‘Companies will do anything to avoid paying people more’: Worker calls out employee assistance program for just being a ‘wikiHow’ about ‘managing money.’ It’s supposed to ‘improve mental health’

TikToker Sydney (@74687a) put her company on blast for not giving its workers a raise and instead providing an employee assistance program that she says is just a website with tips about managing money.

Sydney's message is a simple plea that she articulates in the caption of the video. "Please," she writes, "I just need more money."

@74687a Please…… I just need more money 😞 #fypシ゚viral #fypシ #fyp #foryou #work #job #finance #life #costofliving #corporate #americorp ♬ original sound - Sydney

In the clip, Sydney addresses the camera directly, saying, "Companies will do anything, and I mean anything to avoid paying people more."

She goes on to explain that her current employer recently notified its workers about an "employee assistance program" which, in her words, "sounds sketchy as f*ck."

After doing some digging, Sydney says she found that the program was really just a "wikiHow of discounts and articles on how to manage your life." Sydney calls the program complete "bullsh*t" and comments on the irony of the fact that her employer was probably paying a premium in order to give its workers access to this service.

She adds that her company provided the program as a means of improving employees' "mental health."

Sydney also criticized many of the articles as being out of touch, saying, "We can’t even afford anything that it’s suggesting." The TikToker explains that no one at her company can afford to get married, divorced, move, have a baby, or do many of the things listed in the program's posted articles.

"You know I was talking to my boss I was like it would improve my mental health if they paid me enough to the point or I don't have to work 20 hours of overtime every f*cking week in order to barely crawl and you know claw my way into survival," the employee says.

Sydney points out that at her current salary rate, she isn't able to live the high life or save money. "I'm not doing anything...I don't have anything nice or new. I don't have a car. I don't own a house. I have an apartment [that's] $600 under the average one bedroom apartment for Chicago and I still can't afford it."

She ended her rant by stating that she doesn't need an employee assistance program with 10% discounts for "stupid" things. She simply needs a raise.

In recent years, the cost of living in the United States has skyrocketed. Inflation reached an all time peak of 9.1% in June 2022, and despite good and services costing more across the board, salaries have not kept pace with inflation, leading to people having less usable income for their day-to-day needs.

It's figures like the ones mentioned above that make this TikTok user's post about their employer's money managing workshop all the more frustrating.

Viewers were just as incensed by the employee assistance program as Sydney was and they took to the comments of the video to share their thoughts.

One person reported that the company they worked for did something similar. "Our company did the same. they 'can't afford' to give raises, but they paid another company for this "employee appreciation" website and program."

The person went on to explain that employees could use their program to "recognize each other" by sending each other bonus points. "If you earn 4,000 points, you get a mug with the company logo," they ended.

Another person in agreement with the creator about the employee assistance program wrote, "Right? I work at a small business and get nothing. Don’t even make a livable wage. I handle all the money. ALL the money."

The Daily Dot has reached out to Sydney via TikTok comment for further information.

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