You’re useful until you’re not.
It’s a brutal but all-too-common mindset in today’s corporate world.
One man with over 40 years of service at the same company allegedly experienced this reality firsthand.
“He was there since day one, but they still discarded him”
In a now-viral social media post, a Malaysian man shared how a senior colleague at his workplace was quietly pressured to leave, despite having devoted four decades to the company, reported mStar.
It happened right before my eyes. The longest-serving employee in the company, who had worked for more than 40 years, was eventually discarded like trash,” he wrote.
“The reason given was that he was no longer performing well due to old age, even though he was one of the founding employees when the factory first started.”
Even his two-digit staff ID couldn’t protect him
To show how long the veteran had served, the man pointed out that his colleague’s employee ID had only two digits.
It was a clear mark of seniority that’s rarely seen these days.
But despite his long history, things allegedly took a sharp turn when management began to view him as “underperforming.”
Instead of firing him directly, they reportedly took a more indirect approach.
Quietly pushed out: “They made it impossible for him to stay
“They didn’t terminate him directly. Instead, they pressured him to quit,” the man explained.
He was moved to a hard labor department and given targets he couldn’t possibly meet.”
Eventually, the constant reassignment and unrealistic expectations wore the veteran down and led him to resign on his own.
The man who shared the story said he felt heartbroken watching it all unfold.
He believed the company no longer saw any value in the veteran worker once he stopped being profitable.
“It’s sad, but maybe it’s time to let go”
While many sympathised with the long-serving employee’s fate, others felt it might simply have been time for him to move on.
“After 40 years, maybe it’s time to give younger people a chance,” one commenter wrote.
“But if you want to stay in your position, never share your knowledge. That’s how you survive.”
“Not the same company anymore”
Some netizens suggested that this kind of treatment tends to happen more often when companies are passed down to second-generation owners.
“The original owner wouldn’t have done this to someone who helped build the company,” one user commented.
“Banks do this a lot too. They move people to marketing roles even if they’ve never done it before, then blame them for not meeting targets.”
