She was too old to be told what to do.
A veteran employee said she was passed over for a promotion, with her company hiring a less-experienced college graduate for the role.
Jennifer Schroeder shared the story in a now-viral TikTok video, posted on Feb. 10 under the account @theunobsolete, saying her bosses subsequently asked her to train the newbie.
The creator declined to hand over decades of experience to a young employee who was promoted above her. TikTok/@theunobsolete“I watched a 25-year-old get my promotion, and then they asked me to train her,” Schroeder told her followers. “Here’s what I said: No.”
Schroeder didn’t disclose the name of her workplace or the industry she is in.
“They passed me over for a promotion that I had earned, gave it to someone fresh out of grad school with zero experience and then expected me to teach her how to do the job they said I wasn’t good enough for,” she said. “The audacity is stunning, isn’t it?”
Thousands of commenters praised Schroeder for her refusal, citing similar occurrences of ageism in their own careers.
“If I’m not qualified for the position, I’m not qualified to train the person receiving it,” one commenter said.
Schroeder described herself as a “workplace advocate” for professionals 45 and up. Her TikTok account, which boasts over 70,000 followers, discusses the job market, workplace conflicts and career advancement.
In the case of her promotion snub, Schroeder tartly said: “The second you stop being useful, they stop pretending to care. So stop pretending you owe them anything.”
Schroeder said her bosses were shocked by her refusal to train the new, younger employee. She reportedly received HR emails about being a team player.
“I am not your free training program,” Schroeder said. “I am not here to make your cheap labor look competent, and I am not going to hand over everything I know so you can pay her half of what you pay me.”
“Can’t be a team player for a team that played you,” one viewer said.
The vast majority of workers over 40 report experiencing ageism in the workplace. Brian – stock.adobe.comSchroeder posted a follow-up video chronicling the fallout in her office, including a one-on-one meeting with higher-ups and getting iced out from other meetings and projects. The saga ended after three weeks in a meeting with her manager and HR. Schroeder came prepared with receipts and negotiated six months of severance pay.
“Ultimately, this experience has underscored the importance of standing firm on professional boundaries and the necessity for a fair corporate culture that cultivates talent rather than exploits it,” Schroeder wrote below her video.
A Forbes report, cited by the Daily Dot, found that 99% of employees over the age of 40 have reported experiencing ageism in the workplace, and an AARP study found that nearly a quarter of workers over 50 feel pushed out of their jobs due to their age.
Not long after Schroeder received six months of severance pay, she said an old colleague reached out to her: The young woman promoted over her lasted just four months.
