples:
1st case
My place last time got 1 super hotseat dept. anybody who become manager will either
1- Suffer heart attack episode
2- Request to be demoted back
3- Changed job
4- Quit
5- Combination of above
All within a year.

2nd case
Another one was a pattern of not replacing the employee that go up
(e.g. team of 1 manager + 1 jr. engineer + 1 sr. engineer,
sr. engineer promoted to manager but old position not replaced so technically as manager need to do sr. engineer job also)

3rd case
A guy who through his career pathway has already held manager jobs multiple time but
came into us as senior engineer and refused all promotion. Last I heard promoted to manager when everybody else quitting (he followed suit soon after though)

Kinda extreme examples but yeah, made me appreciate working under any manager who's not totally bad. Depends on the company also at the end of the day.

If there is no one under you, would you still be considered as manager. The new norm is promotion = new role + old job, guess that adding new role with minimal payhike had worn out so they resort to giving extra title to prevent ppl from throwing towel easily. Well this is kinda norm is half-way ai age, where top management sees ai as way to cut down workforces but still tinkering with the workflow, however they had ald freeze the total headcount.

Kan TS suda kata xde subordinates. TS kena belajar kung fu tai chi, atau cakap banyak, berbunga-bunga (dalam meeting) pastu kerja minima atau kerja x sempurna.

this isn't a generational thing, it really depends on the position

my ex-company has a sales(SA) which is a baby boomer that refused multiple offer by the boss to become the sales manager because she made enough money being an SA without any distraction of being a manager and needed to deal with all of the managerial BS and attending all of the unneeded meetings every week and every month

she just want to focus on selling and maximize her commission, she doesn't fancy that little extra money from the manager position which comes with a lot of headache to deal with

Deswai when you hear some soarhigh saying "becum a manyzer is easy, just pass all work to subordinates", you know he never had management roles before.

Yes

Think there is something wrong with the title.
What's the point of having a manager or assistant if there are no employee to be managed?
Very sus, maybe just a title to keep employee happy psychologically

Just go for outside training on how to be manager better.

Just because you’re a manager, your work not necessarily need to be stressful.

TS original post very short. Dia tambah description lepas I tanya

You have to attend meetings with your western counterparts if you’re in MNCs.

Take it this way, dont take the job if the demand does not match with your life preference n expectation. Whatever jobs you’re “interested” in, must be a job that you REALLY LIKE or have passion for. Dont take it or apply for the sake of name n salary. You wont live a fulfilled life. You will be stressed out, burnt out, unhappy, missing things in life

This post has been edited by Taikor.Taikun: Apr 27 2025, 07:45 PM

Not easy to be manyzer when subordinates are sohais

ego too but also sohai at the same time

You're a coordinator

When you have subordinates to delegate and direct, you manyzer

But I understand your pain

If you get in too deep it will be hard to quit your job because you will always have unfinished jobs with a long time horizon that you just can't easily handover to the next person

You quitting means your boss will hate you and you'll be getting a shit rap

Tell your boss you're overworked and are unable to keep up

If your boss die die don't get you a helper, go fail some task and let it hit his bottomline

It wasn't an MNC n all those unnecessary meetings could have been in an email.

Anyway not all of us have the luxury to get a job that we really like or have a passion for. Some ppl are forced to go for the job they dislike just to set food on the table. So instead of looking for a job that we like, it's best we look for a job that we can tolerate.

Of coz I did try highlighting this issue to my boss several times but it always fell on deaf ear so I quit like a bawse 😤 Heard that my successor also quit after working there for 1 month lol.

i did start up once and they lowball me like mad citing only increase 20% from last drawn
then i learned my lesson liao
the other day some recruiter called and after all the screening he finally told me its a startup, the pay also 20% of your last drawn
i say let me think about it
then next day say nah dont want, he was so mad he just ghost me and didnt even thank me for my time and whatnot
they really think they are god in this economy
the worst is the startup really think they can try to scam me again with 20% increase from last drawn to basically do a one man show kekwa
i feel you man

being offered a manager title before 30 sounds incredibly tempting. it's a huge flex, especially if it seems like a genuine offer, and employers know this as well.

seen companies use this trick to bait young employees into doing things they'd normally refuse. relocating to distant branches, taking over departments in complete chaos, managing nightmare teams, reviving dead-end projects, or handling messy accounts no one else wants to touch.

worse still, the pay raise is often pathetic. at the end of the day, it’s just an empty title. so empty that you'd actually feel embarrassed telling people how little you're earning for a so-called "manager" position. but.. if you take the position and manage to succeed, there’s a chance you could gain real value in the long run. if you refuse, might just get sidelined and stuck there. it’s a tough call.

This post has been edited by incognitroll: Apr 28 2025, 05:29 AM

So you are not a manager yet..

my real life example of me in the past that made me rethink alot of wanting a "manger role"

>years ago in ex kampeni i was kuli level earning around RM4-5k/mth. work was decent, clock in 9-6pm daily, low stress role
>so being young want to rank up by going into asst manager since manager also encouraged plus want earn more money
>for a period i worked/shadow with current asst manager temporarily, technically become like a 2nd asst manager but in training and working some of her roles
>so what i got was basically tonnes of meetings every week and cadence scheduled. lots of planning and compilation of reports etc, but the stupid part is so many meetings to the point you dont have time to actually do your own shit, constantly on the move from meeting to meeting. outlook calendar is like maxed out gila wan
>not to mention constant grilling in meeting on performance, being asked tough ass questions that you know you cannot win against the upper management cause theyll find a way to tibai regardless. like if you pull out stuff to protek your team members like "staff A & B achieved and exceeded KPI A requirement.", but upper management will just tibai back with "but they missing KPI B and C? wheres the improvement?"
>after that i secretly asked my asst manager how much she earning that time. she told me she was only RM7k/mth

shit's aint worth it in terms of the stress to higher salary. during asst manger leave also still has to stay on call and attend meetings kekpot, whats the point of leaves in first place?

i jump to mnc also 20% oni. i know many koliks who like to argue argue with new job hr for more but personally i think its not worth the trouble. i take the 20% and if later find out not enough i hop in a year or two. those koliks argue argue end up not getting the position and then stay at the low pay job get 5% next year, makes no sense also. by the time argue out a 40% increment after finding for 2 years, i also 40 liao

for those non MNC company. my experience that so called 'manager roles' has 2 types
1.) you manage a team
2.) you manage yourself (do everything, 1 leg kick)
No.2 is always on high demand usually from SMEs.

Thanks for sharing yr experience with me. A lot of companies these days try to cut costs by hiring AM instead of manager but expecting the AM to act like managers. It's fine if they wanna push us to act like managers but they should at least provide us with sufficient resources (manpower, good system etc) to carry out our tasks. Like how the hell are we supposed to do our own work when we're forced to be stuck in endless unnecessary meetings that have nothing to do with us at all? 😮‍💨 When I was working at that toxic company, my ex colleagues would still bombard my phone with urgent matters during the weekends...So yeah, you're right...shit ain't worth it.

so what do u "manage" actually?? deadlines?? also what is the difference from you being an exec? since you also be the one doing the work without a team..

taikor has spoken

makes sense

not everyone is wired the same

just because someone else is a big time taikor, doesnt mean u have to be one

you can be just as happy, or even happier as a macai for a taikor.



This post has been edited by Knnbuccb: Apr 28 2025, 11:26 AM

They expected me to be AM n exec at the same time. During the interview, they did mention that I had to do everything. I was fine with it... coz I didn't know that they had a system that was soooo shitty that it'd take me hours instead of minutes to finish a task.

that's why blue collar job getting more popular now. Easy job, care free and a lot of job opportunity. U wont be rich until drive mercedes go overseas. But income at least higher compared to office work with same amount of work hours and stress.

If give me another chance i rather become lorry driver or welder. Or tukang paip.

if ur making 10k/month and the jump is 20% ok la, that one can understand.
but if ur making 3k and the startup wants you to one man show for 20% increase u want?
last time i kena in the beginning for 3k, one man show, gila siot
the stress and the unknown on all the legislation and protocol was quite high and for 3k i kena lmao by my friends for being stupid
i learned alot in that role but it was such a broad experience that future employment was not impressed by the lack of specialization.
but if they offer me to one man show for 10k +20% now idk if i would take it

Sure or not? Everytime I read news abt poor ppl asking for donations, the sole breadwinner is a lorry driver. At least become a middle income earner la so u'll have 1 less problem

Took the role for 3 years, jump ship back to exec level and the stress level gone down significantly.

When subordinate screwup, left right front back manager kena, and endless meeting just to explain and fix the screw up.

As an exec, when i screw up, i only answer to my manager.

And the drama with with each subordinate….

Were u in the same company or new company when u went back to exec level?

Just because of title Manager but salary still peanuts ?

Manager to manage.

It's not just about getting a new title or a bigger paycheck. It's really about whether you have the right environment to actually grow into being a manager.

The journey is pretty typical — almost like a rite of passage.
First, you'll feel like there’s never enough time.

Then you’ll start thinking, "Ugh, I have no one to delegate to"
When they finally hire people for your team, you might be like, "Great... but why are they all so hopeless?"

And even when you do delegate, you’re constantly stressed, worrying they’re gonna screw it up. Deep down you’re thinking, "If I just had time to do it myself, it’d be perfect."
But guess what? You don’t have the time anymore.
And when mistakes happen — which they will — you’re the one who gets roasted for it, not them.

It’s tough, but honestly, it's all part of growing into the role. I believe every manager has walked this same bumpy road.

Dont get mad bro, they might have their reason. One valid reason is small or startup usually didnt train their manager well nor did he attend formal trainings. Manage based on job training only or maybe attend budget subpar training. Hence the manager is not that good overall. Doesnt apply to all but these are majority of the cases.

because your boss is doing like all the above tards is suggesting,
delegating his/her job/task/stress to their underlings (for your case, to you/your successor).

all the ktards forget that stress is no gone or vanish in thin air,
at the end of the day someone still have to shoulder it.

same here, no interest in manager role,
but there was a period of time been through all these AM and meeting shet as well, because manager think i can do it.

after that, i totally understand why manager's are good in spiting BS.
you have to master this until to a point its so natural , as if its like breathing to you.
else you so gonna die in meeting or during grilling, or during all those sudden incident that you never though can happen.

"spiting BS is a skill" per some other ktards.
now i suspect all these tards are potential/actual manager (not!)

Jumped to different company. But really had to be careful when answering why applying exec role from manager role.

How did u explain to them why u jumped back to exec?

Totally agree. However, eventually the bs will backfire without the results. You cannot keep bs forever.

yeah and taichi-ing and cover ass is an extremely valuable skill

like my current role atm, because i am too honest in my work, im always picked on by boss as someone "incompetent" while my other colleagues who are no different but because they pandai make up story they are deemed more "reliable"

IT world kuli here 🙋‍♀️ likewise, it is common for us to also aim for managerial roles in career advancement. However, I went on to specialise into technical career path in my company. For the past 5+ years, there were two internal openings for people manager, both of which I applied and was shortlisted for interview. In both, I wasn't truly keen on the role but rather just going in to interview for the sake of experience. I guess I made my intentions clear enough, in the end I wasn't chosen. Coincidentally, in both rounds I had already received a promotion and/or job title change around those times, so I guess the disinterest was mutual -- management probably wanted to award the position to someone else who needed a bump on their career... And of course, the way I answered questions (too truthfully) kinda made me an undesirable pawn for the upper management, so I guess that sealed the coffin.

Now I'm glad I'm not chosen, because:
- one friend won the role, she complains a lot about juggling her hands on work and members' welfare a lot... Also the fact that a few other managers don't actually do that and they just let their members fend on their own lol.
- I watch that one dude who took the role, he's demotivated now and dealing with a toxic/egoistical team member who finds loopholes around the rules to his favour.
- I had the freedom to switch department without troubling team members (it's generally not nice to change boss, after all), and now I'm in a global entity. Not saying the grass here is greener, but I feel very challenged at my job, not because of people but more of the technical stuff so it doesn't feel painful in that sense.
- I finally got promoted this year, which proves once again, you don't have to be a people's manager to advance in career.

That said, I'm still not ktard 20k level

But once become manyzer, one can play politics and kacau subordinates. Toxic betul.

Just got promoted as country manager with more than 150 staff. I can relate. People are stupid.