This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Biohazard5656 on 2025-04-26 20:22:32+00:00.

I worked at a contract manufacturing company that assembled and tested electronic PCBs for various other companies. They were big on keeping track of times and quantities to be able to properly charge for work done or to be within the quote. You’d be clocking in and out of different jobs as you finished a step or moved to a different product.

Well one day I was working on board XYZ that took only about 1 minute to function test. I would get 5 per tray about every 15 minutes. That leaves me with 10 minutes of idle hands so I would work on board ABC that we already had a large quantity of on the test floor. So I would test boards ABC for awhile and then test the XYZ boards after I got a few trays of them on the shelf.

Boss: Why you working of those boards, we need the XYZ boards to ship this week, don’t worry about the ABC boards. (As if I already knew that XYZ were rushed or something)

Me: I’m testing those boards quicker then they are giving me them to me.

Boss: I don’t care just get these damn boards done that’s all I care about. Don’t work on anything else, I just want you to focus all your attention on these boards. We need to get them done!

Malicious compliance time.

Test for 5 minutes, wait for 10 minutes. For 8 hours.

End of day comes.

Boss: How many XYZ boards you get done today?

Me: About 160

Boss: How long that take you?

Me: (I’m a wise ass so I already knew where this was going.) Of actually work?

Boss: Yes

Me: little over 2.5 hours.

Boss: What the hell you do the rest of the day?

Me: Waited.

Boss: Why the hell you do that?

Me: Remember when I said I was testing the boards faster then I was getting them and you said to only work on those boards?

Boss: Stupid boss face.

Me: That’s why!

I couldn’t honestly write like 10 more of these on this sub reddit from working at that place. Some people never learn.