Employee Shares How Automating Job Backfired: "Made The Mistake Of Being Too Fast"

A corporate employee recently shared an incident when automating part of their job to complete tedious tasks backfired. They said that the aim was to save time and increase efficiency, but they made the "mistake" of being too fast, and as a result, they were given extra work and responsibilities. In an anonymous Reddit post, the employee wrote that their weekly reporting was taking way too long, so they spent a weekend setting up a quick script to handle the data pulling and formatting.

"What used to take 15 hours of manual work suddenly took under a minute," they wrote, adding that the results were "great", as they used the saved time to learn new skills and "get through the week without stressing".

But one day they decided to share it with their manager, hoping it would highlight their initiative and lead to a promotion or raise.

However, it backfired, as the management assigned more work.

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"... my automated output just became the baseline expectation. On top of that, I was handed half the workload of a senior team member who had recently quit, along with requests to automate everyone else's tasks too," the employee wrote.

"I went from a manageable, stress-free workload to working 50 frantic hours a week for the exact same pay. It was a tough lesson, but I learned that in corporate life, efficiency usually just gets rewarded with extra work. Now, if I streamline something, I keep quiet and deliver it at a standard pace," they added.

I automated half my job, kept quiet about it, and made the mistake of being too fast once. Never again.
by u/Top-Performer8835 in corporate

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Social media reactions

The post, which got over 3,000 upvotes, sparked a broad debate among professionals online about the hidden risks of workplace productivity.

"Lol rookie mistake. Showing your initiative means you get more work. The idea is to free up your time and just show management glimmers of initiative rather than the secret sauce," one user wrote in the comment section.

"I've learned this the hard way despite knowing better. Pretending to be busier than you are is how you avoid burnout and substance abuse in corporate. There is no glory in doing it the way OP did," another user shared their opinion.

"This. My first job, I went above and beyond and was very vocal about my accomplishments and automations. As a result, I was constantly 'buddied up' with people who weren't meeting their deadlines. And because I'm a competent, hardworking person, it always got done, but that set the baseline for 4 years of burnout because it became expected of me. At my current job, I still automate and create templates for my own efficiency, but I keep those to myself, and I'll wait until my workload dwindles to the point of boredom before asking for more work. I still do a tad more than anyone else because my stuff is automated but at a pace that's much more doable for me, and I'm not cleaning up anyone's messes unless something is a dire need," a third user shared their experience.